Blanching

Thought I'd show how I blanch to prepare stuff for the freezer. First, you need the crop you are going to freeze. Clean it and prepare it. Use only the best produce at the absolute peak of perfection and without blemish, or you can do like I do and use the stuff you grow yourself.

Make sure you have plenty of ice. Find the blanch time for your specific produce.

The general procedure is to heat the produce to a certain point to stop enzymes in the food from causing the frozen food to deteriorate. Then cool it in ice water to stop the heating process quickly.

I fill a pot with a strainer with enough water and bring that to a full roiling boil.



I have the produce, green peas in this case, ready to go. I use a smaller bowl to separate out the amount I want to go in the water.



I have a sieve in ice water ready to pour the produce in once it is blanched.


When the water is boiling properly I dump the produce in the boiling water, put the lid on, then start the timer. I immediately refill the small bowl with the amount of produce for the next round. When the timer goes off, I take the lid off, carry the pot to the other half of the sink and drain the hot water out of the strainer, carefully keeping the hot water for the next batch. I then dump all he produce in the sieve in the ice water. I use a fork to scrape everything out. The pot then goes back on the stove to return to boiling for the next batch. Then things get exciting.

While the water is heating up, I stir the produce in the ice water to cool it off. Once it is cold I take it out, drain it, and add more ice to the ice water. I generally do this before the water returns to a full boil.


After the water returns to a full boil, I dump in the next batch in and start the timer. I quickly refill the small bowl for the next batch. I then drain the produce and dump it in a storage bowl.



I keep repeating this process until everything is blanched, then move to the freeze it stage.

With things with a short blanch time like peas or shredded cabbage it can get fairly hectic. With things with longer blanch times like chard or kale, it's not so rushed. Once you do it a time or two, you get in a rhythm and it goes pretty well.

Blanching is one of my least favorite things to do, maybe because it is so paced and stressful. I have a hard time not putting too much produce in at once and causing the temp to go too low on the boil. I've always wondered if I was supposed to start timing immediately or once the water had returned to boiling. You time yours immediately, right?

Yeah, I dump it in, put the lid on, and start the timer immediately. That's the way I've read to do it.

I tend to put too much in at one time too. Most of the time it calls for a pound or some set amount. I used to carefully weight it out but I just guess now. I've got a fair idea of how much needs to go in that small bowl. Often it gives a range anyway, like 1-1/2 to 2 minutes for peas, so I split the difference and cook it for 1:45. I know I usually guess wrong and on the side of lets get this finished but I figure it is close enough.

I make sure the water is at a full boil before I dump the produce, then watch it. When it starts to boil again, I cut the dial on the stove from "HI" to maybe medium to keep the water from boiling over. It still gets to boiling pretty well with that lid on.

VERY good explanation of the blanching process!! I've never blanched before bc I didn't know how--NOW I DO! I figure it's gotta be worth it, just like canning my tomatoes every year is worth it.
DD used some canned tomatoes in lieu of fresh (bc they're not in yet) and told me that 2010 was calling me. Yes, they keep for a LOOOONNNGGG time.
But, I really like frozen vegetables, too. Thanks for posting--I'm ready to try this now.

That's a great tutorial Ridge! I'm glad you added pictures for those of us who are visual learners.

You are so precise. I don't measure, just dump it in. I kinda time the process, but real loosely. Timer? I must be doing OK, because so far, nobody's died or got sick. Canning-I am more careful and I follow the directions.

This is more how you should do it, not how I really do it. I am pretty loose on the measurements though I do use a timer. Now if I obey the timer is a different thing, but I need a reminder, "Oh, yeah. It's about ready" so I don't forget. You young whippersnappers wouldn't understand that.

It's not that precise. What's a full boil to me might be a little different for you. Ho much water you have in there at a full boil will help determine how fast it comes back to a boil after you dump that unmeasured amount in. It doesn't have to be that accurate.