Frozen Vegetables
© Denzil Green
As one American advert said in the 1950s, we can now eat better than any King ever did, because Frozen Vegetables allow us to enjoy the vegetable of our choice at any time of year, no matter what the season.
Many people say they won’t eat Frozen Vegetables, only fresh ones. What they don’t realize is that the fresh vegetables may have taken 2 or 3 days to reach their supermarket, then sat at the supermarket for another 2 or 3 days. Compare that with Frozen Vegetables, which are usually frozen and packaged within 6 hours of being picked. The frozen end up reaching consumers homes way “fresher” than the fresh.
To make Frozen Vegetables, vegetables are blanched, then packaged and frozen. The blanching prevents them from turning brown during freezing and losing more of their nutrients.
Cooking Tips
Cook Frozen Vegetables from frozen (except for corn on the cob). If the product has been thawed, then the cooking time allotted should be slightly less than that indicated on the package. Thawing them first can lead to increased Vitamin C loss.
Nutrition
On a nutritional level, frozen vegetables are usually superior to fresh, unless you can see out your window the garden the vegetables came from.
Storage Hints
It is technically safe to refreeze Frozen Vegetables that have thawed, but the taste and texture afterwards makes it not worth it.
History Notes
Frozen foods were marketed at first as a luxury food item by General Mill’s Birds-Eye brand, which saw itself as selling premium luxury goods. Their advertisements at the end of the 1940s showed pearl-clad women reclining, enjoying the leisure time they had gained by using Frozen Vegetables. Other major firms, including Birds-Eye, thought that Frozen Vegetables would never be as profitable as canned vegetables, so they stay out of the market. This allowed for entry by smaller manufacturers into the market, selling second-grade Frozen Vegetables but at a price that consumers liked. Consumers began buying those instead of canned goods. This forced the major brands to enter the Frozen Vegetables market.
The major brands, though, weren’t prepared to compete on lowest price or lower quality vegetables. They launched marketing campaigns about the quality of their Frozen Vegetables, and educated consumers on how Frozen Vegetables were usually superior to fresh. Libby’s entered the Frozen Vegetable market in 1946. Green Giant didn’t enter the frozen food market until 1962.