Hardly anyone needs to be convinced of the benefits of cauliflower. It is rich in protein, minerals and vitamins. Today, hundreds of delicious and healthy dishes can be prepared from it. is given as a first feeding for infants and is recommended for people with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Only now the season in central Russia of this vegetable is very short, and it is impossible to keep it fresh at home. Therefore, many are interested in the question of whether cauliflower can be frozen or not?

Yes it is possible. At the same time, it will perfectly preserve not only all its useful properties, but will also remain in its original form. But for everything to work out, you need to know a few simple rules about how to go for the winter. And you need to start by choosing the right heads of cabbage. They should be white, without flaws. Before you start freezing cauliflower, you need to wash it and soak it in salted water for 15-20 minutes. This is necessary in order to get rid of unwanted bugs and caterpillars. And be sure to remove the top leaves from the head.

There are 2 ways to freeze the colored whole or by dividing it into inflorescences. In the first case, put the head of cabbage in a suitable plastic bag, remove all air and close tightly. Put in the freezer. At the same time, it is very important to dry the cauliflower well so that excess liquid does not remain inside. This can be done by placing it on a sieve or paper towel. This completes all the preparations.

But in the second method, after the cabbage is washed and disassembled into inflorescences, you can freeze it or pre-blanch it. To do this, lower the sieve with it into boiling water (add a little citric acid to it) for 5-6 minutes, and then into cold water. This will help keep the color and shape of the flowers intact. Otherwise, this option of how to freeze cauliflower for the winter is similar to the previous one. Arrange the inflorescences in a tray at a distance from each other and place them in the freezer. Once they are frozen, you can transfer them to a suitable container.

For storing cauliflower in the freezer, you can use ordinary cellophane bags or special bags with a zipper for freezing. Disposable plastic containers are also great. You can buy them at any supermarket. It is also important to observe the storage conditions. The temperature in the freezer should be between -23 and -18 degrees. Since you can freeze cauliflower for the winter only once and cannot be re-frozen, it must be immediately divided into the necessary portions. They should be such that you can use everything at once. With all these tricks, cauliflower can be stored for up to 12 months.

Freezing not only helps to preserve all vitamins, but also gives you the opportunity to pamper yourself with fresh vegetables, even in winter. And best of all for these purposes is frozen with it easily and simply to bring to life. You can simply steam it or make an omelet with it. It will perfectly complement soup, casserole or vegetable stew. Most dishes don't even need to be thawed. And, of course, you can make delicious puree for babies from it.

Freezing for the winter - recipes with photos

Cauliflower is perfect for preparing various first and second courses, and will appeal to both children and adults.How to freeze it correctly ...

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Cauliflower is perfect for preparing various first and second courses. It will appeal to both children and adults. You will see for yourself how simple the freezing process itself is.

Let's start the selection of applicants

For freezing we need the best cauliflower shakes... How do you define them?

• The cauliflower should have a pure, creamy color; immediately set aside inflorescences with dark spots.
• We take only cabbage with hard heads, even a little sluggish is no longer suitable.
• Kachan leaves say a lot about the freshness of cabbage. They shouldn't be dark and sluggish. If the leaves are torn off, then most likely the cabbage is not the first freshness.
• For freezing cauliflower, it is better for a child to choose trusted sellers who do not use chemical fertilizers.

Prepare cabbage for freezing

Before placing cauliflower in the freezer, you must:

1. rinse it thoroughly under running water, getting rid of insects and their larvae
2. cut off all the leaves with a knife, as well as rotten areas (if any)

I do not recommend freezing whole cabbage. First, disassembling it into inflorescences, we will finally be convinced of the absence of rot and insects. Secondly, in winter it will be more convenient to get a handful of cabbage and immediately send it to cook than to try to pick out the number of heads we need with a knife.

What and how to store

Ideal for freezing zip vacuum bags that are sold in completely different sizes. You can fold the cabbage in portions for each dish, which is very convenient. You need to store frozen cauliflower at a temperature of minus 15 degrees and no more than 9 months. It would be very convenient to mark all packages with the date of freezing.

How to cook frozen cauliflower

Method 1.

1. This freezing method is the easiest and only takes a few minutes. After we have divided our cabbage into inflorescences and washed, it is necessary to dry the heads well with paper towels.
2. It is very important that we do not freeze the excess liquid together with the cabbage. Otherwise, we will end up with a large block of ice with cabbage inside.
3. Next, we lay out the cabbage in packages and send it to the freezer waiting in the wings.

Method 2.

In this method, we use blanching. Dishes after such a freeze will be much tastier. Feel free to use this method, it just seems daunting. But when frozen in this way, cauliflower retains more vitamins and nutrients, and also does not lose its color after being in the freezer for a long time.

• to get rid of spiders in cabbage quickly and efficiently, you can dip the cabbage in a bowl of salted water;
• the absence of air in the package will help keep the cabbage fresh for a long time; we can do this with a drinking straw by sucking in excess air;
• for children, I recommend using the second freezing method, increasing the cooking time to 4 minutes

How to make the miracle of frozen cauliflower

Cauliflower will play any role in our theater of dishes, be it the main or the secondary. This cabbage will cope with any task.

Winter is the harshest time of the year. This applies not only to constant frosts, but also to the scarcity of available vegetables and fruits. In recent years, seasonal products have often appeared on the shelves at inopportune hours, but this greatly affects their cost. Therefore, it is better to make preparations in advance than to overpay. The most reliable way to preserve a particular product until spring is to freeze it. Unlike canning, this method allows you to preserve all the nutrients, as well as an attractive appearance, which is also important if you like to prepare delicious dishes where not only taste is important, but also appearance. In this episode, we'll show you how to freeze cauliflower for the winter.

Although the freezing method is quite simple, it can be difficult to freeze some individual foods. In particular, improperly frozen cauliflower darkens over time. Such storage is reflected in the taste as well - bitterness appears, which cannot be removed either by cooking or by other methods of heat treatment. The secret to successfully freezing cauliflower for the winter is proper blanching. If you follow all the freezing rules, cauliflower can be stored in the freezer for about 1 year, which is quite enough to survive until the next season of cheap fruits and vegetables.

In order to freeze 1 head of cauliflower inflorescences you will need:

Ingredients:

• Cauliflower;
• 2 liters of water;
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1/3 teaspoon citric acid.

You will also need additional ice cubes or any convenient forms.

Cooking process:

The first step is to choose the right head of cabbage. Cabbage should be fresh, inflorescences elastic, without signs of lethargy. The whole head of cabbage must be divided into small inflorescences about 3 cm in size. Such small parts will freeze faster and keep longer. Rinse the cabbage already divided into inflorescences. Insects often hide in this vegetable, so as not to pick them by hand, you can soak the cabbage in cold salted water for half an hour. There should be at least 2 liters of water per 1 head of cabbage. After the specified time, all the bugs and worms will float up, this water will need to be drained. Then it remains only to check the inflorescences for black or brown spots, which are carefully cut and discarded. Prepared cabbage should be white and clean.

Next comes the blanching stage. To do this, boil at least 2 liters of water in a large saucepan, add a little citric acid and pour out the cabbage inflorescences. You only need to cook them for 2 minutes, after which there is a sharp cooling, for which we prepare in advance.

A separate container is filled with approximately 2 liters of cold water. However, simply cold water will not cool the cabbage fast enough, so ice cubes will need to be added. There should be a lot of cubes, at least 20 pieces. From boiling water, blanchivarone inflorescences are thrown into ice water for 5 minutes. The inflorescences themselves are either removed from the boiling water with a slotted spoon, or first the contents of the pan are drained into a colander.

Chilled cauliflower inflorescences, thanks to this trick, will become crispy and not lose their appearance. Before sending the product to the freezer, you need to dry the inflorescences a little with napkins. The less water remains on the surface of the vegetable, the more effective the freezing will be.

Dried cauliflower must be divided into food containers or freezer bags in portions, as after defrosting, cauliflower cannot be frozen again: it will lose its taste and become bitter or tasteless.

Plastic containers should have a tight-fitting lid. You can replace them with special vacuum bags with a fastener. To create almost ideal storage conditions in such bags, you need to insert a regular straw into the corner and close the bag until it touches it. Further, with the help of a tube, excess air is sucked out of the bag. The tube is quickly removed and the bag is closed to the end.

In the summer and autumn periods, the human body is saturated with useful vitamins and minerals.

But no matter how we try to fill the body with vitamins, nutrients are not retained for a long time. And the body needs to be replenished with them both in summer and in winter.

Using modern freezers, you can freeze meat, fish, cherries, currants, plums, green peas, asparagus beans, carrots. Frozen vegetables and fruits will help housewives prepare nutritious food in winter and spring.

Cauliflower has an edge among vegetables. It is highly valued for its large amount of vitamins, plant minerals.

Cauliflower is a low-calorie product. 100 grams of cabbage contains 2.5 grams of protein, 0.3 grams of fat, 4.2 grams of carbohydrates, only 330 kcal.

Cauliflower is a storehouse of vitamins and minerals:

• vitamin C is three times more than in white cabbage
• contains iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium
• is a source of pectin and vegetable protein
• supports the immune system in spring
• protects against colds
• contains tartronic acid, which burns fat

It is used in cooking for stews, soups, casseroles, as a side dish. Cauliflower can be boiled, fried, stewed. It doesn't take long to cook cabbage dishes.

Housewives are interested in is it possible to freeze cauliflower for the winter and how to freeze it correctly.

Cauliflower is a great food to freeze in the freezer at home. It keeps well at low temperatures. The frozen vegetable retains its appearance, preserving useful elements to the utmost.

How to properly freeze cauliflower for the winter

Preparing cauliflower for freezing

1. Rinse under running water.
2. Soak for 20-25 minutes in saline solution (10 grams of salt per liter of water) to get rid of insects.
3. Cut off the green leaves with a sharp knife.
4. Divide, using a knife, the vegetable into inflorescences, removing the coarse stems.
5. Think in advance about what the frozen inflorescences will be used for and how to cut them, small or large.
6. You can freeze separately several bags with large inflorescences for making puree soup and several with small umbrellas.

To preserve frozen cabbage at home, disposable bags, plastic containers, vacuum bags with a fastener are suitable.

Methods for freezing cauliflower for the winter

Method 1... Freezing of fresh inflorescences without thermal effect.

Method 2... Blanching.

Freezing fresh inflorescences without thermal effect

This is the easiest freezing method and takes very little time to cook.

Blanching

With the help of blanching, substances that negatively affect the vegetable are destroyed in the inflorescences. Under the influence of these substances, the inflorescences, when frozen, become soft, lose their color and aroma.

1. Put the washed cabbage under running water in a bowl with saline solution for 20-25 minutes.
2. Rinse again with water.
3. On a cutting board, with your hands or with a knife, divide the head into inflorescences.
4. Boil water in a large saucepan.
5. Send ready-made inflorescences in boiled water for 2-3 minutes.
6. To prepare complementary foods for an infant, blanch the inflorescences for 5–8 minutes.
7. Send the inflorescences with a slotted spoon to a bowl of cold water with ice for 3-5 minutes.
8. Put the finished inflorescences on a paper towel after blanching to get rid of excess moisture.
9. Arrange dried pieces on a tray and send for preliminary freezing.
10. Transfer the frozen inflorescences to disposable bags or special plastic containers for food.
11. Send hermetically sealed dishes, bags with removed air back to the freezer for complete freezing.

Tips for Choosing and Freezing Cabbage for Baby Food

• manually divide the head into inflorescences
• use the upper inflorescences for freezing
• put in a bowl with salt water for half an hour
• rinse under running water
• blanch for 10 minutes
• spread out on a tray until completely dry
• to wrap up
• send packaged packages with cabbage to the freezer

How to store cauliflower in the freezer for the winter

Duration of retention in the freezer depends on the temperature.

• At 6 degrees below zero, can be stored for 2 to 4 weeks.
• At a temperature reduced to 12 degrees, store for 3 months.
• At temperatures from -16 degrees and above, keep for 9 months.

You can freeze inflorescences for the winter only once, secondary freezing is not recommended.

To preserve the cauliflower better, draw out all the air from the bags using the inserted straw.

Do not re-blanch frozen blanched flowers. When preparing a dish, one must remember that such inflorescences are prepared faster.

How to defrost properly

In order for frozen cabbage to look beautiful in dishes, you need to defrost it correctly.

1 way. Remove from the freezer and leave to defrost completely at room temperature.

Method 2. Remove from the chamber and put in boiling water or steam.

Do not use microwave for defrosting.

Compliance with the rules for freezing cauliflower for the winter will provide an excellent opportunity to often prepare delicious food in winter.

Not everyone knows how to freeze cauliflower, although it seems that there is nothing complicated here. However, often the result of freezing cauliflower is a large lump of vegetables, which is incredibly difficult to divide into small inflorescences. By following a few simple freezing requirements, you can get a perfectly preserved product. Frozen cabbage is used for making soups, casseroles, vegetable stews.

Ingredients

• good quality cauliflower.

Preparation

For freezing, you need to take a strong, young cauliflower without traces of insect damage, spoilage and rot. Dark spots on the surface of cabbage are a sure sign that this vegetable is best not used for freezing. Give preference to cabbage that has recently been cut from the garden, rather than one that has been stored for a while.

Transfer the cauliflower to a bowl and fill it with cool, clean water, repeat the process several times. This will wash away any insects that may be hiding between leaves or inside inflorescences. After rinsing the cabbage, shake off excess water, then cut off the green leaves. After that, with your hands or with a sharp knife, divide the cabbage forks into small inflorescences, the size
about 3 cm.

Of course, the slicing can be different. Plan in advance what you will cook from frozen cabbage, what dishes are popular in your family. For soup, you can cut the vegetable into smaller pieces, for a casserole or stew - larger.

Before blanching, cabbage can be kept in salted water for 20-30 minutes. The brine is made in this way: add 4 tablespoons to 1 liter of water. salt, stir and place the cabbage inflorescences there. After half an hour, rinse the cauliflower with running water.

To blanch the cauliflower, pour the right amount of water into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Transfer the inflorescences to a colander and lower it in a saucepan, hold for 3 minutes. After that, remove the colander from the boiling water and immediately cool the cabbage, you can lower it in a container of ice water. Blanching kills the enzymes responsible for breaking down the flavor and color of cabbage during storage.

It is optimal to freeze cauliflower in small portions - at a time. To do this, give preference to small bags or containers. Transfer the cabbage and, if possible, release the air from them. Before use, the cabbage only needs to be steamed or immersed in boiling water for 1.5 minutes. After that, you can add cabbage to any dish you decide to cook.