I have frozen peeled chunks of fresh ginger with excellent results, but when I use it I always grate or mince it.
What about freezing minced ginger… putting it in a ziploc bag, rolling it out so it is flat and popping it in the freezer. That way I could just break off a chunk of what I need (already minced - and faster to thaw).
Is there any reason “not” to do this?
Not that I can think of.
Except assessing the quantity I might need. Recipes tend to want, say “a thumb sized piece” which is easy to assess if I’ve frozen it in chunks (as I also do). But I think I’d be into some degree of guesswork if I’d pre-grated it and frozen it into a flat slab.
That said, the only issue I have with grating a chunk straight from the freezer is getting cold fingers. It’s pretty much instantly thawed as you grate.
Ha ha… thanks, but all of mine ask for a volume of minced or grated (usually no more than a teaspoon). A thumb sized piece?.. you must be cooking for 8 or more (or a seriously gingered dish).
I’m a big fan of mincing herbs and such, freezing them in ice cube trays, then keeping bags of frozen herbs at the ready. Freezer burn is a constant enemy but is usually outweighed by convenience. This works well for onions, too.
None that I can think of. Maybe try it with a couple Tbsps?
I always grate and freeze in 1/2 cup portions in small Rubbermaid containers. Then after defrosting the entire amount, it goes into a glass jar in the fridge covered with dry sherry. When I need some, spoon it out, squeeze out the sherry, and use.
And when that jar is done, the gingered sherry can be used in a stir fry.
I’ve been doing this for at least 30 years, and it works perfectly.
I have seen minced ginger in the freezer section. It’s by a company called Dorot, I think. They also have minced garlic. They are frozen in tiny cubes and you just pop out how much you want.
I do the exact same thing. We store fresh ginger in knuckle sized pieces and grate as needed but we also freeze pickled ginger slices and ginger-garlic that’s been grated. Handy prep.
My bad, from the title I was hoping this was a Gilgan’s Island discussion, I would have lent my coat to Maryanne if she were freezing.
I see you’ve picked a side!
I tried freezing some ginger once, double freezer bag. I definitely did not like the result and went back to only using fresh ginger.
What I ended up doing was leaving the skin on, and cutting into 1" chunks and vacuum sealing before freezing. I’ll then thaw the chunks I need to use on the countertop wrapped tightly in cling film.
Ginger is a key ingredient in some of my favs and this has worked well for me.
That’s pretty much what I do. I break each hand into thumb size pieces and freeze (freezer bag with the air squished out works fine). The I just take out what I need. For grating it, I leave it frozen. For pastes, I let it thaw. If I need slices or matchsticks, then I let it thaw half way. Freezing definitely does break down the ginger’s cell wall, leaving it squidgy when thawed, so I suppose that could be off putting to some.
I just throw the ginger root in the freezer, unwrapped. I find it grates much better on my micro plane from frozen, and the ginger ‘snow’ thaws right away. I don’t Peel it because the skin usually stays behind when I am grating. Worth the cold fingers!
Me too!
I found that if I freeze peeled, sliced or shredded ginger or garlic into little globs and then pack those into little freezer containers, I avoid the freezer burn or other problem (ice crystals) the plastic zipper bags have. I have not tried this with the ‘Stasher’ style’ bags. I assume one would have to dedcate a ‘garlic’ or ‘ginger’ bag in that case.
