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Fresh Water Chestnuts are very different from canned! They’re sweeter, nuttier-tasting and fresh/clean. After peeling, they get dropped in a bowl of water acidulated with lime juice, to prevent discoloration. Citric acid will also work. After a few minutes, the raw, peeled corms can be drained and kept in the fridge for a few days, before cooking. Put a bunch in last night’s Thai Karee shrimp curry with coconut milk, fresh lemon grass and galanga…lovely!
Meanwhile, since I can’t refrigerate all of them or eat all of them in a timely fashion, I was hoping to find information on how to can them. I’ll use mason jars to avoid metallic tastes. If there’s a recipe for how to can/preserve them, it’s hiding! I know about the lemon juice and/or citric acid to prevent browning. At some level, it may help prevent botulism.
How are you planning to test your “experiments” for safety? Acidifying the liquid you can something in isn’t the same thing as being sure the pH level throughout the food being canned is sufficiently low, and guessing at which vegetables might be similar enough to use their canning methods strikes me as, let’s say, “unwise”. I really don’t mean this to be rude, but it sounds like you’re skating on thin ice in potentially very dangerous territory there…
If I process pint jars at 10 lbs. of steam pressure, for 30-35 minutes, the result will be sterile, no spores, nothing living inside the jars*. However, I don’t know if this is overkill, or if there is a time threshold, e.g.: 30 vs. 35 minutes. I’ll be safe, just rather not turn the product into mush. (*This is the standard treatment for low-acid root crops.)
I know the WC plants are not adapted to freezes. Dormant corms are stored in my refrigerator for the winter. Freeze-adapted plants usually can move water out of cells, at low temperatures, to keep their cells from freezing as hard and their cells from exploding due to ice. Since WC don’t seem to have this capability, there’s not a lot of hope for the freeze method. Frozen, they may keep 6 months before the flavor goes off. Canned, they should be safe for at least 18 months, provided the vacuum-seal is intact. Looks like a couple trials are in order.
How to freeze chestnuts – The easiest way!
FAQ
How do you store leftover water chestnuts?
Do water chestnuts freeze well?
How long can you keep canned water chestnuts?
How do you keep water chestnuts fresh longer?
Can you freeze freshwater chestnuts?
Once you get your freshwater chestnuts, it’s time to prepare them for storage. Water chestnuts can be frozen raw or cooked. But before you do that, there are some things you need to know about freezing water chestnuts. First, freezing does not affect the texture or flavor of water chestnuts that much, but it does change their texture slightly.
How can I store chestnuts?
If chestnuts are stored at room temperature, their own respiration will consume the sugar and make them less sweet. For this reason, low-temperature storage is recommended. At home, chestnuts should be stored in a plastic bag in a chilled room. Or, the coolest part of the refrigerator is good. If you store fresh chestnuts in the freezer after refrigerating them once, you can enjoy delicious chestnuts all year round.
How long do water chestnuts last in the freezer?
Since water chestnuts are hearty vegetables that can withstand freezing and thawing quite well, they will last between 4-12 months in your freezer, depending on how well you store them. They don’t change much even after 3-4 months in the freezer as long as you have properly blanched or cooked them first before freezing.
Are frozen water chestnuts bad?
To help you get rid of rotten ingredients, here are a few tell-tale signs that your frozen chestnuts are bad: Frozen water chestnut discolors and darkens in color – this may be an indication that you thawed out your chestnuts too early or at room temperature since the enzymes can’t break down properly once it’s been defrosted.