Chart for Blanching Vegetables

According to the Ball Blue Book of Preserving, “Blanching is a critical step in preparing vegetables for freezing. This is a must for all vegetables to be frozen more than four weeks. However, those vegetables used exclusively for their flavor, such as green onions, hot peppers, and herbs, do not have to be blanched.”

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

raw vegetables

Directions

Before blanching, wash and drain vegetables. Cut them as you plan to use them–dice, chop, slice, etc. Use one gallon of water per pound of vegetables. In some cases, you may want to add produce protector or lemon juice to the water. Bring the water to a boil before adding the vegetables and begin counting the time after placing the vegetables in the boiling water. Blanching time is generally based on size of vegetable or cuts.

After blanching, drain the vegetables and cool before packing. (Cooling by immersing in ice water is best.) After draining and cooling, pack the vegetables as you expect to use them. I usually pack vegetables in two cup batches in quart freezer bags, pressing flat to stack.

Artichokes (globe–7 minutes, Jerusalem–3-5 minutes)
Asparagus (2-3 minutes)
Lima beans (2-3 minutes)
Snap beans (3 minutes)
Beets (till tender)
Broccoli (3-4 minutes)
Brussels sprouts (3-5 minutes)
Carrots (3-5 minutes)
Cauliflower (3-4 minutes)
Corn on the cob (6-10 minutes) or whole kernel (5-6 minutes)
Eggplant (4 minutes)
Greens (2 minutes)
Mushrooms (whole–4 minutes, sliced–3 minutes)
Okra (3-5 minutes)
Onions (3-7 minutes)
Parsnips and turnips (3 minutes)P
Peas–blackeye, green, or snow/sugar (1-2 minutes)
Potatoes (whole–3-5 minutes, french fries–2 minutes)
Summer squash/zucchini (sliced or chopped–3 minutes)

Categories: Freezing, Preserving, Tips & Tricks

Submitted by: suzanne-mcminn on July 27, 2011