The pod will pop open. Use your thumb to push the peas out of the pod. For snow peas, wash and cut the tips from both ends of the pods. Kitchen shears work well. For sugar snaps, wash and remove the string.
Sugar snaps have strings about both sides of the pod.
Start at the tip and pull the string up the front, and then snap off the stem and pull the string down the back. Freezing Peas Frozen peas keep their flavor, color, and nutrients better than canned. Frozen peas can be thawed and substituted for fresh in salads. To freeze English peas. Harvest when pods are filled with young, tender peas that have not become starchy.