I mentioned before that this year was joined a local CSA, It is called Riverbound Farms. We have enjoyed the yummy, fresh vegetables we can choose each week. Because we also have a large garden, sometimes I choose several of one item, so I can store it away for later use. This time it was broccoli. Look at those heads. We plant broccoli, but ours never are even close to this size. Neither are the ones we have purchased in the past in the grocery store. These are only 3 of the 5 heads I froze.
1. Wash the broccoli and cut it up.
2. Soak your cut up broccoli in a brine of a gallon of water to 4 teaspoons of salt for 30 minutes. I need to pause and let you know that I found these instructions online. When I saw this step I thought…my broccoli is so clean, I washed it well, I can skip this step. Well, when I boiled the broccoli there were worms that came out. So please don’t skip this step. I had to spend more time cooling it and slowly picking each piece out of the water to make sure there were no worms. I learned on my second batch.
3. Boil water, when it comes to a hard boil, add the cut up broccoli. Cover and boil for 3 minutes. Don’t forget to set your timer.
4. Then cool off broccoli in an ice bath to stop cooking. Another side note….I have been meaning to clean out my refrigerator’s ice machine. I used all my ice for this process of three batches, so it was easy to clean. Another “to do” off my list.
5. Spin off excess water in salad spinner. This was my idea. Extra water can cause food to freezer burn quicker, so I used my salad spinner to get rid of that excess water. In case you are wondering, I purchased this salad spinner early this spring and have used it so many times. My greens stay a few days longer when I use it. It is a Large Zyliss Salad Spinner. After not having one for so many years, I really do wonder how I got by without it.
5 Use a vacuum sealer if you have one. I don’t, so I just used ziplock bags. I filled the amount I wanted and closed. I left a small hole in the end. Inserted a straw and sucked the remaining air out, pulling the straw out and sealing it to keep air out. Not sure if you can tell in the above photo but the one on the left is the one I sucked all the air out. I think it will help it last longer.
6. Step back enjoy the completed project and put into freezer. Big M loves steamed frozen broccoli so it will be nice to have organic, not overly processed broccoli when we want it.
Have you ever tried freezing broccoli? Any tips to share?
It's Still Life 