[Sca-cooks] pomegranate question

[Avraham haRofeh]

> >    That's wonderful to hear!  Do you know if she just freezes bags/jars
> >full, or if she spreads the seeds to freeze, then bags them?  I suspect
> >I'll go the bag route, as I have limited freezer space (it's a
> >side-by-side), so getting a large flat surface in it to freeze a tray of
> >separated seeds would be difficult.  And I probably won't be needing just
> >a small number of seeds for garnish, rather than a cup or two of them at
> >once for a recipe.  Thanks.
>
> I called her tonight. She reports she just puts them in a freezer bag,
> squeezes out the excess air without squeezing the seeds, and tosses them
> into the freezer. She made her chicken dish in August, using last
October's
> seeds, and noticed only a very slight softening of the seeds after all
that
> time. She thaws them slowly in the refrigerator. Hope that helps.

Alton Brown suggested a very good way to protect the integrity of frozen
fruits. Frozen fruits get mushy because ice crystals form in the cells,
breaking them down. The slower the freeze, the bigger the ice crystals. In
his strawberry show, he suggests getting a cooler full of dry ice, and
freezing your fruits in that. Once they're frozen solid, toss 'em in a
freezer bag and into your regular freezer. They should maintain their
integrity reasonably well. No reason I can see that this wouldn't work for
pomegranate seeds as well.

Avraham

****************************************
Avraham haRofeh of Northpass
     (mka Randy Goldberg MD)
RandomTag: Courtesy is owed, Respect is earned, Love is given. - Freya
Manslayer, "Silverwing's Laws"