As you are harvesting your fruits and vegetables from your garden, or buying from fruit and vegetable stands in your neighborhood – it’s a good idea to cut and freeze some of the hardier types for eating later. Not all vegetables can be frozen – for example, the following vegetables typically become limp and soggy after thawing them and you should avoid freezing:

• celery
• cucumbers
• lettuce
• parsley
• radishes
• cabbage

For fruits and vegetables that hold up well to freezing, you can expect your frozen fruits to maintain a high quality flavor and consistency for up to 12 months in the freezer. Your vegetables will likely maintain quality for 12 to 18 months at zero degrees or lower, but it’s best to use them before your next summer garden harvest. There are no food safety concerns about freezing and eating foods longer than these time frames, but the taste and consistency of the items will deteriorate the longer they are frozen.

Freezer Containers

You will want to select a quality freezer container to maintain the freshness of the products you freeze. You need both moisture and vapor protection in order to keep the fruit or vegetables’ natural moisture in and the freezer’s air out. It’s good to wrap your products in saran wrap, heavyweight aluminum foil or plastic coated freezer paper tightly if what you are freezing is suitable for this type of wrap; otherwise you’ll want to use plastic bags or freezer containers.
When you’ve properly prepared your fruits and vegetables for freezing, be sure to keep your freezer’s temperature at 0°F or lower, since foods lose their quality faster when stored at higher temperatures.

If you need to purchase a stand-alone freezer, you should consult the Consumer Reports for the best energy efficient appliance.

Save Money by Freezing Your Summer Vegetables and Fruits for Winter Months was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Here are some tips for shopping for an extra freezer:

Storage Capacity: The general rule of thumb is to start with the number of people in your home multiplied by 1.5 cubic feet, and then evaluate the amount of food you buy and add 1 cubic foot for every 35 pounds.  This is too complicated for me personally, so I prefer the tip that the average family of four will require a chest freezer between 8.9 and 15 cubic feet, or an upright between 16 and 20 cubic feet.

Upright or Chest Style: The easiest factor for choosing whether you should get an upright or chest style freezer is how much space you have to store the freezer.  Chest style freezers are 48 to 65 inches in width, which means you need a lot of floor space, while the upright version fits in a much smaller area.  Also, upright freezers are easier to organize and find items without digging through to the bottom of a chest-style freezer.

Energy Efficiency Needs: If your purpose of getting an extra freezer is to help reduce your costs, you probably are going to want to be looking at freezers that offer energy efficiency.  Look for an Energy Star rated freezer, especially if you go with an upright model.  Apparently, chest style freezers are generally more energy efficient because less cold air escapes from the hatch-style lid than through the upright doors.  An Energy Star rated freezer saves between 7 and 10% a year on electricity costs as opposed to a freezer without the rating.

What’s it Gonna Cost:  The cost of your extra freezer of course depends on a number of factors – from the type you select, the brand name, and the size.  For the average family, you should expect to pay somewhere between $150 and $700.

Cold, Hard Facts About Freezers was created by and is property of American Consumer News.