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Blanching FAQ

Before we get into the nitty gritty of how to blanch vegetables, let’s go over some common questions asked about blanching.

What Does It Mean to Blanch a Vegetable?

The first question you might have, is what does it mean to blanch a vegetable? Blanching is to parboil, or partially cook, a vegetable before freezing.

What Does Blanching Vegetables Do?

Blanching vegetables effectively locks in colour, flavour, texture, and vitamins. When you blanch your vegetables you cook the enzymes that contribute to a loss quality.

The objective of blanching is to extend the freezer life of your vegetables. And who doesn't love pulling out a bag of frozen peas in January to enjoy that fresh from the garden flavour?

Another advantage of blanching is that it also kills surface bacteria on the vegetables, which makes your food safer and last longer.

Why Do I Blanch My Vegetables Before Freezing Them?

Blanching is an important step in freezing vegetables. And freezing your vegetables is one of the easiest methods of preserving your harvest for the long, cold winter months ahead. Sorry for reminding you. Unless you live somewhere it's warm in the winter, then I am not sorry, just jealous.

But it isn't quite as easy as washing and throwing your beans into a bag and the freezer. It is important to blanch your vegetables first or they will turn starchy and inedible in a short time. The next steps in freezing your vegetables can be found on my post on freezing fruits and vegetables.

Do I Have to Blanch Fruit?

No, surprisingly. See my post on how to freeze fruit.

How Hard is it to Blanch Vegetables?

Blanching vegetables is easy! It is a simple process and it can be done in a few minutes. Read on for step-by-step instructions.

What Happens if I Don't Blanch My Vegetables?

I know, I know, blanching sounds like the most boring task. But trust me. It's worth it. Why, you ask? Because not blanching your vegetables = mushy, starchy, ruined frozen vegetables. And why would you want to spend all that time and effort growing the vegetables to skip the important step of blanching and have to throw it all away?

What Vegetables Can Be Frozen Without Blanching?

Herbs, mushrooms, onions, peppers (both hot and bell), tomatoes, and zucchini can be frozen without blanching. Use the flash-freezing method outlined in the post Freezing Fruits and Vegetables.

What Else Do You Use Blanching For?

Blanching is a common technique to skin tomatoes and peaches. Some people recommend to score the bottom of the tomato or peach with an X to help remove the skins.

The riper your tomatoes or peaches are, the easier the skins will come off. Take them out of the hot water or steamer and place them in an ice bath. Once they are cooled the skins will slip right off.

How Long Do You Blanch Your Vegetables For?

There are two steps to blanching: cooking then immediately cooling. Before you start blanching your vegetables, you need to look up how long to cook them for in the hot water or steamer. Thicker foods will take longer than leafy greens to cook and cool.

There is a great list of blanching times from the University of Minnesota or from the National Centre for Home Food Preservation here.

Blanching requires careful timing of the cooking step. Do not over/under blanch. The timing is important. Too short and the enzymes aren't destroyed, too long and the vegetables are overcooked. Either will cause the vegetables to deteriorate in the freezer or when cooked.

Isn't Blanching Vegetables Just Like Cooking Them?

No. You aren't cooking the vegetables fully. Blanching is parboiling - partially cooking, so that you kill the enzymes but stop the cooking process before the vegetables are fully cooked. What you want is to finish cooking the vegetable later, when you use it from the freezer. Fully cooked vegetables don't keep well in the freezer.

How Will I Know the Vegetables Are Ready?

With time, you will recognize when your vegetables are ready - they turn brighter in colour. If they turn brownish/muddy/mushy, you have over cooked them. Discard them or eat them now because they won't keep well in the freezer.

What is an Ice Bath?

Vegetables need to cool very quickly once they come out of the hot water or steam to stop the cooking process. To do this, they are submerged in an ice bath.

You may think that you throw the vegetables into a bucket of ice, but that isn't quite right. You need to add water to the ice - the water will allow the vegetables to be submerged and surrounded by cold water. The ice will melt as you add your batches of hot vegetables and should be topped up to keep the water cold.

Choose a Cooking Method

Hot Water Blanching

Hot water blanching is one of the most common methods of blanching vegetables. It is basically boiling your vegetables. Choose a pot large enough to allow your vegetables to float freely in the water.

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Steam Blanching

Another way to blanch your vegetables is to use a steamer. An advantage to steaming is it removes less vitamins than boiling. To steam your vegetables, you will need a pot with a colander type basket that lets the steam freely move around the vegetables that are suspended above the water.

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Ice Supply

Blanching takes quite a bit of ice. I have an ice maker in my fridge, which is handy. If you don’t have an ice maker, you can use trays of cubes, but you will likely run out of ice cubes using this method. It is easier to buy a bag of ice if you plan on doing a large batch of vegetables.

Another advantage I found was that it was a good way to use up the lump of ice that mine always seems to make in the ice tray…

1. Harvest Your Vegetables

One of the most important parts of this process is choosing the best vegetables to freeze. Let’s go over some basics.

Harvest Time = Prime Time!

Pick your vegetables when they are at their prime. Blanching locks in that fresh from the garden taste but it won’t fix an overripe bean or pea. If you wouldn’t eat it fresh that day, you won’t want to eat it after it’s been sitting in the freezer for two months either.

What is the Best Time of Day to Pick Vegetables?

Did you know that there is a best time of day to pick your vegetables? The best time of day to harvest your vegetables is in the morning before the sun has heated them up and turned some of the sugars to starch. Corn will be much sweeter if picked early in the day.

If you can’t blanch them right away, immediately store them in the fridge until they are ready to be blanched (except for some vegetables where this isn’t recommended, like tomatoes).

2. Cleaning and Prepping Your Vegetables for Blanching

The thing with garden produce is it’s dirty and buggy. So, while you are waiting for the water to boil, wash your vegetables well and cut off any blemishes or damaged spots.

*Tip – you can start your water boiling while preparing your vegetables for blanching.

How to Prepare Your Vegetables for Blanching

Imagine how you want to eat the vegetables later. Cut your vegetables into these sizes. Make sure to cut into uniform sizes so they cook evenly. Beans can be cut into 1 inch pieces, Swiss chard and greens cut into smaller strips, grate or cube your zucchini. You get the picture. If not, here are a couple:

3. Hot Water or Steam Blanching Your Vegetables

Okay, the water is boiling, you have your ice bath ready, your timer set and you are ready to add your first batch of vegetables.

Smaller is Better

Process the vegetables in small batches so that you can be sure they all cook at the same rate. It makes it easier to get the vegetables out of the water faster too.

The water should be boiling when you add the vegetables and return to a boil within 30 seconds or so, or you have added too many vegetables.

Timing is Everything!

Set your timer. Start timing the cooking once the water has returned to a boil.

It takes a bit to get the hot vegetables out of the pot and into the ice bath. I like to allow like 10 seconds or so at the end to start removing them from the hot water and putting them in the ice bath. The vegetables keep cooking, even in the ice bath, until they are completely cold.

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How Do I Get the Vegetables Out of the Water?

Safely…

This is boiling water. Not something to mess with. Be careful.

Also, you don’t want to scoop out a bunch of hot water and put it in your ice bath or you will run out of ice fast.

I use a colander and tongs, or a mesh strainer with a handle to remove the vegetables. If using a steamer, then carefully remove the basket with the veggies. Colanders help to contain small pieces and lift them out at once.

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Ice Bath Time

Place your blanched vegetables immediately into the ice water once the time is up. This is a very important step because it stops them from cooking.

If you don’t cool them off fast, your veggies will stay hot and cook longer than you want and possibly overcook and become mushy in the freezer or when you cook them after freezing. Sort of defeats the purpose of blanching your vegetables doesn’t it?

Stir them around in the water so that they cool completely.

5. Drain Your Blanched Vegetables

Drain and dry your vegetables so that they aren’t full of water and soggy. Greens can be given a squeeze. Too much water can become ice crystals in the freezer and contribute to freezer burn.

6. Clean Up

Like any task, the clean up is the least fun. But luckily the big pots and bowls are pretty clean – boiling water and vegetables. So they wash up fast. A quick dip and wipe in hot soapy water, rinse, and drip dry on a tea towel, and you’re done.

Wait, Save Your Water!

What Can You Use The Water For?

Have you made vegetable broth before? Well, you just did. As long as your vegetables were clean before processing and there isn’t any dirt in the leftover water, you can make soup with the water. I like to freeze my broth in saved yogurt containers because they stack nice and pop out easily.

One Catch…

If you used some stronger flavoured vegetables like Swiss chard or broccoli then it can be a bit too strong for soup, depending on what kind of soup you want to make. Then what can you do with it?

Vegetable Water For Your Vegetables

So, you didn’t get the vegetables quite as clean as you thought and there are some bits of dirt on the bottom. What can you do with the leftover vegetable water? Try using it to water your plants. I pour any leftover water I don’t want to keep into a five gallon pail and let it cool then water my garden with it.

Next: Storing your Frozen Vegetables

Now it’s time to freeze your blanched vegetables. Make sure you read this post: Four Easy Steps to Freezing Fruit and Vegetables. It tells you how to avoid common mistakes people make when freezing fruits and vegetables. There is no point in going through all of this work and not properly storing them is there?

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