Good News! If you have excess or leftover ginger root fresh from your backyard garden, don’t throw them away. You can freeze ginger to keep it fresh and retain its aroma for weeks and months.
While ginger is not a seasonal crop, it is not always fresh and juicy, especially during winter. If you stay in very cold regions, you sure have been looking for ways to preserve ginger and have a year-round supply.
And for the sake of leftover paste, juice, and many other derivatives of ginger, you need to know how to preserve ginger for longer. See more on that below.
What is ginger?
Ginger is a rhizome with many culinary and non-culinary uses. In some recipes, ginger is considered a herb; in others, it is a spice.
Moreover, ginger is as old as folk medicine. To date, ginger is a staple for cooking and healing purposes. Adding ginger to meals aid digestion and reduce stomach upset
Furthermore, this edible rhizome is known for its great potential to calm nausea, reduce bloating, lower blood cholesterol, and reduce one’s risk of getting cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
In many recipes, ginger lends a note of spice to meals ranging from snacks to main dishes. There are different ways to use ginger in the kitchen. You can have it fresh, ground, pickled, dried, preserved in a sugar-salt mix, or candied (crystallized).
Additionally, ginger pairs well with a lot of other kitchen ingredients like honey, lemon, and berries to make drinks and desserts. You can also add it to savory dishes, sauces, and spice blends.
Can you freeze ginger?
Yes, you can freeze ginger to keep it fresh and usable for months.
Ginger roots can stay frozen for up to nine months. Rather than throwing away ginger root leftovers, you can cut them into bits and freeze them for future use.
Can you freeze ginger juice?
Yes, you can.
If you use a lot of ginger juice for drinking and cooking, save yourself a lot of trouble with the freezer. Make the juice in large quantities and freeze it for future use. Ginger juice can stay frozen for up to six months.
The best way to freeze ginger juice and keep it useful for longer is to make ginger ice cubes. Pour the juice into an ice tray and freeze it. Transfer the frozen ginger cubes into a plastic bag and keep the bag in the freezer.
In addition, when you need ginger juice, take only as many cubes as you want and keep the rest in the freezer.
Can you freeze ginger paste?
Yes, you can.
Ginger paste lasts up to six months and may be more if you freeze it. The best way to do this is to make the paste into ice cubes. This way you can have ginger paste all year round.
Can you freeze ginger ale?
Unlike most ginger derivatives, you cannot freeze ginger ale.
Ginger ale cannot stay frozen because of its fizz. An attempt at freezing ginger ale will remove the fizziness and make the ale less refreshing and appetizing.
However, some people try to freeze ginger ale. But because it’s carbonated, it expands and bubbles disappear.
Moreover, sometimes the can ruptures and wastes the drink. If you don’t care much about the fizz, you can make ginger ale ice cubes and pop them into drinks for the ginger flavor.
Can you freeze ginger tea?
You can’t freeze ginger tea, but you can refrigerate the leftovers for up to four days.
After then, you should consume it or throw it away. If ginger tea contains sweeteners, it is likely to ferment quickly and have bacterial growth.
Can you freeze ginger crunch?
If you love to eat ginger crunch, the best way to preserve the leftovers is to freeze them.
Keeping slices of ginger crunch in the freezer can preserve them for up to three months. They’ll be just as fresh as when you first made them.
Like most cookies, you can freeze ginger cookies.
You can store your ginger cookies for up to two months if you keep them in the freezer. Just make sure they cool well before you freeze them.
Moreover, you can equally freeze ginger cookie dough for future baking. Moms will find this very handy. When you need to make cookies, thaw the frozen dough overnight and bake ginger cookies for breakfast the next morning.
Can you freeze ginger cakes?
Yes, you can.
Ginger cakes can stay frozen for up to three months. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap, and keep it in a freezer bag.
Make sure the bag is airtight and sealed. This will prevent it from getting contaminated with odorous foods in the freezer.
Can you freeze gingerbread?
Yes, you can.
Gingerbread cookies, gingerbread cake, and gingerbread dough can stay frozen for up to two months. When you’re ready to eat, thaw overnight before baking or reheating.
Can you freeze ginger shots?
Unlike ginger ale which you can’t freeze because it’s carbonated, you can freeze ginger shots to keep it for up to six months.
Freeze ginger shots into ice cubes and pop when you’re ready for a shot.
How to freeze ginger
- Get as much ginger as you want to freeze
- Then, wash the ginger to remove dirt
- Use a spoon or paring knife to remove any dry and shriveled knots
- Dry the ginger roots with a clean paper towel
- Afterward, grate or blend the roots (if you want a paste instead)
- Portion the ginger into bits that you can use at once
- Wrap each bit with plastic wrap and put all the wraps into a freezer bag
- Seal the bag and keep it in the freezer
How long can you freeze ginger?
Ginger roots stay frozen for up to six months. However, meals made with ginger may not stay up to six months because of other ingredients in the recipe.
Pros of freezing ginger
- Freezing ginger keeps it longer
- Freezing ginger helps to retain its flavor and texture
- Also, frozen ginger is easier to work with. It is easier to grate and peel (if you did not peel off the back before freezing)
- Freezing can help prevent waste
- Keeping ginger foods (like dough) frozen is very beneficial on days when you’re in a pinch. It saves you the time you’d spend peeling, grating, or blending ginger
Cons of freezing ginger
- If you don’t freeze ginger properly, it could get contaminated by other odorous foods in the freezer
- Also, refreezing thawed ginger will reduce the flavor and make it less appetizing
FAQs
Do you need to thaw frozen ginger before using it?
You may thaw frozen ginger before using it if you like. You can use the frozen cubes directly or allow them to thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Can you refreeze thawed ginger?
Refreezing already thawed ginger is not a good idea. Naturally, frozen ginger does not have the strong aroma of fresh ginger.
While it thaws, more aroma is lost. Refreezing thawed ginger will leave you with less. The best thing to do is defrost only as much as you need at a time.
What other way can you preserve leftover ginger?
If you do not want to freeze ginger roots, make ginger syrup.
Boil equal parts of sugar and water. Allow grated ginger to steep for about 10 minutes in hot water and strain. Preserve the syrup and add it to cocktails and smoothies.
Also, you can pickle ginger to preserve it if you don’t want to freeze it.
How do you know ginger has gone bad?
When ginger has gone bad, it will no longer smell like it used to.
Instead of the fresh, juicy, and peppery aroma, it smells unpleasant. In addition, bad ginger looks wrinkled, grayish, and soggy, with dark spots or white mold growth.
Conclusion
As said earlier, ginger is not seasonal. However, like other crops, ginger is not always available in its fresh form (which is the best way to use ginger).
To help this, some people grow a small bush behind their kitchens. But in the case of leftover ginger, what do you do? Freeze it.
Freezing keeps ginger fresh with its aroma intact. Moreover, it keeps it from contamination and spoilage. So, now that you know this, get a freezer bag and wrap those leftover ginger roots.
Thanks for reading.
Check Millenora for more related articles on food storage and preservation.
