Freezing broccoli
Freezing broccoli allows you to use the product with its beneficial properties and get the full range of vitamins at any time of the year. It is convenient to store and eat cabbage in this form.
Freezing broccoli
Choosing a vegetable to freeze
Broccoli is harvested in June and July. This time is best for freezing broccoli for the winter, as it is fresh and full of vitamins. The choice of broccoli for freezing for the winter at home is done responsibly, you need to find ripe heads of cabbage. The inflorescences should be dense, without rot, dents and yellow shades.
You need to have time to freeze broccoli on the day of cut or purchase, so that the cabbage does not start to deteriorate.
Preparing broccoli for freezing
You can freeze broccoli at home, and you need to prepare it. The vegetable is cleaned of green leaves, the inflorescences are separated from the head of cabbage, and the hard parts are cut off with a knife.
Then the cabbage is washed. To remove insects that may have settled in the tops of the inflorescences, the cabbage is soaked in a saline solution. For its preparation, 40 g of table salt is dissolved in 1 liter of cold water. To properly freeze broccoli for the winter, keep it in salt water for about 30 minutes. At the end of soaking, the cabbage is washed.
Freezing methods at home
To properly freeze broccoli for the winter at home, choose one of the following freezing methods:
- with blanching in water or steam;
- no blanching.
Blanching cabbage in water
With this method of freezing, prepare one pot of cold water, bring the second to a boil. To preserve the bright color of the cabbage, add 5 g of citric acid per 1 liter of water to the second saucepan.
In a second pan, in small portions in a colander, put the inflorescences for blanching for 1-2 minutes. To freeze broccoli at home, after blanching it is cooled in cold water.
Steamed cabbage blanching
Freezing takes place in 2 stages
Boiling is replaced by steam blanching. The inflorescences are placed in a colander, set over boiling water. Cover the vegetables and steam for 5 minutes. The colander must not touch the water. Then the cabbage is cooled - the broccoli is ready for freezing.
With this method, the vegetable retains its color, crunchy properties and useful substances.
The cabbage is dried with paper towels. To freeze broccoli for the winter correctly, the vegetable is completely cooled, placed in sachets in portions and stored.
To prevent the inflorescences from sticking to each other, broccoli is frozen in 2 stages:
- Pre-freezing. The inflorescences are laid out on a tray covered with parchment or film so that they do not touch each other, they are hidden in the freezer.
- Final freeze. It is produced after the inflorescences have become hard from freezing, they are put in bags in the necessary portions and hidden for storage.
Freezing cabbage without blanching
Vegetables for the winter are frozen without blanching. The cabbage is washed well with cold water, dried, and then distributed in portions, packed in bags and frozen. If you freeze cabbage using this method, it retains its color, but loses its firmness and elasticity. This freezing method is ideal for making puree.
Like cauliflower, frozen broccoli has a shelf life of 9 to 12 months. The containers must mark the date when the cabbage was frozen when placed in the freezer.
Freezing broccoli for a baby
Freezing a vegetable for a child is carried out identically to the principles described above, it is similar to the rules for freezing cauliflower.
If a child has an allergy, broccoli is kept in clean cold water for about 2 hours, and after 30 minutes in a saline solution.
For children, the vegetable is frozen both in inflorescences and in the form of mashed potatoes. For the option of freezing in the form of mashed potatoes, boil the cabbage for 10-15 minutes under a closed lid.
To freeze broccoli, the finished mixture is laid out in sterile containers. Plastic cups are suitable for this. The containers are tightly closed with cling film and sent to the freezer.
Conclusion
To properly freeze broccoli cabbage, you must follow all freezing and storage rules. Then the green vegetable will delight you with taste until next season.