Can you Freeze Bird’s Eye Chillies?: Chillies add up a kick to your food. Most individuals prefer having their meals with an extra punch coming out of chilies. Bird’s eye chillies are popular among the people of Thailand and these are exported to various nations for several cuisines.
“Freezing and Defrosting Birds Eye Chillies: Tips for Preserving the Heat of These Spicy Peppers”
These are used for cooking Thai recipes. The chili helps in the process of digestion by producing enzymes in your body. So, you heard it right. These chilies come with beneficial importance. Check out how you can freeze these chilies for usage for up to 4 months.
- Can you Freeze Bird’s Eye Chillies?
- How to Freeze Bird’s Eye Chillies?
- Methods to Freeze Whole Bird’s Eye Chillies
- Methods to Freeze Finely Minced Bird’s Eye Chillies
- Tips to Freeze Bird’s Eye Chillies
- What are the Benefits of Freezing Bird’s Eye Chillies?
- How Long Can You Freeze Bird’s Eye Chillies?
- How to Defrost Frozen Bird’s Eye Chillies?
- How to Defrost Whole Bird’s Eye Chillies?
- How to Defrost Minced Bird’s Eye Chillies?
- Is it Possible to Refreeze Frozen Bird’s Eye Chillies?
- How long bird’s eye chillies can be kept in the fridge?
- How to store birds eye chillies in the freezer?
- What happens when you freeze chillies?
- Is it better to freeze bird’s eye chillies or dry them?
Can you Freeze Bird’s Eye Chillies?
Yes, it is absolutely possible to freeze bird’s eye chillies for months in the freezer. Like other chilli paste, you can also make bird’s eye chilli paste for freezing purposes. Check out the below points on how to freeze bird’s eye chillies.
How to Preserve Birds Eye Chillies?
There are possibly two methods for freezing bird’s eye chillies. The two approaches differ according to their structure of preservation. First of all, let us discuss how to freeze whole bird eye chillies.
Methods to Freeze Whole Bird’s Eye Chillies
- Wash it well: Start off by washing the chillies properly before moving them to the freezing bag. Now, you might be thinking why is it important to do so? It is because if there is dirt in the chilly it will disturb the freezing process.
- Pull out the stems: Before putting the bird’s eye chillies into the freezer bag, make sure you pull the stems out. It is important because the steams are smooth and once you freeze them, both the stem structure and the chillies body’s structure will take different times for freezing.
- Transfer it to the freezer bag: Once these processes are completed, transfer the bird’s eye chillies to the freezer bag. Take out as much air as possible while putting the chillies in the freezer bag. Once you pull off all the air, seal the bag and put it in the freezer.
- Mark the date: Once you set the bird’s eye chillies in the freezer bag, mark the date of freezing and use accordingly for 4 months.
Methods to Freeze Finely Minced Bird’s Eye Chillies
If you want to have a paste of bird’s eye chillies for months, yes that is also possible. You can use this paste for adding up in the soup and any other meals. Kindly follow the process below to freeze minced chillies.
- After you wash the whole chillies and take out the stems. Move ahead with finely dicing the chillies till it turns like a paste.
- Following this process, add the chopped chillies in cubes just like you freeze water for ice cubes.
- Wrap up all the trays with wax paper or foils to keep them safe from freezer burn issues.
- In case trays are taking up a lot of your freezer’s space, you can choose to transfer the solidified chilli cubes into a freezer bag for further usage.
Tips to Freeze Bird’s Eye Chillies
Following some tips to freeze bird’s eye chillies will help in bringing out the best results.
- Mix salt: When you stuff the chillies in the freezer bag, just follow one more step before that. Simply add some salt to the chillies. Salt will help in freezing the chilling well for months to come. Salt is a natural preservative which helps the preservation process.
- Add some flavours: When freezing minced bird’s eye chillies, minced some extra flavours along with the paste. For instance- You can choose to mince some garlic or other herbs along with the paste. This process will help you in the preservation of additional flavours that accompany every recipe.
- Add water or oil: When putting the chilli paste in the cube tray, choose to add some water or oil along. This method will help in removing the cubes easily when frozen.
- Add extra chillies: If you want to level up the spiciness of the chilli paste, you can always add some other chillies along with bird’s eye chilli. Simply, mix the other chillies while mincing the bird’s eye chillies for freezing.
These are the interesting tips that one can choose to follow while freezing bird’s eye chillies.
What are the Benefits of Freezing Bird’s Eye Chillies?
Freezing bird’s eye chillies comes with several advantages. Check out the below benefits of freezing chillies.
Consider an instance where your friends are coming for dinner and you do not have much time to mince chillies for Thai recipes. In such cases, you can choose to take out some minced cubes of frozen bird’s eye chillies and make the recipes.
Mincing chillies takes time and energy. To distribute your energy for other preparations, you can always choose to use frozen chillies. Either use whole chillies or paste cubes.
Moreover, frozen chillies also save you time and energy because you do not have to go out shopping every week. If you love to get your recipes spicy, frozen tricks help you the best.
At times, you might end up buying many chillies because of price deals or not being willing to go shopping every time. In such cases, chillies will turn pale with time. To manage your money and products like chillies to go to waste, you can choose to freeze them.
Freezing the bird’s eye chillies will help in using them for 4 months and you do not have to worry about wasting extra items.
Now that you are freezing your chillies, you do not have to pay extra in the market to buy them during the off-season. The cost of vegetable increases during the off-season and this is one of the very important reasons why you need to freeze items for off-season requirements.
How Long Can You Freeze Bird’s Eye Chillies?
Interestingly, for at least 4 months you do not have to worry about making chilli paste every time you cook a meal. The frozen bird’s eye chillies can be frozen as a paste for soups and soup-like curries for up to 4 months.
Moreover, if you want to have some whole fresh-like bird’s eye chillies for recipes, that is also possible through freezing. However, try to use up the frozen chillies before it turns 4 months for getting the same level of spice you get when they are fresh.
How to Defrost Frozen Bird’s Eye Chillies?
The defrosting process of frozen bird’s eye chillies is very simple and easy. All you have to do is to pay attention to the type of defrosting you are doing. For instance, defrosting whole bird’s eye chillies requires a different method and defrosting minced chillies requires a different method.
Also, Check
How to Defrost Whole Bird’s Eye Chillies?
While defrosting whole chillies try to defrost them smoothly. The liquid present in the whole chillies will be disturbed if done quickly. Therefore, to maintain the texture of the chillies please abide by the process.
For defrosting the whole chillies try to take out the chillies one night before you use them for getting nice textures.
How to Defrost Minced Bird’s Eye Chillies?
If you defrost minced bird’s eye chillies, the process differs from the above one. The minced paste of the chillies which are frozen could be directly set on the pan. You do not have to defrost the paste overnight.
In case you have added water to the paste, make sure you put it slowly in the pan or the oil will sprinkle all over.
Is it Possible to Refreeze Frozen Bird’s Eye Chillies?
Yes, refreezing the chillies is possible—however, refreezing comes with a few limitations. For instance, one major drawback of refreezing chillies, again and again, will reduce their spiciness of the chillies. Secondly, the texture of the chillies will also be disturbed due to refreezing.
For a short term, the bird’s eye chillies freeze well. However, considering long-term the spice level and structure of the chillies will be reduced. Therefore, it is important to keep the chillies frozen for only up to a duration of 4 months.
FAQs Can you Freeze Bird’s Eye Chillies
1. How long bird’s eye chillies can be kept in the fridge?
You can keep chillies in the fridge for at least 8–10 days. Simply keep the chillies in an airtight container for keeping them fresh and maintaining the structure.
2. How do you store fresh chillies in the freezer?
You can choose to freeze the chillies either as a whole or in paste form. Both ways are highly recommendable.
3. What happens when you freeze chillies?
When you freeze fresh chillies, you can enjoy their spiciness and flavor for up to 6 months. But while freezing, you need to follow the necessary instructions.
4. Is it better to freeze bird’s eye chillies or dry them?
Actually, both ways are applicable. It is because some might want to have fresh green or coloured chillies for recipes. Or else, some might choose to add dry chillies.
Conclusion
Now that you are aware that bird’s eye chillies could be frozen for at least 4 months, start making some. This process of freezing will help you in several ways as mentioned above. If you want to know more about preserving other vegetables or herbs, check out our website for updates.