How to freeze sorrel for the winter and what to do if there is no space in the freezer?

Sorrel is an unpretentious perennial plant that many grow in their country houses and garden plots. The juicy leaves have an original “sour” taste and contain many vitamins and microelements necessary to improve digestion and maintain immunity. Therefore, prudent housewives try to freeze sorrel for the winter or prepare greens in some other way; fortunately, many of them have been invented. Frozen sorrel is perfectly stored until the new harvest, which means that you can cook cabbage soup, make side dishes and bake pies with green filling all year round and remember summer.

Choosing sorrel for freezing

With the advent of freezers, many began to abandon traditional canning in jars. This is understandable: rather than bother with sterilization when it’s already unbearably hot outside, it’s better to cut the product into pieces and leave it in the freezer. Moreover, vitamins will be preserved better without heat treatment.

Almost all vegetables and fruits tolerate freezing well, sorrel is no exception.This plant contains mineral salts, flavonoids, carotene, vitamins C, K, PP, B1, B2, and after freezing the set of useful substances remains unchanged. The main thing is to choose high-quality greens and process them correctly.

Sorrel is a perennial plant. The first green leaves appear in early June. As soon as they get stronger and gain the required supply of nutrients, you can begin harvesting. You should not wait for the leaves to grow to the size of burdock and change color to dark green: along with the increase in mass, the content of oxalic acid also increases, the excessive use of which is undesirable.

Not everyone has the opportunity to grow their own greens for harvesting. There is only one way out - go to the market or grocery store. There are several signs to look out for when purchasing.

How to choose sorrel?

• The leaves should be fresh, bright green, dense and elastic to the touch.
• A torn leaf exudes a specific sour aroma.
• The greens are dry, not sprinkled with water.
• Leave stems of at least 3 cm.

You should not buy sorrel if the leaves are covered with dark or light spots. Such a plant was probably improperly fed with fertilizers or treated with chemicals against parasites. You should also discard greens with heavily dusty leaves, as dust penetrates the plant tissue and spoils the taste of the product.

Preparing for freezing

Freezing sorrel should be started immediately, as soon as it is collected from the garden or brought from the store. Before freezing a plant in the freezer, it must be properly prepared.

The preparation process is divided into several stages:

1. You need to carefully sort through the leaves, putting aside those that are limp, with obvious damage, and uneven in color. Separate any debris and weeds that accidentally fall into the bunch.
2. Rinse the greens several times in plenty of water. To do this, take a plastic bowl, fill it with cool water and immerse the leaves in it. Carefully wash the greens with your hands and place in a colander. Pour clean water and wash the sorrel again.
   

   You should not leave greens in water for a long time, otherwise the leaves will become watery.

3. The washed leaves are laid out on a towel to dry. If the sorrel is not dried, there will be too much water in the workpiece.
4. Cut the greens into strips or squares, as you wish. When cutting, special attention should be paid to the stems. If they are thick and rough, it is better to get rid of them. Thin fresh stems will not spoil the workpiece; they can be chopped along with the leaves.

Having prepared the greens in this way and choosing one of the freezing methods described below, you can get to work.

How to properly freeze sorrel for the winter?

There are several ways to freeze sorrel in the freezer. Which one to choose depends on the size of the freezer, the amount of product being processed, the purpose of using the workpiece and the personal preferences of the housewife.

In packages

It is convenient to use special food bags to store sorrel in the freezer. You can take a regular one or with a zip-lock fastener.

The leaves, cut into strips, are placed in a dry plastic bag, pressed a little with your hands to release excess air, tied in two knots or zipped and sent to the freezer.

It would be a good idea to put a label on the bag that says “sorrel”, so as not to confuse it with another herb in the future, and set it to freeze for a year.It is not necessary to indicate the date and month, since the greens can be stored until the new harvest.

In disposable containers

If the freezer space allows, you can use 250 ml or 500 ml disposable plastic containers instead of bags. The chopped greens are placed in a container, covered with a lid and placed in the freezer.

In the form of ice cubes

It is very convenient to freeze greens in portioned cubes. To do this, use silicone molds for baking cupcakes or a plastic mold for making ice. Finely chopped greens are crushed by hand to reduce volume and placed in molds. Then a little cold boiled water is poured into each cell. This can be done with a spoon or teapot.

The forms are placed in the freezer and left for several hours (preferably overnight). The cubes must be thoroughly frozen, otherwise they will be difficult to remove from the mold. Frozen greens in the form of cubes are shaken out into a bag or container and sent to the freezer for further storage.

Sorrel puree

This method is similar to the previous one, since it also uses molds for making ice, only here the sorrel is not cut, but crushed in a meat grinder. The result is a watery puree of rich green color, which is laid out in molds and immediately, without adding water, sent to the freezer. After a few hours, when the greens are thoroughly frozen, the ice cubes are loaded into bags or containers. This preparation is useful for preparing meat gravy, green cabbage soup, various sauces and dressings.

Freezing with butter

Sorrel frozen with butter is an exquisite preparation for the winter, which is perfect for herb soup, omelettes or pies. All you need to make sorrel-butter cubes at home is butter and finely chopped green leaves.

1. The butter must be taken out of the refrigerator in advance and allowed to melt. Under no circumstances should you heat the oil over a fire or in a microwave, trying to speed up the process. It's so easy to break the structure of the product. The butter should soften spontaneously.
2. Finely chopped greens are loaded into a deep bowl and butter is added. Knead the mixture using a wooden spoon until it becomes homogeneous.
3. The mixture is placed into ice cube trays and frozen.

The finished cubes of sorrel and butter separate perfectly from the walls of the mold. They are placed in separate containers and used in winter to prepare your favorite dishes.

Frozen sorrel sausages

One of the best recipes for preparing sorrel for the winter is freezing it in the form of sausages:

1. Place the chopped leaves in a colander and blanch for 1 minute. If you don’t want to time it, you can use the color of the leaves as a guide. As soon as the greens change color, it’s time to finish the heat treatment.
2. Remove the colander from the pan, allow excess water to drain, and cool the greens to room temperature.
3. Cut the cling film into several pieces. The cooled greens are dumped into the middle of the film, rolled into a sausage shape and placed in the freezer.

To use this preparation, it is not necessary to remove the film and defrost all the greens.It is enough to cut off as much as needed from the sausage and return the rest to its place.

Cold storage

If you haven’t had time to get a freezer, you can consider one of the ways to store sorrel in the refrigerator.

In its own juice

An excellent recipe for preparing sorrel without water, salt and various seasonings, using heat treatment:

1. Several sterilized glass jars are filled to the top with chopped leaves.
2. The cans are placed in a wide metal basin, which is filled with water so that it reaches the hangers of the cans.
3. The structure is placed on the stove and the water is heated to a boil.
4. Greens under the influence of boiling water will release juice, boil and settle. Fresh leaves are added until the jars are full.

The jars are screwed on with lids and stored in the refrigerator or cellar. Thanks to its own juice, sorrel in a jar does not spoil and retains the main supply of nutrients.

Salt and boiling water

One of the most common ways to prepare sorrel is by sprinkling it with salt. Place a layer of salt at the bottom of a clean glass jar. Then lay a layer of chopped greens and sprinkle with salt again. This process is repeated until the jar is completely filled with herbs sprinkled with salt. Store this preparation under plastic covers in the refrigerator.

When using such sorrel, it is important not to oversalt the dish, since canned food already contains a significant amount of salt.

Some housewives believe that salt alone is not enough and the product will last longer if you add boiling water to the jar. This product is ready for use within a year.

Cold water

A very simple and at the same time original preparation, which involves only sorrel and cold water.Place green leaves into a clean jar, lightly compact them to fit as many as possible, and fill with cold water. The jar is sealed and placed in the refrigerator. Third-party preservatives are not needed, since their role is played by the acid secreted by the leaves.

And yet, freezing sorrel is the easiest and most convenient way to prepare greens for the winter, which allows you to preserve all the taste and beneficial properties of the plant. The product does not require defrosting before cooking. Just take a couple of green cubes out of the bag or grab a handful of leaves from the container and throw them into the pan.