Book Review: Freeze Fresh

Book Review: Freeze Fresh
This is written by guest poster Melonie Kennedy

If you’re just getting started with putting foods by, you may not be ready to dive into canning and dehydrating right away; there’s equipment to budget for and decisions to be made about where to start. Or perhaps, like me, you’ve been keeping up your food storage for years and want the convenience of frozen foods as a layer of inventory in addition to longer storing options.

Enter Freeze Fresh: The Ultimate Guide to Preserving 55 Fruits and Vegetables for Maximum
Flavor and Versatility by Crystal Schmidt (who you may already know from her posts on the
website and socials for Whole-Fed Homestead ).

That lengthy subtitle tells you a lot about this book – first of all, the foods addressed are only produce, so if you’re looking for meat, dairy, or grain topics, those aren’t covered in this book.

Secondly, the entire book focuses on preserving the harvest using your freezer. Other than some basic kitchen tools, storage containers, and a freezer, the reader isn’t on the hook for any major expenses or new appliances. (Unless you decide to invest in another freezer, which may be quite tempting by the time you’re done reading Freeze Fresh!)

The book begins with about thirty pages of information about why we should consider freezing produce and a look at the history and science behind the process, then moves into techniques, storage and labeling, and even how to defrost your freezer. The rest of the book is all about that food – about 150 pages of fruits and veg, alphabetized from apples to zucchini for easy searching. Schmidt didn’t just throw together a list of foods and tell us how to prep and freeze them (though that’s included, of course); with almost every entry there are recipes for using up your frozen bounty.

Freeze Fresh even makes a great cookbook if you don’t have the time or inclination to process items yourself for the freezer. After all, the Blueberry-Maple Pancake Sauce, Chocolate- Covered Sweet Cherries, Potluck Ranch Pasta Salad, and Strawberries & Cream Baked Oatmeal are sure to be winners made with frozen foods easily found at the warehouse store on your next trip. (Those would be frozen blueberries, sweet cherries, peas, and strawberries, respectively.) Easy-peasy from the freezy – er, freezer!

To be honest, when I ordered Freeze Fresh I was just hoping for just a few useful tips and recipes, so I was delighted to learn it is an incredible resource. I will likely be buying gift copies for friends who are interested in preparedness but aren’t at the point where they are investing in things like canners, dehydrators, or a freeze dryer. I’m very pleased with my purchase and highly recommend you take a look at Freeze Fresh to see if it meets your needs as well!