Freezing Vegetables

Vegetable Water Blanching Timetable

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Anonymous

Except for veggies like peppers and onions they need to be blanched. The reason is to keep their fresh color but, most importantly, to stop the enzymes that break down the quality and nutrients of the food. Here's some info I shared a few weeks ago:

Vegetable Water Blanching Timetable

There have been a lot of requests for blanching veggies as of late so here's an easy timetable to follow. Be sure to check tenderness part way into the blanching guide times because freshness and size of vegetables vary and can affect how long they truly need to blanch.

Be sure to give the veggies an immediate ice water bath after the blanching to stop the cooking process. Pat veggies dry if you are going to be freezing them and remove as much air from the freezer bag as possible because both help to reduce freezer burn.

Artichoke Hearts, Globe: 7 minutes
Artichoke Whole, Globe: 10 minutes
Artichoke Whole, Jerusalem: 3 to 5 minutes
Asparagus: Small Stalk - 2 minutes, Medium Stalk - 3 minutes, Large Stalk - 4 minutes
Beans: Snap, Green or Wax - 3 minutes
Beans: Lima, Butter, or Pinto - Small - 2 minutes, Medium - 3 minutes, Large - 4 minutes
Beets: Cook until tender
Broccoli, Florets and Stems: 1 1/2 inch pieces - 3 Minutes
Brussels Sprouts, Heads: Small - 3 minutes, Medium - 4 minutes, Large - 5 minutes
Cabbage or Chinese Cabbage: Coarsely Shredded, thin wedges or leaves separated - 1 1/2 minutes
Carrots: Whole - 5 to 6 minutes, Diced or Sliced - 2 to 3 minutes
Cauliflower, Florets and stems: 1 to 1 1/2 inches - 3 to 4 minutes
Celery: Diced - 3 minutes
Corn-on-the-cob: Small - 8 minutes, Medium - 10 minutes, Large - 12 minutes, kernels - 5 minutes
Eggplant: 1 1/2 inch slices - 4 to 5 minutes
Greens, All Varieties: Tough Stems Removed - 2 1/2 to 4 minutes
Kohlrabi: Whole - 3 minutes, Cubed - 1 minute
Mushrooms: 4 to 6 minutes
Okra: Small - 3 minutes, Large - 4 minutes
Peas: 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 minutes
Peppers, Sweet: Strips or Rings - 2 to 3 minutes, Halves - 3 to 4 minutes
Potatoes, All Varieties: Cook until tender
Pumpkin: Cook until tender
Rutabagas: Diced - 2 to 3 minutes
Soybeans, In Pod: 4 to 5 minutes
Squash, Winter: Cook until tender
Squash, Summer: 1/2 inch slices - 3 to 4 minutes
Turnips: Diced - 2 to 3 minutes

Vegetables should be blanched in hot water before freezing them. Do a search on Google.