How to Freeze Cauliflower or Broccoli

Grippart

Editor

posted on 17 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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From your carefully tended garden dozens of heads of healthful broccoli and cauliflower spring forth. You can't possibly eat it all but you're loathe to dump it in the compost. What to do? Freeze it. It's easy.

Steps

Harvest the vegetables on a day you have plenty of time to prepare them.

Wash the vegetables thoroughly in cool water while you start a pot of water to boil -- add a large pinch of salt to the water.

Trim and peel broccoli stems.

Cut broccoli and cauliflower into separate florets of a size that appeals to you. Many cooks prefer pieces about 2 inches (5.1 cm) long by 1 1/2 inches (5.1 cm) wide.

When water is at a rolling boil, fill the strainer with veggies and plunge them into boiling water. Wait about 3 minutes at a rolling boil, then dump them in the ice bath for 30 seconds or so to stop the cooking.

Drain the veggies and put them into freezer bags. Zip them up and label them with a Sharpie marker with the name and date. Stow in the freezer for up to 6 months.