When Life gives you Carrots

So Monday I was nannying for my cousins and grandmother decided that this was a proper form of payment (or at least partial payment)..

10 pounds of Carrots

Around here, when life gives us ten pounds of carrots, we don’t complain, we blanch and freeze. We have a chest freezer for a reason, we don’t waste, even with two people. I do the same thing when I have to much from my organics to you order. This week I had to blanch and save beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts along with the ten pounds of carrots. Since I am still getting used to the process it took me awhile to get the hang of it. Blanching stops enzymes from continuing to age the vegetable after it is frozen. So in sort hand blanching= longer, more quality freezer life. The first ten pound bag of carrots took me two hours to blanch and freeze. Tonight, I did five pounds of different vegetables in thirty minutes. Practice makes perfect. One thing I will say about this is it is definitely for people who have more time then money; you can buy frozen vegetables. I get fresh every week and my family pays me in carrots, so this works for me. You will have to decide if the process is worth it to do it for you.

How to Blanch and Freeze Vegetables

1. Cut and prepare your vegetables. You want them to be washed and as uniform as possible.
2. Boil a pot of water. You want to use about a gallon of water for every pound of vegetables. Otherwise, your vegetables will not cook evenly or quite right.
3. Submerge the vegetables in the boiling water. Start timer when the water returns to boiling. While the vegetables are being blanched prepare the ice- bath.
   

   Blanching Times*

   Vegetable	Blanching Time (minutes)
   Artichoke-Globe (Hearts)	7
   Artichoke-Jerusalem	3-5
   Asparagus Small Stalk Medium Stalk Large Stalk	2 3 4
   Beans-Snap, Green, or Wax	3
   Beans-Lima, Butter, or Pinto Small Medium Large	2 3 4
   Beets	cook
   Broccoli (flowerets 11/2 inches across) Steamed	3 5
   Brussel Sprouts Small Heads Medium Heads Large Heads	3 4 5
   Cabbage or Chinese Cabbage (shredded)	1 1/2
   Carrots Small Diced, Sliced or Lengthwise Strips	5 2
   Cauliflower (flowerets, 1 inch across)	3
   Celery	3
   Corn Corn-on-the-cob Small Ears Medium Ears Large Ears Whole Kernel or Cream Style (ears blanched before cutting corn from cob)	7 9 114
   Eggplant	4
   Greens Collards All Other	3 2
   Kohlrabi Whole Cubes	3 1
   Mushrooms Whole (steamed) Buttons or Quarters (steamed) Slices steamed)	5 3 1/2 3
   Okra Small Pods Large Pods	3 4
   Onions (blanch until center is heated) Rings	3-7 10-15 seconds
   Peas-Edible Pod	1 1/2-3
   Peas-Field (blackeye)	2
   Peas-Green	1 1/2
   Peppers-Sweet Halves Strips or Rings	3 2
   Potatoes-Irish (New)	3-5
   Pumpkin	cook
   Rutabagas	3
   Soybeans-Green	5
   Squash-Chayote	2
   Squash-Summer	3
   Squash-Winter	cook
   Sweet Potatoes	cook
   Turnips or Parsnips Cubes	2

   *blanching times are for water blanching unless otherwise indicate

   Source

4. Use another pot for the ice bath.  You want the bath to be about 1/3 ice to insure you stop the cooking process.
5. Let the vegetables sit in the ice bath for the same amount of time as the cooking time, then drain.
6. Dry the vegetables and pack them up in ziplocs or freezer safe containers. Make sure to label them and use them wi
7. thin six months to a year (for some vegetables).

This is meant to be a quick guide. There are many, many resources on blanching and freezing vegetables. I hope this helps everyone!

Thanks,

Rebecca