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Blanching Vegetables

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee

Blanching vegetables is defined as scalding vegetables in boiling water or steam for a short time. It is a critical step in freezing vegetables to protect flavor, color and texture.

Blanching also helps remove dirt, organisms, brightens up the color, and helps preserves some vitamins. It stops the natural enzymes in the vegetables from continuing to change flavor, color and texture. Underblanching can cause the enzymes to become more active and is worse than no blanching at all.

The blanching process is quick and each vegetable has its own blanching method and time.

Learn more about blanching and a list of blanching times for many vegetables from the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Why Blanching is Important Before Freezing Corn

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee
corn
Blanching corn helps improve the texture and color during freezing.

Blanching is a process in which vegetables are lowered into boiling water for a specific time. The vegetables are subsequently dropped into ice water to quickly cool, then dried and placed in freezer containers. Freezing slows down enzyme processes, but it doesn’t stop them. Blanching is recommended to assure your corn will taste as fresh as possible after they have been frozen.

That’s because blanching stops enzyme activity. Enzymes in produce help it ripen, and continue to do their work even after the produce has been picked. By stopping the enzyme action, blanching prevents the produce from becoming overripe. Blanching also helps retain color, flavor, texture and nutrients. Blanching also helps remove dirt and small organisms from the produce.

It is important to look up the specific amount of time corn needs to be blanched and follow those guidelines. If corn is under-blanched, it can actually speed up the enzyme processes. If corn is over-blanched, the nutritional value, flavor, color and texture can be negatively affected.

Learn more in Preserve it Fresh, Preserve it Safe: Preserving Sweet Corn.

 

Prepping Vegetables for Freezing

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee
Enzymes are a natural component of food. They work inside food and can change flavor, texture, color and nutrition. Blanching stops enzymes and protects the food from quality changes.
Enzymes are a natural component of food. They work inside food and can change flavor, texture, color and nutrition. Blanching stops enzymes and protects the food from quality changes.

Most vegetables need to be blanched before freezing to inactivate enzymes and protect their quality. This is done by water or steam blanching. Can blanching be done in the microwave?

Using the microwave may produce poor results. Due to uneven heating, the microwave may not completely inactivate enzymes. This results in off flavors, poor texture and loss of color. The microwave does not save time or energy.

For best results, use water or steam blanching. Learn more about freezing at www.rrc.k-state.edu/preservation/freezing.html.

 

 

Reference to any specific commercial products, process, service, manufacturer, or company does not constitute its endorsement or recommendation. Paid for by Kansas State University