How to freeze broccoli for the winter at home: recipes with photos and videos

Broccoli is similar in appearance to cauliflower, only it is bright green in color. It is rich in protein, vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Many doctors recommend regularly consuming broccoli for people suffering from cardiovascular disorders and for the prevention of oncology. Many housewives stock vegetables and know how to freeze broccoli for the winter at home.

Frozen stocks

Broccoli season is in the summer. In the cold season, it is better to buy a vegetable in supermarkets. It is much cheaper and safer to stock up for the winter during the summer period.Fresh broccoli does not store for a long time, so freezing is the best option to preserve the beneficial properties of the product for almost a year. Cabbage, like many other vegetables, can be frozen in the freezer. But for proper storage, it must be carefully prepared.

Freezing Features

Freezing, as one of the methods of storing broccoli, has a number of advantages that every housewife can appreciate if she tries to stock up on vegetables for the winter at least once in this way.

Among the numerous advantages, the following should be noted:

1. Rational use of refrigerator space. Cabbage in the freezer takes up a minimum of space without absorbing odors. In addition, absolutely all useful substances are stored in the vegetable for a long time.
2. Micronutrient Preservation. With the help of freezing, you can fully preserve the entire range of useful characteristics and taste.With the correct preparation of the vegetable for freezing and following all the instructions, broccoli will be very similar to fresh, both in color and taste, and in the saturation of vitamins. Freezing is relevant for people who plan to cook he althy vegetable dishes for their children in the future.
3. The constant presence of cabbage in the refrigerator. You don’t have to run around the shops looking for broccoli, especially if you want to eat it for breakfast. The product will always be at hand, and already ready for heat treatment.
4. Saving money. Seasonal vegetables are much more expensive in winter than in summer. Therefore, it is in the season that you should start stocking up, when prices are at their lowest. Using frozen broccoli in cooking throughout the winter can save a lot on the family budget.

You can make frozen stocks from almost any vegetable. It is important to follow the recommendations to ensure that the maximum level of nutrients is preserved in the food.

Buying and preparing broccoli

The choice should be approached as responsibly as possible. It is a mistake to assume that you can freeze food in any state. Low-quality vegetables are not suitable for this type of storage. Broccoli, first of all, should be young and rich green.

In the inflorescences there should be no insects and traces of vegetable diseases. Otherwise, the cabbage will spoil and have to be thrown away.

It is better to harvest and freeze broccoli from your own garden. But, unfortunately, not everyone can have such a luxury. You can buy high-quality and fresh cabbage in the market or in the vegetable section of the supermarket.

For freezing, do not take a product with the following "signs":

• withered inflorescences;
• putrefactive foci on stems or inflorescences;
• presence of pests;
• yellowish and dried parts.

The vegetable should be firm and resilient, without flaws or damage, bright green in color, with a rich aroma.

Preparing the refrigerator before starting the process

Before freezing, the freezer chamber must be freed from other products, washed well and dried. Packages with cabbage can only be placed in a dry container.

If the refrigerator has a quick freeze function, it is recommended to turn it on for several hours. So freezing occurs much faster, which has a positive effect on the preservation of the beneficial properties of the vegetable. If there is no “Quick Freeze”, then the temperature in the freezer is set to 10-15 degrees.

Kitchenware

To freeze broccoli for the winter in your home kitchen, you will need not only broccoli florets, but also some kitchen tools. The hostess must prepare in advance:

• cutting surface;
• pan;
• deep bowl;
• knife;
• steam basket;
• colander.

After all the accessories have been prepared, you should take care of the freezer container. The ideal option involves the use of special food bags for freezing. If these are not available, ordinary plastic bags or containers will do, and should be tight enough.

How and why to pre-blanch

It is not recommended to freeze broccoli without cooking. Steam processing of cabbage is an obligatory stage of freezing. Blanching destroys enzymes that promote oxidation. With further storage in a container with vegetables, an unpleasant odor will not appear, and taste qualities will be preserved.

If you do not use blanching, then, in most cases, the inflorescences in the freezer will crumble, and after defrosting, the vegetables will have to be thrown away.

In a pot

Blanching can be done in a saucepan. Prepared inflorescences are dipped directly into boiling water. You need to boil for no more than two minutes. Then the vegetables are taken out and cooled.

In a double boiler

Blanching broccoli is much easier for women with a double boiler. Water with lemon juice is also brought to a boil. Cabbage is laid out in a special basket, which is placed on a container with boiling water, covered with a lid. Heat treatment with this method lasts about 5 minutes.

Home freezing method

Freezing broccoli is a long process, which, however, does not require special skills and complex manipulations. It will only be necessary to carry out all the processes in stages in order to get a high-quality result.Broccoli is best bought during the season, which falls in June-July. Inflorescences need to choose a rich green color, dense to the touch. It is better not to take vegetables on which spots and putrefactive foci are found for multi-day storage.

It is necessary to clean the product from dirt, as it will not need to be washed in the future. It will immediately be subjected to heat treatment. To completely remove insects from the inflorescences, the vegetable is soaked in a s alt solution for half an hour. Parasites will not only die, but also float to the surface. The broccoli should then be thoroughly washed and de-leafed.

Vegetables should be divided into inflorescences about 2.5 centimeters in size. The trunk is also cut into small pieces of 6 millimeters. Throw out the hard part of the stem.Sliced broccoli is placed in a deep vessel, poured with plain water and lemon juice is added. Let this solution soak for 5 minutes. Lemon juice keeps cabbage green.

Pour the liquid from the bowl into a saucepan, add more water. The contents should be boiled. Broccoli is transferred to a basket for steaming and lowered all this into a pot of boiling water. Top is also covered with a lid. So it should boil for about 5 minutes. Vegetables are immersed directly in water if there is no device for steaming. This reduces the blanching process to 2 minutes.

Inflorescences and stems are taken out of the pan and immediately immersed in ice water. The product is also cooled under running water, using a colander if there is no basket for cooking in a double boiler. The cooled broccoli is taken out of the water, dried and placed in bags or containers for freezing foods.

It is recommended to calculate the amount of cabbage for one preparation of dishes, and pack in this volume. It is forbidden to freeze broccoli several times, so you need to prepare as much product as you plan to use at a time.With repeated defrosting-freezing, cabbage will quickly lose color, structure and taste.

It is better to sign the packages - when a specific portion of the vegetable was frozen. Frozen broccoli is best consumed in the next nine months, so stickers are a handy way to remind you of expiring dates.

Freezing with blanching

Cabbage must be blanched before freezing. This type of steam treatment is mandatory when freezing. During blanching, under the influence of high temperatures, the death of enzymes occurs, which can lead to oxidation. The steamed vegetable is stored in the freezer for a long time and does not deteriorate.

Freezing without blanching

Fresh broccoli cannot be frozen without blanching. Being in the freezer, under the influence of low temperatures, the inflorescences of the workpiece will turn into dust, and it will be impossible to use them for further cooking.Blanching in a saucepan or double boiler will preserve the structure of the vegetable, its color and taste.

Storage Features

Deep freezing uses -18 degrees. In this temperature regime, the frozen workpiece is stored in the freezer for almost a year. If the temperature is maintained within 0-8 degrees, then broccoli should be consumed in the next three months.

Vegetables are not recommended to be re-frozen. This should be taken into account when defrosting the refrigerator. In such situations, a bag of cabbage is wrapped in a warm blanket, which will maintain the low temperature necessary to preserve the product. After cleaning the refrigerator, the broccoli is urgently placed in the freezer.

Need to defrost

You don't need to defrost broccoli before cooking! When defrosted, it will lose its shape, become soft, and as a result of even a slight heat treatment, it will turn into an unattractive slurry.To create culinary masterpieces using he althy inflorescences, the product is taken out of the freezer and immediately started cooking.

Cooking rules

For freezing it is necessary to prepare only fresh cabbage. Only in this case it is possible to preserve the taste and benefits of the vegetable at the maximum level. For cooking, use a saucepan with a lid, a slow cooker and a double boiler. If you choose a saucepan, then the water is first boiled, s alted. Then the frozen vegetables are placed so that the water just covers them.

The degree of freezing of cabbage and the size of the pieces affects the duration of cooking. In most cases, cooking lasts no more than 7 minutes. In the process, it is recommended to check the readiness of the inflorescences with a fork every couple of minutes. If the fork easily sinks into the stalk, then the vegetables are cooked. To preserve the crunchy properties, ready-made broccoli from boiling water should be immediately immersed in cold water.

Boiled cabbage can be served as an independent dish, sprinkled with s alt and your favorite spices on top. Cheese sauce is perfect for this vegetable. Inflorescences fried in a batter of breadcrumbs and eggs are delicious. The dish is also sprinkled with lemon juice, almonds are added. Boiled broccoli is used to prepare a he althy creamy puree soup with crispy croutons and fried bacon. You can also bake in the oven.

Helpful tips

Housewives can use some recommendations that will make the freezing process easier without losing the useful properties of the product:

• to preserve the crisp structure and pleasant taste, freeze well-dried inflorescences;
• so that broccoli does not lose its color, it is sprinkled with lemon or lime juice;
• for blanching it is convenient to use a steamer basket with a handle-holder;
• don't blanch in the microwave;
• vegetables are cut on a board that is not used for cutting raw fish and meat.

By adopting the above tips, you can greatly simplify the process and get a quality product at the end.

Freezing broccoli is a simple process that leads to he althy results. It is important to thoroughly approach the choice of the product and properly prepare for the freezing process. With such a vegetable, you can pleasantly diversify a boring winter menu, saturating it with useful microelements and summer colors.

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