Proper freezing of cauliflower

Freezing cauliflower at home is simple, the main thing is to know what points to look for when preparing a vegetable for the procedure and thawing it.

Correct freezing of cauliflower

Choosing heads for freezing

Heads are carefully selected before freezing cauliflowers for the winter. Heads with medium-sized inflorescences are taken. to eat young cauliflower, whose taste is more delicate. Pay attention to the appearance of the vegetable. It should not be damaged by pests or diseases. If there are dark spots on the inflorescences, the crop was exposed to direct sunlight during cultivation. It is advisable to choose specimens that do not have burns.

Do not freeze loose heads of cabbage or use inflorescences that have already begun to fade. It is better to freeze cauliflower, which is small and medium in size.

There are hybrids designed to freeze for the winter. They should be used for winter harvesting.

Preparation

Before freezing cauliflower at home, you need to prepare heads in a certain way.Preparing the heads for freezing consists of 2 stages:

• cutting the head into inflorescences;
• blanching.

Let’s dwell on each stage in more detail.

Cutting into inflorescences

The selected heads of cabbage are washed under running water. This procedure is carried out carefully so as not to inflict mechanical damage to the inflorescences. For better purification of inflorescences, warm water is collected in a deep bowl and a vegetable is immersed in it for a while. After 2-10 minutes, take out the head and leave it to dry.

Next, remove the leaf plates and divide the head into inflorescences. It is best to cut the vegetable into inflorescences, which will have identical sizes. Pre-remove all damaged and browned parts of the vegetable crop, if any. Before freezing cauliflower for the winter at home, determine the size of the inflorescences.

The head of cabbage should be divided into inflorescences of the required size

After this, the inflorescences are soaked in brine. To prepare 1 liter of brine, take 4 tsp. table salt. Soaking in brine is necessary so that all insects who like to hide in dense inflorescences crawl out. The prepared vegetable is soaked for 30 minutes. After this time, the vegetable is washed in warm water.

You can freeze the cauliflower inflorescences already at this stage, but experts previously recommend that the heat treatment be done.

Blanching

Before freezing the cauliflower in freezer, produce blanching. In any large pot or metal bowl, they collect water and put it on fire. As soon as the water begins to boil, inflorescences prepared for freezing are lowered into it. Blanch a fresh vegetable for 3 minutes. During this time, a large container with ice is prepared, where a small amount of water is poured. After 3 minutes inflorescences are removed from boiling water and transferred to an ice bath to cool. After 3-4 minutes water is drained and ice is taken out. Once the inflorescences have dried, you can freeze the cauliflower.

Freezing process

You can freeze the cauliflower for the winter in bags intended for freezing, or plastic containers. If the cauliflower is frozen for the winter in packages, it is ensured that there is a minimum amount of air in them. The more air is in the tank, the shorter the shelf life of the vegetable in the freezer. It’s best to get rid of excess air with a cocktail straw. If you need to freeze a lot of cabbage for the winter, it is better to use special vacuum packers.

Other recommendations

In addition to the proper preparation and freezing of cauliflower, it is important to know how to store and thaw the vegetable.

• Cauliflower is stored in the freeze for a maximum of 9 months. Freezing prepared cauliflower should be accompanied by labeling of containers. On each package indicate the date of freezing.
• Defrost the vegetable crop for no more than 1.5 minutes.This applies to both heating in the microwave and heating in a double boiler. If you heat the vegetable for a longer time, it will become loose and lose some taste.
• If you freeze moist cauliflower, ice crystals form on its inflorescences. After defrosting, such a vegetable will not be crispy and dense.

To summarize

To freeze cabbage, it is important to follow a number of rules: choose the right head for planting, divide into inflorescences, blanch.