BLANCHING: FRESH COLOR AND PRESERVATION OF NUTRIENTS DURING COOKING
Immerse yourself in the alternating heat world of blanching! This method relies on boiling followed by sudden quenching in cold water, the ultimate freshness kick for your food. From green beans to broccoli and many other foods, you can refine many things with the freshness bonus or prepare them for further processing! Find out now how blanching rejuvenates your food and preserves colour and nutrients. Ready for a refreshing cooking experience?
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BLANCHING AND COOKING
Blanching is cooking with that extra step. Boiling involves cooking food in hot water. Blanching adds an extra step. It involves brief, intensive contact with boiling water and a sudden cold water bath to quench the food. And what does this process do? It's as simple as it is gratifying for your culinary experiences: Your food's colour, texture and nutrients are better preserved.
HOW DOES BLANCHING WORK?
And how exactly does it work now? Blanching step by step - watch out and beware. It's really easy if you know how to do it:
- Prepare the water bath: Fill a saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add a pinch of salt to intensify the flavour.
- Have ice water ready: Prepare a separate bowl with cold water and ice cubes. This icy bath stops the cooking process immediately, quenches, and gives your food extra freshness.
- Blanching process: Immerse the prepared vegetables in boiling water briefly. The exact duration depends on the type of vegetable.
- Rapid cooling: Immediately after cooking, plunge the vegetables into the ice water to finish cooking and preserve the colour.
A tip: In addition to the traditional method of blanching in boiling water, you can also use a steamer to gently blanch vegetables.
WHY BLANCH?
There are various reasons for this cooking method: Blanching helps to cook food briefly, making it more tender, intensifying its colour and reducing unwanted enzyme activity. Secondly, quenching in ice water stops the cooking process. This allows your food to retain its freshness, texture and nutrients better.
But why go to all this trouble? There are many good reasons for the "ups and downs" of blanching:
- Fresh colour: Blanched vegetables retain their vibrant colour. It's very chic for the arranged plate!
- Crunchy texture: Thanks to the short blanching process, the bite of the vegetables remains firm. This makes for a great eating experience for all the senses. What's more, blanched food is easier to digest.
- Preservation of ingredients: Valuable nutrients and vitamins are preserved as the vegetables are only heated briefly.
- Blanching is particularly useful when food is prepared for other cooking types, such as freezing, preserving or as preparation for canning.
BLANCHING - GIVE THINGS A KICK
Blanching is a powerful technique for preserving the freshness, colour, and nutrients of your food. Use this method to give your culinary creations the perfect kick and impress your guests!
WHICH FOODS CAN YOU BLANCH?
Are you already considering what to try with the popular hot and cold method? The range of foods that can be blanched is broad:
- Vegetables: From leafy vegetables such as spinach to fresh beans - vegetables are ideal for blanching.
- Meat: Blanching can also be used for meat, for example, to make it easier to lard the meat afterwards.
- Almonds: They can lose their bitterness through blanching.
- Fruit: Even fruit - such as peaches - can be blanched for certain preparations.
HOW LONG DOES BLANCHING TAKE?
After all, the duration of the process depends on what you are blanching. We'll give you an overview: What do you blanch for how long?
- Vegetables: Green beans (2-3 minutes), broccoli (2-3 minutes), brussels sprouts (3-4 minutes), spinach (1-2 minutes), kale (2-3 minutes), cabbage (2-3 minutes), asparagus (2-4 minutes), tomatoes (for skinning, 20-30 seconds)
- Meat: The time depends on the type of meat and can vary.
- Almonds (1-1.5 minutes)
