How to Blanch Vegetables Prior to Freezing
Vegetables contain enzymes that cause them to continue to ripen even after they are harvested. Freezing the vegetables slows, but does not stop, this ripening process -- leaving your thawed vegetables tough, discolored and oddly flavored.
Blanching vegetables involves boiling them for long enough to destroy the enzymes -- but not for long enough to fully cook the vegetables; after which the vegetables must be cooled rapidly to halt the cooking process. Blanched vegetables keep their quality much better in the freezer and will look and taste much better when you use them. They will also be cleaner and retain more vitamins than vegetables that are not blanched before you freeze them.
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Things You'll Need
- Peeler, optional
- Knife, optional
- Large pot
- Large bowl
- Ice
- Blanching basket
- Timer
Instructions
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Wash the vegetables thoroughly, peel them (if necessary) and cut them into the size pieces you want. If you are blanching and freezing more than one type of vegetable, keep them separate for now. Many vegetables have different blanching times, so while you can freeze more than one type of vegetable in the same container, you should blanch them separately.
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Bring a large pot of water to a boil. The pot should be large enough to easily hold the vegetables you wish to blanch along with enough water to completely cover the vegetables. On average, use approximately 1 gallon of water per 1 pound of vegetables. While you wait for the water to boil, fill a large bowl with cold water and plenty of ice cubes. Like the pot, this bowl should be large enough to completely submerge all of the vegetables in the batch you are blanching.
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Put the vegetables into a blanching basket, then put the basket into the pot of boiling water. Blanch them for anywhere from 10 seconds to 11 minutes or more, depending on the type of vegetable. The National Center for Home Food Preservation offers a list of many common vegetables along with their corresponding blanching times. Start timing from the point when the water returns to a boil.
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Remove the vegetables from the boiling water when the predetermined time is up. Immediately plunge them into the bowl of ice water. Leave the vegetables in the ice water for the same amount of time as you left them in the boiling water. This will stop the cooking process. Your vegetables are now blanched and ready to freeze.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit vegetables image by cherie from Fotolia.com
