What is the Blanching Method?
Blanching (flash-boiling method) is a process where you briefly boil or steam vegetables and foods until they are partially cooked. It is an important step before putting many vegetables such as broccoli, leafy greens, string beans, okra and asparagus in the freezer. Vegetables frozen without blanche are safe to eat but have an undesirable color, taste, and texture when thawed.
If you put a lot of raw spinach in the freezer and then defrost it, you will notice that it has a blackened, extremely dark brownish green color. Blanching completely stops the enzymatic activity that spoils your vegetables. These enzymes can also survive in frozen temperatures and continue to rot even if food is frozen. Pre-cooking food in boiling water or steam for a while stops these enzymes completely, so you can consume your vegetables more safely.
Blanching Time Length Scale
Vegetable | Size of Pieces | Time to Blanch for Storage | Time to Blanch To Crisp-Tender | Time in Ice Bath |
---|---|---|---|---|
Green beans | Whole, trimmed | 2 mins | 3 mins | 1 min |
Haricots verts | Whole | 1½ mins | 2 mins | 1 min |
Broccoli | 1-inch florets | 1 min | 1½ mins | 1 min |
Cauliflower | 1-inch florets | 1½ mins | 2 mins | 1 min |
Swiss Chard | Stemmed | 20 secs | 30 secs | 30 secs |
Lacinato kale | Stemmed | 30 secs | 40 secs | 30 secs |
Curly kale | Stemmed | 30 secs | 40 secs | 30 secs |
Asparagus (small to medium) | Whole, trimmed | 30 secs | 1 min | 1 min |
Asparagus (large) | Whole, trimmed | 1 min | 1 min | 1 min |
Snap peas | Whole, trimmed and stringed | 1 min | 1½ mins | 1 min |
Broccoli rabe | 2-inch pieces | 30 secs | 40 secs | 30 secs |
Corn | Whole ear | 5 min | 7 mins | 1 min |
Shock Boiling (Blanch) Kitchen – Shock Boiling as a Food Term (Blanchi): A method of boiling for a very short time. 1. Put the vegetables in boiling water for about 30 seconds. 2. Put the meat in cold water, boil it for a minute, pass it through cold water, then strain. 3. A method of immersing vegetables in boiling water for a short time and then passing them through cold water to preserve their color and vitamin value. Very short boiling process.
BLANCHING – SHOCK SCALING – PRE-STEAMING Blanch (Blanchi):
This method, known as the shock scalding method, is applied to each material differently. For vegetables; The method of dipping in boiling water and softening it, passing through cold water and straining. For meats and legumes; The method of putting in cold water and heating it to boiling, passing through cold water and filtering. For pastry; Bleaching method (for cream Anglez or pastry creams) by whisking the egg yolk with sugar.
How to Pre-Boil in Blanching Method
Pre-boiling, as it is called, is the first step of a cooking process. Success here is a prerequisite for the next stage. However, it is almost never used in home kitchens, as it is applicable to jobs that require perfection and professional delicacy. The process can be done in two different ways. The material to be pre-boiled is put into plenty of cold water. (What is meant by “abundant” here is the use of water 10 times the volume of the material.)
The water is boiled slowly and left to boil for a short time. Immediately after this short boiling time, the material is taken from the container. If pre-boiled food is not used immediately, it is drained immediately and transferred to a container full of cold water. Thus, the cooking process is stopped. This technique is used for bones and especially salty meats. Thus, the pores of the bones are opened, strong and unwanted odors are eliminated, the excess blood in the bones and meat is removed, and finally the salt taste in salted meats is reduced to an acceptable level.
Blanching Method Shock Boiling
Blanching is a process in which you boil or steam vegetables briefly until they are partially cooked. It is an essential step before freezing many vegetables including broccoli, leafy greens, string beans, okra, and asparagus.
Vegetables that are frozen without having been blanched are safe to eat but have “off” colors, textures and flavors. If you’ve ever stuck a bunch of raw spinach into the freezer and taken it out later to find you had a darkened, gooey mess, you understand. Blanching stops the enzymatic activity that decays vegetables. These enzymes can survive freezing temperatures and continue the decaying process even though the food is frozen. Pre-treating the food in boiling water or steam kills the enzymes.
If Summary
- Preserves the color of vegetables,
- Eliminates possible bacteria and viruses that will pass through vegetables
- The basic nutritional supplement of food
- Stops the enzymes in vegetables that cause the