Why I cook with Frozen Vegetables (& you should too)
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- čas přidán 22. 05. 2024
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⏱ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Why Frozen Vegetables?
1:24 Protocol #1: Frozen Aromatics
5:13 Taste Test: Tomato Sauce
7:31 Callouts - Protocol #1
10:40 Protocol #2: Frozen Prepped Vegetables
15:45 Taste Test: Frozen vs Fresh Fried Rice
20:00 Callouts - Protocol #2
22:01 Protocol #3: Freezer Meals
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Why I freeze my cutting board, NOT my vegetables
😂😂
Bruh that's funny 😢😢😢
Poor Adam will never escape this 😂
Why I season my freezer, NOT the cutting board on my food
who do you think you are, Adam Ragusea?
I just wanted to sincerely praise your efforts in making cooking understandable and easier. You genuinely single handedly changed my families overall health.
Thank you for the kind words, glad these videos have helped!
Wholesome moment
@@EthanChlebowski can you please do a video on different Mirepoix Variations Please please please
@@EthanChlebowski you are amazing and helping me get into cooking!
"A world without garlic and onions is a world I don't wanna be in."
Truer words have never been spoken.
I could live without onions, but I'd die for garlic.
When they suggested the low fodmap diet for my IBS i said they can pry my onions, peppers, and garlic out of my cold dead fingers lmao.😊
But Onion is for poor people, Haiyaaaa
Haha, I am in this world on low FODMAP diet. It was a bit of a tragedy first, but I got used to it.
There is a community in India that has never eaten onion and garlic, MD their cuisine is tasty as well. Their innovative cooking style is worth praising
There are lots of solid cooking channels on CZcams, but none that explore efficiency & time saving techniques for home cooking while still using a rigorous methodology to test and explain your findings. Nicely done.
I love this man with my whole heart
Check out Adam Ragusea, while not to the same depth for techniques, he covers a wide range of recipes and also includes adaptations that make them more suitable for saving time in a home cooking scenarios that he's experimented with
Try Adam Ragusea if you haven't.
yep. ethan has inspired me to want to cook.
@@almostsaladofcaesar6884 great rec, love Adam Ragusea as well. Different approach, and like you said, doesn’t totally prioritize the method of testing as much, but really enjoy his content too.
I am poor. Frozen vegetables are cheap and keep very well, so they can be bought in bulk when they are on sale. They are a staple in the household.
I'm glad you're getting veggies even though you're poor. When my husband and I were poor we gave up a couple of food items that were over 5 dollars to start getting fresh veggies on sale. My grocery store has a produce shelf that they put a ton of produce on, like 1.5$ per bag of summer squash with like 6 of them in it. Just a thought.
Fr
@SimonWoodburyForget but the fresh ones don't always taste good if they're not in season locally. We eat tons of blueberries but at one point the fresh ones were just sour and yucky so that's when we started to buy frozen. Fresh ones were costing too much money because we ended up throwing them away.
I’ll take frozen veg all day, there’s almost no downside besides the few vegetables that don’t freeze well. Unless you’re like getting it at a farmers market the fresh ones are probably less fresh than frozen
@@monhi64 the downside is the plastic waste. Bagged frozen veggies are a waste of plastic. You can buy fresh veggies and freeze them, which is arguably cheaper in an environmental sense. Looking at only the sticker price does not take into account the long term environmental damage you're also paying for.
So happy you’re using the 2/3 blind test method, I think it’s such a better way to evaluate cooking experiments.
Why is it better? I was surprised he got rid of one
@@KoreyThatcher If you know there's 2 of each you might draw conclusions based on that instead of the actual taste. When you remove one, it forces you to consider the flavour and the differences more since you don't know if there's 1 or 2 of that type.
For sure! I picked that up from someone in the comments a few months ago. Definitely a better way to evaluate certain experiments.
Hadn't thought of doing it like this before! Love the diligence in this process!
@@leetri nice!
A while ago I realized I never ate leafy greens because every time I bought them they went bad before I used them up, so I started blanching and freezing them. Since then I've eaten greens much more often than before. Now I also prep and freeze things that usually come in a can like corn, beans (or chickpeas) cooked from dried, etc. Sometimes I'll pre-bread eggplants or tofu slices so they're ready to fry.
But to be honest the big game changer is to have frozen meals ready to go. Stews and soups freeze and reheat really well, you just need to freeze it in single portions. Definitely gets me eating healthier and cheaper than takeout.
What does blanching it before freezing do?
I don't think I'm lazy, but I buy frozen veg at the supermarket. If I buy a bag of carrots it will take weeks to use up. Fresh mushrooms only last 2-3 days. And spinach not even that. So I usually buy frozen mushrooms, spinach, carrots. I was hoping the video was about this. Perhaps I need to read up on buying veg fresh and freezing it!
@@myrtlealleyeasier to use later?
Edit: It's actually explained in the video: 13:36
Other things that freeze really well are meatloaf and rice. I cook a whole loaf and freeze it in single-serving slices. For rice, I freeze in 1/2C or 1C containers; to reheat put in a microwave-safe dish and add a little water (1-2 teaspoons). Both come out as good as freshly-made.
storebought frozen spinach is usually much cheaper than fresh
For freezing soups, I recommend using Souper Cubes. They're like a silicone ice cube tray, but the compartments are bigger. They come in different sizes, too.
smart, smaller portions would cool faster as well!
Love love love these!
Me too. Also canning jars with the lid off until frozen. You can reheat the jars in the microwave or a water bath in a pan. But I like the souper cubes better. You can take the cubes and put in a freezer bag. And the trays have various sizes.
@@slc1161Oh that’s really smart! That way you don’t have to buy many souper cubes at once if you don’t have the means too. A thing that is quite discouraging in meal prep is that the starting price if you don’t have the needed equipments can be off putting (by that I mean, good containers mainly)
Just use a bag?
I switched to frozen veggies and fruit a couple years ago. Got tired of wasted food filling up my fridge. I do buy fresh sometimes, but try to chop it up and freeze it when I get home from the store. I grew up hearing people say frozen veggies would practically kill you, but realized frozen tastes better than rotten. I tried using ice cube trays but gave it up. It sticks and takes up too much space. I chop things and spread them out flat in a freezer baggie, and just break off a chunk the size I want.
This was me around the start of the pandemic... I really like the ease of KNOWING I have some vegetables (even if they are not quite the ones I would have normally used) and it has helped me eat a lot healthier and actually make more meals.
This alongside batch cooking were the two biggest game changers for me.
I put them in ice cube trays until they freeze, then you can transfer to a tupperware or a baggie for easy access.
Food frozen at the source is usually fresher than fresh food that took weeks to get to the store.
Food frozen at home can be used well, as demonstrated in this video, but the domestic fridge will never match industrial blast freezers.
@@deus_ex_machina_ I agree, but that only matters for the actual freezing process, not after it is frozen (from everything I have seen) as it is mostly about how quickly it is frozen...
Have you tried silicone ice trays? Or lightly lining the tray with oil?
Experiment 1: The difference in taste could simply be the difference in the way you prepared it. Since you did run the frozen stuff through a blender and the fresh one was just chopped or diced... you do not have as fine a vegetable spread. Meaning the frozen will have merged more with the tomatoes by the sheer fact that it was paste like, while the other likely seared a bit more, because of the bigger dices.. this could lead to a different flavor profile.
Please do a part two with herbs: frozen, freeze dried, dried, and wet (sauce/paste).
& frozen in oil
Every indian kitchen is already stocked with 'Ginger paste' + 'garlic paste' or a combo 'ginger garlic paste'. (I have a jar in my fridge right now). What you have is a step further in the preservation by freezing it (Nice!) but it already lasts longer than I need in the fridge.
Love this idea though!
Ethan - You'll love this: I froze a batch of cacio e pepe sauce (using your method of add cornstarch slurry) and you can whip up single portions of cacio pepe (just in single pot using your just enough water to cover method) in minutes and no leftover-heating! it's honestly amazing!
I never thought about freezing that cacio e Pepe sauce, but that makes a ton of sense since it should be more stable with the cornstarch slurry than traditional!
Yeah I always have ginger garlic paste because it works in more than just Indian dishes. I have to go to an Indian store to get it, but its so worth it. Tikka masala, burgers, Japanese curry, most Asian dishes, etc
Doesn't that suffer from the same issue as jarred minced garlic? I specifically buy frozen garlic cubes because they retain the Allicin you get from fresh garlic.
@@mgkleym In my experience - Ginger garlic is used in instances where the allicin isn't as forward and present as the raw applications. When it's in a curry the rawness is cooked out intentionally anyway. For raw applications - you also have small amounts of raw ginger and garlic on hand (at least in indian kitchens usually - we use a lot of ginger and garlic)
But raw applications are rare. Garlic naan perhaps? But those aren't made in a home kitchen regularly.
A lot of the pre-jarred ginger garlic last long because it has citric acid which affects the flavor. Some people like the flavor but for me I prefer the fresh stuff so freezing is ideal.
I love these types of videos! I love to cook, but I have ADHD and it hugely affects how well I eat. The "activation energy" is a big hurdle, and long term planning is very difficult too. These kinds of tips are simple but honestly do not come naturally to me, it helps so much to see someone work out practical solutions for home cooks that are actually usable! So many are just shaming people about not cooking at home because it's so "cheap and easy!!!" while totally misrepresenting the actual cost and time investment. This channel is getting my kitchen together one step at a time ♥
Have you ever thought that the way you eat effects your ADHD also? In my opinion it can go both ways.
ADHD is not a real disease. It’s a coping mechanism to trauma, just like anxiety and depression. Solve the underlying trauma which is causing your ADHD.
@@asishreddy7729literally not true if you did any amount of real research from people in the field you would know it’s an actual different wiring of the brain, so it’s more akin to something like autism. Also many times anxiety and depression can be a direct cause of adhd not the other way around. Please don’t discount this person or anyone else’s real disorder
@@MadeUpInBows I have been in therapy myself and found out, that’s why I’m saying this. It’s not about discounting their feelings. It’s about reality. Adults can and should handle their feelings on their own. We cannot hold back truth just to protect an adult’s fragile feelings.
@@asishreddy7729ADHD is not the same as trauma it's a Neurodivergent Disorder in the same umbrella as Autism, Down Syndrome, Dyslexia, etc. not a mental illness like Depression, PTSD, Anxiety, OCD, etc. You might have gone to therapy but I don't think you know enough about psychology when you can't distinguish that neurodivergency is different from a mental illness, it's practically nature vs nurture . I've been treated for severe depression and CPTSD for 4 years and I've been very successful to the point where I was even praised by my Therapist, I was able to get a scholarship, get into a internships with renowned companies, get a well paying job, and have healthy relationships with a long-term partner, after going through medication and therapy, basically a success story. I've even worked through my emotional regulation, and became extremely stable, guess what? I still have ADHD. I still struggle with executive function I just have enough healthy coping mechanisms that it's not as much of a hindrance Those underlying issues can't solve neurodivergency because your brain structure is actually different as a neurodivergent. You're born with ADHD the only reason why psychiatrist rule out Depression and PTSD first is because they also have executive dysfunction as a symptom and because people nowadays think ADHD is trendy.
But really will you also tell an Autistic person they're just not solving their underlying trauma and Autism isn't real? Most Neurodivergent people often even develop that trauma , anxiety, and depression due to their neurodivergency and how this affects them socially not the other way around. That's some uneducated statement you've got there ngl.
My go to set is:
- Jar of ginger-garlic paste from Indian shop in a fridge. Goes pretty much everywhere - butter chicken, stir fries etc. Really helps to start cooking, because I don’t have to go to supermarket for new knob of ginger (I usually throw away half of it)
- Frozen veggie mix (basic one - carrots, peas, corn and something else) - works for pad thai, other fried noodles or rice
- Separate bags of frozen peas and corn. Sometimes you need only one of them and they still could save you when you are out of veggie mix
- Tomato paste (the simpler the better to my taste)- really versatile thing that could be used in many dishes and super shelf stable.
- San Marzano style canned tomatoes. Makes great sauces. You could supplement them with simpler tomatoes to save money for “simpler dishes like chili etc.
- Better than bullion - veggie is must have, beef and chicken are optional but nice to have
- Chinese canned fish with black beans - tons of umami flavor, great for fried rice
- Bunch of sauces, especially Lao Gan Ma, which makes everything better. You can simply drop it on plain rice and it’ll be tasty. Combine it with fishes, veggies and lao gan ma and you’ll have great base for the fried rice
Great tips!
I second the single bags of frozen veg instead of mixed, the only exception I make is for my favorite Normandy mix and fajita onion/pepper mix
Right on about the aromatics. I use that method constantly. Here in puerto rico our sofrito( onions, garlic, sweet peppers, cilantro and culantro) is the base of so many soups, stews, sauces and other dishes. It’s purpose is flavor, not texture since it will be cooked down heavily. Same as italian sofrito, mirepoix, spanish sofrito, holy trinity. Freezing aromatics is a game changer. Peppers, cilantro and culantro don’t last as long as the onions and garlic, so having them in a frozen state allows me to use a fresh tasting and smelling sofrito when I need it.
Excellent points. I have to try this.
Is freezing aromatics in wine a good idea? Wine w/ a bit of salt?
just ordered some large ice cube trays.
@@ambercrombie789 don’t know, never tried it.
thx
@@ElJosher
I'm so scared of getting canning wrong so I froze a TON of my garden's harvest this year. It's been awesome! Little to no difference. If anything, it's encouraged me to make more interesting and unique dishes with my harvest!
as long as u follow directions exactly u should be fine when canning.
If you don't want to expose ginger to the air but deal with it going bad in the fridge, freezing it whole really works! You can grate it from frozen or thaw off a piece in a couple minutes & mince it & i think it minces easier than fresh ginger. Also if your grocery store sells the world's dirtiest leeks, they do freeze very well so you can prepare some extra when you have time & freeze them. You don't have to cook leeks before you freeze them, they're plenty flavorful as long as you use them within a couple months, which you will
Another way to store ginger is to pickle it. It taste so good and add a beautifull color to plate (it bcomes naturaly pink).
I’ve been freezing my ginger for years ❤
@@christineschmidt1025Do you peel it before freezing?
@@michellehasty1038 no I leave it as is if it looks a little dirty, I kind of rinse it and dry it
Oh, I love frozen vegetables. I don't have a good enough freezer to freeze them myself but they are relatively affordable for me and it really makes my life so easier and my meals way less boring. If I were too lazy to cook previous evening, it's so quick to just fry some frozen vegetables, throw a couple of eggs and seasoning, and I have a relatively healthy and tasty hot meal instead of snacks.
One frozen food hack that I’ve never stopped using since is frozen garlic cloves. Not only it prevents molding before it’s even opened, but the texture is more soft so you can crush it or chop it so much easier. It also tastes more fragrant than fresh, wish I learned about it sooner.
Do you separate then, so there's invidiudal cloves but not peeled, or do you just freeze the whole garlic as one?
Mine goes mushy in the freezer :(
Maybe I should try this. I don't like the sharp taste of fresh garlic anyway, but I love dishes cooked with garlic.
It certainly isn't more fragrant than fresh garlic...
I do this as well. Have been since I started growing my own and before that, buying from a local grower. It's so much easier to put through a press and the flavor is great. I've still got a bunch in the freezer. It's never freezer burnt or stuck together.
I love that you’re making so many videos on using the freezer as a tool in cooking! I started freezing meals and leftovers when I started traveling for work during college semesters for career fairs. During my travel season I would eat out constantly and would always have leftovers that would last most of the weekend time too. So when the season was over, I would be craving home cooked food but also feeling massively lazy after months of the convenience of others cooking for me. So the few weeks before travel seasons would start, I would batch cook and freeze many different meals to get me through that lazy period and it really made me realize how convenient it is to not have to cook constantly. It also made me find take out very unappealing because I always have some version of what I’m craving homemade in my freezer whether it’s chicken curry, fried rice, pizza, burgers, etc… or at least the base ingredients to make it quickly. For instance having frozen velveted chicken to make a stovetop biriyani, noodles, chicken Alfredo, etc.. makes things so easy!
i am a big fan of frozen meals or components. when i make a pasta dish or soup i freeze the pasta separate from the sauce or soup. being diabetic i eat small portions so for pasta [any kind] i cook it and put one cup in a ziplock brand snack bag, get the air out and seal it. they can be stacked on their sides to freeze then stored any way u want in the freezer. i do the same with my pasta sauce. i freeze a larger single serving plastic container of soup and add one cup of the pasta when it reheat it so the pasta doesnt get soggy. i'll have a variety of food available and just take out two or three servings of something to pre-thaw in the frig.
A very nice tip for ice cube trays is using the plastic cups that Dim Sum and other frozen chinese dumplings come in. The forms are thin, flexible and ingredients are super easy to remove. Works better than any other tray I've seen, and cuts down on waste!
Ethan, this is unreal! Just yesterday, I started scripting a video about using frozen vegetables. But on my way to work this morning, CZcams recommended your video... I guess my idea goes on the back burner now 😅 But, I really wanted to say a huge thank you for your efforts. Your content is top-notch! Whenever I'm lacking inspiration, I watch your videos, and immediately, I'm flooded with ideas about the theme, shooting, and editing! Thank you 🙏
I'll subscribe to your channel because of your comment. Keep up the good work 👍🏾
That's awesome! Thanks!
It's such a boost to have a subscriber from Ethan's community!@@CaptainJeoy
Hope you get a subscriber bumped. I just added another.
Thank you so much! Every new subscriber means a lot. It's fantastic to see support from Ethan's community. Really appreciate it! 🙌@@CharleneCTX
Being single for 8 years, I switched to frozen vegetables becuse I was wasting to much fresh vegetables because I wasn't using them quickly enough. Also, vegetables are typically snap frozen within 24 hours of being harvested while vegetables in the grocer's or supermarket can been many months old.
One dish I occassional make and freeze is Tamirnd Lentel curry.
"A world without garlic and onions is one I don't want to be in."
*Cries in IBS
I miss Garlic an onions so much!
Thank you for validating me. My fam always kinda gives me some snobbery about using frozen veg. But I don't cook as often as they do so keeping fresh just doesn't work and I find that freezing really has been a game changer. Like you said it has its limitations but as long as you keep that in mind it works really well and is delicious.
I prefreeze bags of fruits and vegetables for smoothies before my bananas and greens go bad. Very good video, you admit that frozen has some limitations but has huge benefits. Your videos are really the most accessible cooking videos for beginner cooks.
Frozen had additives. Also fresh veggies have more nutrients
@@mattk8810grocery store fresh veggies not so much.
@@mattk8810 It depends on what frozen vegetables you use. I personally freeze a lot of fresh vegetables - where are the additives there?
Also, freshly frozen is a technique employed to maintain the nutrients in supermarket bought frozen vegetables.
Please do more research and don’t make assumptions.
you are SAVING all the home cooks out there, Ethan. keep up the great work.
A part of me always wishes I went to culinary school. I hate the comments of ‘just take a cooking course’. I’ve done that twice and both times I learned nothing and just cooked a recipe that was given by an instructor who would say things like ‘chop this’, or ‘fry until golden’. I want to LEARN, rather than just be instructed. And with these well-researched videos I’m provided so much info in so little time. Sometimes I rewatch them to further look into things and I love that! I do really know cooking, but understanding how and why ‘blanching in advance’ makes a difference goes such a long way! Thank you so much for being my culinary school!
(I have one final step of advice for keeping vegetables fresh: an old and pretty forgotten skill in Germany is preserving vegetables in salt, just like salted capers. The German Suppengrün -you have it listed next to the French mirepoix- can be finely chopped in a blender and then salted with 1/8 its own weight in salt -think 800g of vegetables at 100g of salt. You stir this twice and just put it in a jar. Keeps for years and the vegetables somehow keep tasting fresh. I add a tbsp here and there as the fresh vegetable stock or base-component to dishes. I make my own chicken stock too and don’t season it. Instead I just add a tsp of this stuff. With your ginger base it would turn more Asian-flavored. I love having all these ‘bases’ on hand! -rant over 😂)
Every video you make like this really feels like a loving endeavor. I appreciate your work in helping people like me find the will to cook more often and more joyfully. You're doing great work, man!!!
There's a lot we can learn from the homesteading channels here on CZcams. They do all the preserving and food/meal prep you could think of, plus how to store your food to last longer
I love that you made video on this! I love prepping my veg and store them in the freezer. It’s so convenient and makes cooking when drop dead tired, super quick and easy!
An important thing I've seen happen the older I get is that people think "oh vegetables are hard because they go bad quickly, but frozen aren't good for you" and then eat no vegetables at all which is worse. Losing some of the health benefits through freezing or cooking is better than not eating them at all.
Great ideas Ethan!!! I grew up on a dairy farm with about 2 acres for our own fruits and vegetables. We canned just about everything in so many different ways, and the potatoes and onions lasted forever in our cellar. Since we sold the farm, I try to buy farm to table vegetables as much as possible. However, knowing how fast frozen produce is processed, I rarely if ever buy anything in a tin can.
Every video of yours I watch is either a game-changer or inspires me to cook. I have been increasingly more comfortable in the kitchen with every new technique and method you talk about. I so deeply appreciate it, it has helped me feel so much better about my body when I make an effort to prepare and eat healthier food. Thank you so much!
This is exactly what I've been looking for since you showed the braising cuts freezer prep. My freezer is practically empty, but I'll definitely be implementing these and filling it up. I also really appreciate the written content version!
Used to buy fresh broccoli, that lasted a minute. I now buy frozen: broccoli, peas, sweetcorn, Thai veg, and freeze tinned toms in ice cube trays (some dishes don’t need a whole can!), love the ice cube trays with lids!
This is awesome. I use this when making things I don't use very often (like sofrito), and things I use constantly (like garlic and ginger - separately). The rare frozen things ensure that I can throw it together when I want it, and the common things ensure I don't have to take the time to peel and chop. I don't freeze my own veggies as often, but I can't live without buying frozens. They are such a life saver!! Thank you for this episode!
Love these videos! As soneo who is incredibly time poor and exhausted after work these videos help, inspire and motivate me to cook more! Thanks Ethan you're a legend.
Your videos have changed everything I’m accustomed to with cooking. Now I’m unable to cook without researching the best way and the best seasoning mix. Your videos make it simple to think more about what goes with what and how to really make a dish taste good/ the way it is supposed to taste. ILY!!!
Dude please never change! I love how your bring science into the kitchen and not only that but think about things from a home cooks perspective. So often do the "youtube" cooks turn from simple things I could see myself doing to far and beyond that is just outside of anything I'd wanna follow.
Excited for this one. Just got done making some breakfast udon with frozen spinach thrown in. The spinach is mild so I can use a bunch and I let it soak in tsuyu base while I get everything else ready which let's it absorb all the flavor
Ive been using the meat protocol, which is super easy and convenient. Ive already started freezing flat packs of portioned rice and olive oil and basil. Im going to be adding these to my routine now. It makes it so easy to eat healthier and control portions. I'm looking forward to the written instructions. Thank you
! You are saving me so much money and time!
I very much enjoy the academic approach to cooking and explaining. Such a wonderful channel.
not gonna lie I've recently started using pre-packaged frozen vegetables for convenience and it saves me so much time. they arent quite as good but the difference is minimal when I just want a decent, healthy weeknight meal, and the price is about the same as the same veggies sold fresh, sometimes it's even cheaper (in Canada)
Yes, I thought the video would be about using ready frozen veg. If I buy a 1kg bag of carrots it might two weeks but even then I don't finish it. Mushrooms only last days. So I buy these veg ready frozen. Here in the UK I think frozen veg is more expensive than fresh, but for me more convenient and less wasteful.
First, I wanna say that your videos and your approach especially (doing experiments, doing research about why things work instead of just giving instructions) has been extremely helpful to my approach in the kitchen. So thanks :D
Second, I coincidentally started doing protocols 1 and 2 (freezing garlic and ginger in cubes, prepping and freezing veggies) last week, and it's been a real game changer for me! With a couple hours of prep on Saturday, I've been able to cook both in the morning and evening when coming back from work (my choice). Even yesterday, when I was bone-tired, I still managed to cook some aloo gobi, a quick carrot vegetable, and some chives. I haven't noticed a big flavor difference in frozen garlic cubes vs fresh-cut ones until yesterday, nor have I had any trouble with the veggies. The only difference is that my onions do lose their crunch, as you pointed out, so I might go back to cutting them for every meal. However, I noticed that when I cut a red onion into rings and put them in the fridge, they retained their crispiness for a couple days, so I might try cutting extra onions with a few meals and just using them the next day, similar to your video on meal prepping. Anyways, that's my experience so far. Gonna try and do even more next week!
Once again, thanks for giving me so many ideas and fundamentals to explore with. Your videos are top quality, and I really appreciate them as fundamental resources, allowing me to build whatever I want off of them!
your channel has been a huge inspiration for making cooking at home actually attainable. I'm not there yet but this is definitely a gamechanger and I'm excited to test it out for myself
My parents rarely bought frozen veggies, so I grew up thinking they were bad for cooking with. I really struggle now to cook (I hate planning meals and cooking) but still need to, especially now that I'm a mom. Thank you for giving me ideas for making it less of a chore!
As a neurodivergent, I'm 100% sure this will get me to eat better without feeling overwhelmed. Thank you for educating us!
It really helps! Having frozen veggies helps so much!
Exactly, I just couldn't bring myself to do it before. This guy and Josh Cortis save me so much time and money, especially now with insane restaurant prices, just by taking their time to explain prep and strategies.
exactly, i add some olive oil, salt and spices, put it on an air fryer/oven and you have a whole meal there
Use accurate words
@@jamessheppard4372 ‘Neurodivergent’ _is_ an accurate word. You meant to say “use a precise word”, as opposed to a generalization.
This will definitely help me diversify my diet! For example I don't like celery much on its own, so I don't buy it (or buy it and let it rot) and consequently miss on the flavor it could add as a "team player" in a dish. Preparing and freezing a batch of mirepoix is such a great idea! Thank you for all the experimenting and useful info 🙏
These are the videos I’ve always needed, they make cooking so easy to understand intuitively.
I mince fresh herbs finely, then put them in some gladware, and freeze them solid. Crumble the stuff into dishes as they are cooked. I also freeze leftover tomato paste, lest it get moldy in the fridge.
Oh, Ethan, I really needed this message. I'm unexpectedly laid up, can't get out of bed, and my vegetables I bought 4 days ago at the market are starting to wilt and are going bad. My hubbie hates when we have to throw out food. I will be a new convert for frozen food.
You got this!
@@EthanChlebowski Getting old sucks, a day to not be able to cook is like a day w/o sunshine. I can't lift my big oval Le Creuset dutch oven anymore. Sacre bleu!!!!!
Of you need to teach hubby how to cook :)
Great video! I always have a hard time with the texture of veggies in frozen meals. But learning about this I understand why I'm fine with, for example, cooking frozen peas and eating them straight away, vs not liking them in a frozen home made meal. The texture probably changes even more when they're re-frozen for the meal and then re-heated. It's all coming together! I'll have to plan for this
One of the best videos for meal prep, Hats off to your efforts. Thanks a lot
Love your channel! There is Rtings for electronics, Project Farm and Torque Test Channel for tools, and Gamers Nexus kills it for PC hardware. But I haven't come across anyone else doing quality testing in the food world. I will never get enough of these videos!!!.
I'd love to see you do a comparison video on blanching vs. not blanching. We grow green beans and needed to preserve a lot of them. I watched a few youtubers comparing blanching vs. not blanching green beans, and in each case they preferred the non-blanched ones. We tried the same experiment and came to the same conclusion. Blanched ones retained just a bit more color but were a lot more mushy when cooked; non-blanched ones retained much of their original crispness.
that's interesting and good to know. i hope the hot peppers i cut up and froze will be ok. i was worried about freezer burn so i put the cut peppers in an ice cube tray and then filled the air space with chicken broth. they'll be used in cooking for flavoring.
I also tend to do a fair bit of batch cooking, but I specifically batch cook sauces that pair well with the ingredients i bought for that week. Usually means I make 3 and they keep really well for about a month (unless you are using milk or cream, then i'd limit it to a week or 2). The sauces are usually the cooking that takes the longest for the meals I tend to make mid week, so doing so knocks a normal 30-45min cooking session to more like 15-20min.
The milk doesn't care about how long it is frozen.
I sort of already do protocols 2 and 3, except "on the fly." I freeze meat and vegetables, each in individual portions. So, I can take a portion of the meat of my choice, a portion of one or two veggies, and make a meal. The freezing of the aromatics is brilliant! I will be implementing this tomorrow with the aromatics I use often.
Indeed, I started doing this because my fresh vegetables would nearly always go bad before I could use them up. Nobody likes to waste money.
Something to keep in mind is that a lot of sauces, gravies, etc don't seem to hold up well to freezing. For some it messes up the texture, for many it washes out a lot of the flavor. But with most of other ingredients ready to go in the freezer it's nothing to whip up your chosen sauce.
Thanks for a really great video full of ideas and inspiration. 😊🌻
Thank you so much for changing the way I cook and helping me to reduce food waste. I just made chicken thighs in the skillet from frozen. They were flattened and put in portion sized bags. I CANNOT believe how well they cooked. Even better sear and maybe an extra 2 minutes of work.
Love this channel. All your hard work helps the rest of us - especially when we really need the added motivational nudge after a busy day - to take the chaos out of cookery. A little preparation and organisation in advance makes the difference between giving in to whatever will satisfy a hunger quickly versus ensuring that you’re eating well, saving money and time and stress by taking control of your intake as a home cook instead of resigning yourself to the role of mere food consumer. Takeout becomes the occasional treat it was always meant to be (and is all the more enjoyable for it) when you have done away with the need to resort to it so often, having effectively developed your own convenience foods. As I’ve followed your videos and implemented small improvements along the way, not only do I now eat, feel and even sleep much better, I shop smarter and have less clutter and junk in my fridge, freezer and kitchen cupboards. Not too much to say that it’s having a magical effect on life in general, actually. Thanks, Ethan.
Drink every time Ethan says “protocol”.
Great, I now have alcohol poisoning!
I am new to your channel and I am loving it! You provide such well researched information and your demonstrations are so easy to grasp. THANK YOU for all that you do!
Just wanted to call out how nice the breakdown you did here is structurally for me. Great video, thank you for these frameworks
Putting frozen stuff onto the hot surface of a stainless steal pan will warp the pan pretty quickly. So be mindful, especially if you use high end stainless steal cookware that is meant to last a lifetime. Thaw it, and of course this doesn't apply if the food that is added to boiling water like frozen peas.
Just wondering what kind of stainless steel pan do you use because I use frozen food in my stainless pan all the time no warping.
But.. NUTRIENTS!!!?
Ethan this vid is freaking awesome!! I love watching your content bc I learn so much. And today I realized my attempts to freeze potatoes didn't work bc I didn't blanch them. Just want you to know your content is fit for the novice to professional chef. Thank you for sharing your gift with us & God bless!
I love his approach. These videos are so helpful.
My most recent freezing sucess is freezing carmelized onions. Using my food processor I sliced enough onions to fill my slow cooker, I added some olive oil and salt, tossed to mix, and then cooked it on low until the onions were cooked down and carmelized (overnight). It makes a broth too, which I froze separately.
I froze them in one cup portions.
Alternative title: These frozen vegetables changed my life
Pre chopping and freezing vegetables changed my life. It makes it so easy to cook with vegetables, just reach in the freezer and grab a handful. And nothing ever spoils.
Dude, thank you so much for these kinds of videos. You really explain things so well and make cooking good food something that is within reach. Thanks!
Ok yes but now I need to know about safe practices on reusing freezer bags because it seems wasteful to use them only once. Love the ice cube tray idea though!
I wash inside and out in hot soapy water, rinse well in very hot water then are dry bag open over a clean glass. When outside dry, I wash and dry hands well, then reverse bag back from outside to in, back on glass. Once dry it’s ready to use again. I get 4 or 5 uses before discarding. Been doing for years.
Why I season my refrigerator, NOT my vegetable
lmao
Love the templates, it is really what sets this Channel above the others
I’ve seen the garlic video and now this. This channel is on it’s own planet when it comes to usefulness and out of the box thinking
I just buy Frozen vegetable packets... That's it for my life
thats what i do. E Z, and i just eat a whole bag for enough servings.
Branch
Added bonus, most frozen vegetables are picked, washed, and frozen VERY quickly. Depending on your location/grocery store, and your home storage, frozen veggies are often more nutritious than fresh.
Yeah same here living in rural small america (pop 50ish) 4 and a half hour drive to walmart easier to get frozen in bulk
Drinking Challenge (try not to die edition): take a drink every time Ethan says the word "protocol"
Two things...
"that being said" is usually my go to repeated phrase for Ethan videos that'll get ya drunk.
Alcohol is a poison.
Not something fun.
@@CordeliaWagner who said anything about alcohol?
I like the ice cube system for herbs as well. Fresh cilantro goes bad so quickly, I just freeze a bunch of cilantro cubes with just enough water to submerge them, and toss one or two into a soup whenever I make it.
Dude your like a wizard i swear. Every time im on the web looking into something, you seem to drop a video going over the whole subject for me.
When i was making pasta sauces, your san marzano tomato video....just the other day i was tired of wasting vegetables, and started lookig up freezing techniques, and here you come again.
Keep up the great work , your killing it constantly
I really tried to like frozen broccolis but their texture is so weird.
Yep! It definitely depends on the vegetable and how you use it. Highly recommend the cooked and frozen sweet potatoes in this video 👍
literally came to write this.... frozen broccoli is soooooooo gross. its like spongy and whack.
Hmm I have not had that issue with roasted, pan fried, or air fried frozen broccoli. I try to get it mildly browned
Frozen broccoli is definitely worse then fresh, BUT frozen broccoli is convenient and often much cheaper than fresh, so what i sometimes do is to steam the frozen broccoli and then squeeze out as much water as possible in my palms, then chop it up for a stir fry or an alfredo sauce. It minimizes the slimy sponginess.
I find that some methods of cooking (and some brands of frozen broccoli) are better/worse than others. I had given up on frozen broccoli for a while but then decided to give it another chance, and it works really well for roasting in the air fryer! almost better than fresh!
I thought this was going to be about using the stuff from my local grocery store's frozen section, not turning my kitchen into a frozen vegetable factory. I'm pretty sure most people would consider this video's title misleading
That explanation on blanching was excellent!! I never knew about the chemical damage aspect of things
I have a slap chopper which cuts individual pieces of vegetables in perfect sizes - small or larger pieces . I freeze them individually and place them in ziplock bags. Now I don’t waste veggies anymore and I am ready to make soups anytime. Thank you for your ideas.
Freezing things creates microscopic knifes of ice in between the molecules of food that destroy many properties they have, one of them been taste. Others might be nutrition properties.
I think you'll find it is the opposite. Breaking cell walls by freezing (all vegetables and plant cells are mainly water, so freezing will cause them to split open) this then also causes the vegetable content to be better saved and cause the flavour to suffuse into whatever it is you're cooking much better.
10:25 you aren't weird, chopping is like the second most fun part of cooking. especially if you pretend you're the Albert Fish of vegetables and you scream "no-one can save you now!" as you butcher your onions. I think that's pretty normal
Actually liked and suscribed. Not only you gave a thorough explanation, but you also tested what you were saying. Props ma guy
Great content for the people who HATE cooking and would much rather spend their time doing something else, but recognize the HUGE health benefit from being able to control EXACTLY what goes in the majority of the food they consume.
I feel like you repeat a LOT of stuff in this video. It gives big "chatGPT wrote my college essay" vibes and causes me to tune out. I think the script for this one could be a lot more slick and improve engagement if you focused on saying the key points, once each. There's also a lot of obvious stuff that's read out loud and shown on screen like "to freeze your vegetables, first you need to chop them and prep them" - you seem to dwell on that for far too long for such an obvious point. I'd condense that down to like, "after chopping your vegetables, you should blanch them. Here's why..."
I’d venture to say that AI did the voiceover. It’s pretty convincing though. Just some key intonations that AI won’t be able mimic flawlessly yet. Still valuable content though.
Where are your videos? You seem like you must have a really good channel.
Absolutely not. Briccoli for example, it gets squishy and loses its crunch/crispiness
Thank you! I love your channel. I really want to get better at doing Protocol 1 and have frozen aromatics ready. Way too often, I put in a spoonful of garlic paste or just leave out the onion because I don't want to bother chopping the whole thing.
My favorite tips that I already do are in Protocol 2. I buy a big package or two of Mushrooms, Prep and thick slice, Saute briefly and freeze spread out flat on baking sheets. When frozen I put in freezer bags to pull out what I need. The other thing I do, is buy prewashed bagged spinach. Throw the unopened bag in the freezer. When frozen, crunch it up, open it and roll up to remove the air. Very handy for adding a bit to omelets or stirfry. Thanks again!
I like the little mirepois cubes. I made pesto from my own summer basil and froze it in one container. The cubes make more sense. I also freeze garden fruits like raspberries, cherries and peaches- sprayed with water on a sheet pan and frozen first, then put in a bag for longer storage. Edited to add: I work in a kitchen where we parboil tons of russet potatoes for frying later. When we freeze them first, they disintegrate a bit when it comes time to fry them. I wonder if little thin skinned potatoes would survive the process better.
I often freeze thin skin potatoes; and yet they survive blanching much better than russets.
Thus is the sacrifice one must make for great fries though 🤷🏾♂️
Please stop using the word protocol.
One thing about this style of video focusing on "experiments" is that you're doing all the testing yourself. Even with the shuffling and blinding and whatnot, you have a stance or theory to prove, sell, support, etc. It makes the testing (basically most of the vids on the channel) kinda iffy. lol more like... why bother showing this pseudo-objectivity
I really liked the way you structured the video. Especially because you gave a good thought to reasoning why I should implement it.
I have been blanching and freezing veg, recipe bases, etc. for years. I worked very long hours and it makes sense to cook up a lot, freeze it and get extra easy midweek food.
Because I am usually only cooking for one or two people, I am a big fan of using frozen vegetables, they usually are less expensive than fresh. I like that I can have a wider variety of veggies. I also am a fan of slicing or chopping onions and then freezing them when I buy a big bag because it's a bargain.
I like individual veggies over mixes but there are some great mixes. For a very quick meal, I use frozen stir fry veggies plus a protein. I also like to make fried rice with them. The traditional American vegetable mix is great for shepherds pie or a pot pie.
I love the explanations as to why rather than just antadotal evidence. Great job! Now I will blanch, vacuum seal, and freeze my aromatics and sofrito. Oh, and many of my garden veggies! Thanks!!!!
Hey man, I just wanted to say thank you for this! Super helpful - I’m going to be trying protocol one tonight.
One thing I do, is I have a vegible chopper or a food processor and just dice up a ton of onions. From there I dump them into a crock pot with salt and olive oil for like 10 -12 hrs on low/5-6 hrs on high and I stir every few hours. I now have caramelized onions. BTW I use 1 cup raw is 1 onion and .5 cup caramelized onions is 1 onion. I freeze them in soupper cubes and boom. Instant onions to any dish.
Solid Vid Ethan , thank you for more tools to make cooking easier ,enjoyable and timely. Helps a lot as a student.