What Can You Oven Blanch?

Identification

• When vegetables are growing in the garden, enzymes are behind that growth. When vegetables are removed from the stalk, those enzymes will keep causing the vegetables to mature unless they are blanched. When a vegetable is not blanched, the enzymes continue to break down and will yield unpleasant frozen vegetables. Their color will not hold up in the freezer, and their flavor will likely be off-putting. Blanching vegetables exposes them to heat and water or steam to stop the growth of the enzymes.

Types

• All vegetables — except for onions and peppers — should be blanched before freezing. Vegetables are usually blanched in boiling water or with steam; however, you can also blanch all of your vegetables in the oven. While blanching is important for all vegetables before freezing, peas, carrots and corn will benefit most from the process.

Oven Blanching

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your vegetables by washing them, cutting off the tips and slicing them. For instance, if you are blanching okra, you would cut off the tips and ends and then slice them in small pieces. Place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Because steam helps the blanching process, put a dish full of water on the lower rack of the oven, and let the water heat up before placing the vegetables in the oven on the top rack.

  Conventional steaming includes using boiling water, so most timetables will include blanching times for boiled-water blanching. When you use steam and your oven, blanch them for one to 1½ times longer than indicated for boiled-water blanching. When you remove the vegetables after their time is over, let them cool before packaging and freezing them.

Alternatives

• Most people blanch vegetables using the boiling water method. Your cooking times will be more precise with a boiling water method, as most tables list times for boiling blanching and not oven or steam blanching. Boil one gallon of water per pound of vegetable. Once the water is boiling, put the vegetables into a blanching basket — made of wire mesh — and place them in the water for the specified cooking time. You can also use the microwave to blanch, but the University of Missouri Extension does not recommend microwave blanching.