How to freeze broccoli for the winter to preserve all the benefits and taste

Freezing broccoli for the winter is a common thing, however, there are several rules that will help preserve all the benefits, taste and shape of unusual cabbage inflorescences.

Broccoli Freeze: Pros and Cons

Broccoli is sold in stores mainly in frozen form. This vegetable perfectly tolerates icing. Many have not even seen fresh broccoli.

For broccoli, as for many types of vegetables, shock or quick freezing is preferable. Modern cameras suggest such a function, it is enough to set the temperature below the standard –18 ° С.

There are many advantages to freezing broccoli:

1. So a useful and low-calorie vegetable is stored for up to 1 year.
2. Vitamins remain in cabbage, taste, it is easily prepared.

During long-term storage in the freezer, the product somehow loses its useful properties, especially if it was accidentally defrosted and re-frozen, for example, the refrigerator was disconnected from the mains. If you plan to keep the cabbage crop for a long time, then take care of reliable household appliances.

Picking cabbage

It all starts with the selection of suitable samples. Rotten, immature and deformed pieces lie poorly. Take only this broccoli:

1. Look for the forks elastic, not too small and not too large. The optimum diameter is 15-17 cm.
2. The color of the broccoli should be uniform dark green. No yellowed areas and dark spots are signs of overripe cabbage.
3. Inspect cabbage for pests - they are superfluous in the harvesting.

Tip
purity.bigbadmole.com/en/ magazine draws your attention: the most useful broccoli is just taken from the garden. If you are cultivating this cabbage, then try to freeze it for 2-3 days after harvesting.

Training

Broccoli cabbage is divided into inflorescences before freezing. Firstly, it’s not convenient to store a whole head of cabbage, it will take up a lot of space, and secondly, the pieces will freeze faster, and this will save a maximum of vitamins and minerals.

To begin, disassemble the forks into pieces and rinse them thoroughly. The next step, which is not recommended to be skipped, is soaking in salt water. Salt is added to kill insect larvae that are not always visible to the naked eye. Prepare a solution of 1 liter of water and 1 tbsp. l salt, pour them broccoli and leave for half an hour. All harmful creatures will surface.

Tip
Soaking vegetables is also recommended for drawing out excess nitric acid salts, which are better known as nitrates. If you bought a vegetable on the market, then hold it for 15 minutes in water to neutralize hazardous substances.

Remember to rinse the soaked broccoli in clean water to remove any remaining salt.

Blanching

An optional but recommended procedure is blanching. Its essence is short-term scalding with boiling water or steaming. Why do you need to blanch broccoli:

1. So the cabbage will not darken.
2. More vitamins will be saved.
3. Blanched vegetables after defrosting will cook much faster.
4. Harmful microorganisms are destroyed (they can also multiply in a freezer).

How to easily and simply blanch in boiling water:

1. Heat the water in a pan.
2. Put the broccoli in a sieve.
3. When the water boils, lower the cabbage into it and hold for a couple of minutes, not more.
4. Now take out the sieve and immediately send the vegetable under a stream of ice water.

Another option is steaming. To do this, you need a double boiler.Expose the cabbage to steam for no more than 7 minutes.

After any kind of blanching, dry the inflorescences on a napkin or towel. Do not use newsprint. The dryer will help speed up drying. Now the cabbage is ready for freezing.

How to freeze: rules

How to freeze broccoli:

1. For storage, use special freezing bags or plastic containers with lids. The material must be resistant to low temperatures and strong enough.
2. Place cabbage in bags only in a dry form.
3. Sort everything in portions to use one blank at a time. Repeated freezing harms any product; try not to allow this.
4. You can first freeze the inflorescences, and then fold them in packets. So they definitely will not stick together.
5. Standard storage temperature is 18 degrees below zero. If possible, set the indicators below.
6. Shelf life is 8-12 months, but it is better to eat the product faster.
7. Broccoli can be harvested as part of a vegetable mixture or with herbs. For this, it is simply finely chopped.

Tip
In case of large volumes, attach stickers on packages and containers with the date the product was placed in the freezer. So you will not forget to use everything until the expiration date.

Defrost what to cook from frozen broccoli

Broccoli are eaten only after heat treatment, so in any case, the product will go to the pan or to the pot with broth. Therefore, the vegetable does not require special defrosting - just throw it into the future dish. If the cabbage lies for a long time at room temperature, it will soften and deteriorate.

The easiest way to cook frozen broccoli is to boil it. Add inflorescences to vegetable and meat soup, it is very tasty to get a vegetable in cheese soup, it goes well with fish and seafood.

Another way is frying separately or as part of a vegetable stew.

Do not forget how delicious baked broccoli is. This method along with steaming is the most useful. Bake broccoli with cheese, omelette, pasta and other vegetables. Chopped cabbage is suitable for topping in pizza.

Think of your own ways to cook broccoli: a vegetable is combined with many types of products. After a shock freezing, the cabbage quickly thaws and remains as tasty and nutritious as a fresh product.