Vegetables are foods that tend to degrade more quickly than other edible products. Fortunately, you can resort to freezing and therefore keep them longer. On this occasion we will tell you what is the correct way to freeze cabbage at home.
This food contains vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, flavonoids and fibers. Therefore, before it expires, you should learn the steps you need to take to avoid wasting these nutrients. Read on for more on this topic.
Why Freeze Cabbage?
Freezing is a quick and easy way to preserve vegetables and products of animal origin. With this technique it is possible to maintain the natural color, fresh taste and nutritional value of most of them.
In this regard, the art “Forms of food preservation” explains that through low temperatures the growth and activity of microorganisms is delayed or inhibited. In fact, the lower the degrees Celsius, the slower will be those reactions that allow the growth of bacteria and fungi.
While all natural foods have nutrients that are beneficial to the body, the study “Foods with anti-inflammatory effect” suggests that cabbage has a powerful antioxidant, antimicrobial and preventive effect on inflammatory diseases.
One of the responsible for this activity is sulforaphane, which is also found in other vegetables of the cruciferous family. He broccoli It is another vegetable of this category that also abounds in this active ingredient.
Generally, cabbage keeps up to 14 days if it’s refrigerated. But if you have an amount that you know you won’t eat in that amount of time, consider freezing it to keep it from spoiling and having it on hand at another time.
How to freeze cabbage?
The first thing you need to know is that there is a process before the freeze called bleached OR sunburn. This is necessary to inactivate the enzymes responsible for the continuous deterioration of food. This is why it should be done on any fruit or vegetable that you want to freeze.
The technique consists in subjecting the food to a minimum boil for about 2 minutes. If this time is not respected, the enzymes are still active in the freezer, so in a few months they develop a bad taste and can become discolored or hardened.
Obviously to do this you must first wash the cabbage with drinking water and then discard the external parts, the thick leaves and the damaged areas. Moreover, you have to cut it into small pieces or separate it sheet by sheet.
How to proceed after bleaching it?
After completing this process, you can continue with freezing. We explain step by step:
- First you need to drain the already blanched cabbage and let it dry completely.
- Then, you have to separate the amount you will use in each meal and, based on that, store it in different containers. Never put it all together because it is not recommended at all to defrost it and then put it back in the freezer.
- To continue, it must be placed in containers with lids or in suitable packaging. These include lunch boxes and resealable plastic bags suitable for freezing.
- After that, it remains only to label or label each container. This process is necessary to know the exact date you stored the food. This way, you can determine how long they will be kept.
Note that With this process, the food undergoes slow changes, so it doesn’t keep its quality indefinitely.. In this case, frozen cabbage lasts from 9 months to 1 year. Then, its properties begin to fade and its flavor suffers.
How to freeze cabbage without blanching it?
While the technique described is recommended for any veggies you choose to freeze, you can do it without this step. But consider this its structure tends to collapse when frozen and that bleaching will help keep it better.
Step by step
To make it, you have to wash the cabbage with drinking water. Then follow these instructions:
- Cut into pieces or separate into sheets for washing. To do this, immerse them in 1 liter of water and 5 drops of kitchen bleach for 10 minutes. In this way, it tries to eliminate the microorganisms it may contain.
- Drain completely and proceed as explained in the previous section. That is, store it in suitable containers and label them with the date.
Remember that you can do it this way too, but the result won’t be the same. Moreover, the retention time will be less than that applied by the scalding techniqueas the food enzymes will continue to be active.
How to use frozen cabbage?
Once placed in the freezer, it will no longer have to undergo a thawing process. You can remove it when you need it and add it to the container where it will be cooked directly.
This way you can boil it to accompany other vegetables, stir-fry it, use it as a filling for tacos and salads, among other foods. Organization is a key step to take advantage of this modality. You have to organize yourself well, so that your freezer has order and labeling so you don’t get complicated when cooking.
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