Ken Knecht wrote:
> Why is blanching suggested for food to be frozen? For example, I looked
> up celery in a book on freezing stuff I have and it tells me to blasnch
> the celery for three minutes before freezing. Cool off, then bag and
> freeze. What does the blanching do? What would happen if I didn't bother
> to? Anyone know?

As far as I know blanching hasn't a whit to do with enzymes/bacteria,
freezing is what preserves the vegetable in total and at the same time
controls any further decay/decomposition. If blanching were a
necessary process for preservation there'd be no need to then
subsequently freeze. And then there's parboiling, a more aggressive
form of blanching, that will stop bacterial.enzymatic action, but then
there'd be no subsequent freezing... parboiling is typically done prior
to dehydrating or when food will be refrigerated for an extended period
before fully cooking.

blanch
1. To plunge food (usually vegetables and fruits) into boiling water
briefly, then into cold water to stop the cooking process. Blanching is
used to firm the flesh, to loosen skins (as with peaches and tomatoes)
and to heighten and set color and flavor (as with vegetables before
freezing).

© Copyright Barron's Educational Services, Inc. 1995 based on THE FOOD
LOVER'S COMPANION, 2nd edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbst.

Sheldon

Sheldon wrote:
> Ken Knecht wrote:
>> Why is blanching suggested for food to be frozen? For example, I looked
>> up celery in a book on freezing stuff I have and it tells me to blasnch
>> the celery for three minutes before freezing. Cool off, then bag and
>> freeze. What does the blanching do? What would happen if I didn't bother
>> to? Anyone know?
>
> As far as I know blanching hasn't a whit to do with enzymes/bacteria,
> freezing is what preserves the vegetable in total and at the same time
> controls any further decay/decomposition. If blanching were a
> necessary process for preservation there'd be no need to then
> subsequently freeze.

Cell metabolism not your thing, Shel? Freezing does not stop enzymatic
and bacteriologic activity. It slows it way down, but it does not stop
it. Thus the limited time that food can be stored frozen, because
decay/decomposition is not controlled or stopped but only slowed.



> And then there's parboiling, a more aggressive
> form of blanching, that will stop bacterial.enzymatic action, but then
> there'd be no subsequent freezing... parboiling is typically done prior
> to dehydrating or when food will be refrigerated for an extended period
> before fully cooking.

Parboiling is parcooking, not blanching. It may be done before
dehydrating food or before refrigeration, but the cell lysis caused by
parcooking as well as from handling to prepare and store it
automatically limits the time the food can be held under refrigeration
alone. You might as well do nothing. And just as for blanching, it will
not destroy all bacteria and enzymes. It will only slow them down.



> blanch
> 1. To plunge food (usually vegetables and fruits) into boiling water
> briefly, then into cold water to stop the cooking process. Blanching is
> used to firm the flesh, to loosen skins (as with peaches and tomatoes)
> and to heighten and set color and flavor (as with vegetables before
> freezing).

Please refer to http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5333.html, with
particular attention to this part:
" Blanch or scald to stop enzyme action, wilt vegetables for easier
packaging, remove earthy flavors and some undesirable bacteria, further
clean product, and 'set' color. Blanch in boiling water or steam. Hard
water may toughen vegetables; if this occurs, use softened water."

Pennyaline wrote:
> [snip]
> Please refer to http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5333.html, with
> particular attention to this part:
> " Blanch or scald to stop enzyme action, wilt vegetables for easier
> packaging, remove earthy flavors and some undesirable bacteria, further
> clean product, and 'set' color. Blanch in boiling water or steam. Hard
> water may toughen vegetables; if this occurs, use softened water."

Not addressed, though, is the question of degree. Blanching might
retard deterioration if you plan to freeze for very long periods of
time. If you're just going to freeze for a couple of months because
the home garden harvest is too large to keep up with, the benefit is
probably not measurable.

The trouble with blanching is that traditionally recommended times cook
the vegetables more than is desirable so that when you thaw them they
are limp and have lost too much flavor. -aem

In article >,
says...
> Cell metabolism not your thing, Shel? Freezing does not stop enzymatic
> and bacteriologic activity. It slows it way down, but it does not stop
> it. Thus the limited time that food can be stored frozen, because
> decay/decomposition is not controlled or stopped but only slowed.
>
>

Half right. Enzymatic activity can continue in frozen food, hence the
blanching, but bacterial activity is stopped completely. Living
organisms require liquid water to function.

--
Peter Aitken

Peter A wrote:
> In article >,
> says...
>> Cell metabolism not your thing, Shel? Freezing does not stop enzymatic
>> and bacteriologic activity. It slows it way down, but it does not stop
>> it. Thus the limited time that food can be stored frozen, because
>> decay/decomposition is not controlled or stopped but only slowed.
>>
>>
>
> Half right. Enzymatic activity can continue in frozen food, hence the
> blanching, but bacterial activity is stopped completely. Living
> organisms require liquid water to function.

I refer you to the article I cited for Shel. Freezing does not stop all
bacterial activity completely, and all forms of bacteria and other
contamination are not killed by freezing.

In article >,
says...
> > Half right. Enzymatic activity can continue in frozen food, hence the
> > blanching, but bacterial activity is stopped completely. Living
> > organisms require liquid water to function.
>
> I refer you to the article I cited for Shel. Freezing does not stop all
> bacterial activity completely, and all forms of bacteria and other
> contamination are not killed by freezing.
>
>

Then the article is wrong. You are right that freezing does not kill
bacteria but that was not the original claim. Freezing does stop all
bacterial action.

--
Peter Aitken

In article >,
says...
>
> Then the article is wrong. You are right that freezing does not kill
> bacteria but that was not the original claim. Freezing does stop all
> bacterial action.
>

you might be surprised:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...Med&list_uids=
10943552&dopt=Abstract
or
http://tinyurl.com/ko6bf

Flatmate of mine, 25 years ago, wrote her master's thesis on psychotrophic
bacteria in milk, so I knew what to google for :-)

However, I think this is not really [practically] relevant outside an
industrial environment.
I consider bacterial activity in my frozen food to be slowed by several
magnitudes rather than stopped. Works for me.

-Peter

--
=========================================
firstname dot lastname at gmail fullstop com

In article > ,
ess says...
> > Then the article is wrong. You are right that freezing does not kill
> > bacteria but that was not the original claim. Freezing does stop all
> > bacterial action.
> >
>
> you might be surprised:
> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...Med&list_uids=
> 10943552&dopt=Abstract
>
>

Permit me to indulge in a minor fit of sighing and eye-rolling. OK, now
I'm done.

"Below freezing" which is what this article talks about means "below 0
degrees C." It does not necessarily mean "frozen." Yes, a few organisms
can exist at temperatures below 0 degrees, but they are not frozen - the
water has not crystallized. That is what we have been talking about.

--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths pages at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm

Pennyaline wrote:
> Sheldon wrote:
> > Ken Knecht wrote:
> >> Why is blanching suggested for food to be frozen? For example, I looked
> >> up celery in a book on freezing stuff I have and it tells me to blasnch
> >> the celery for three minutes before freezing. Cool off, then bag and
> >> freeze. What does the blanching do? What would happen if I didn't bother
> >> to? Anyone know?
> >
> > As far as I know blanching hasn't a whit to do with enzymes/bacteria,
> > freezing is what preserves the vegetable in total and at the same time
> > controls any further decay/decomposition. If blanching were a
> > necessary process for preservation there'd be no need to then
> > subsequently freeze.
>
> Cell metabolism not your thing, Shel? Freezing does not stop enzymatic
> and bacteriologic activity. It slows it way down, but it does not stop
> it.

Stop... where did I write stop...

Literacy not your thing, Pennyalane... there's a world of difference
between "controls" and "stop". ****ing know nothing!

Sheldon

Sheldon wrote:
> Pennyaline wrote:
>> Sheldon wrote:
>>> Ken Knecht wrote:
>>>> Why is blanching suggested for food to be frozen? For example, I looked
>>>> up celery in a book on freezing stuff I have and it tells me to blasnch
>>>> the celery for three minutes before freezing. Cool off, then bag and
>>>> freeze. What does the blanching do? What would happen if I didn't bother
>>>> to? Anyone know?
>>> As far as I know blanching hasn't a whit to do with enzymes/bacteria,
>>> freezing is what preserves the vegetable in total and at the same time
>>> controls any further decay/decomposition. If blanching were a
>>> necessary process for preservation there'd be no need to then
>>> subsequently freeze.
>> Cell metabolism not your thing, Shel? Freezing does not stop enzymatic
>> and bacteriologic activity. It slows it way down, but it does not stop
>> it.
>
> Stop... where did I write stop...
>
> Literacy not your thing, Pennyalane... there's a world of difference
> between "controls" and "stop". ****ing know nothing!

LOL!! Lessee, where shall I begin? Tell me, Shel, exactly what you meant
by "controls," then I'll tell you what I meant by "stop."

Sheldon wrote:
> Ken Knecht wrote:
>> Why is blanching suggested for food to be frozen? For example, I looked
>> up celery in a book on freezing stuff I have and it tells me to blasnch
>> the celery for three minutes before freezing. Cool off, then bag and
>> freeze. What does the blanching do? What would happen if I didn't bother
>> to? Anyone know?
>
> As far as I know blanching hasn't a whit to do with enzymes/bacteria,
> freezing is what preserves the vegetable in total and at the same time
> controls any further decay/decomposition. If blanching were a
> necessary process for preservation there'd be no need to then
> subsequently freeze.

The operative phrase here is "as far as I know", because as usual you
*don't* know what you are talking about. ;-)

Freezing halts bacteria action, which will start up again when you thaw
the stuff out -- it doesn't kill all the bacteria (it probably kill some
of them) it just temporarily stops them.

Blanching destroys enzymes in the vegetables that would otherwise cause
them to discolor, or change taste and texture. Freezing slows down
enzymatic activity but does stop it completely.

Best regards,
Bob

zxcvbob wrote:
> Sheldon wrote:
> > Ken Knecht wrote:
> >> Why is blanching suggested for food to be frozen? For example, I looked
> >> up celery in a book on freezing stuff I have and it tells me to blasnch
> >> the celery for three minutes before freezing. Cool off, then bag and
> >> freeze. What does the blanching do? What would happen if I didn't bother
> >> to? Anyone know?
> >
> > As far as I know blanching hasn't a whit to do with enzymes/bacteria,
> > freezing is what preserves the vegetable in total and at the same time
> > controls any further decay/decomposition. If blanching were a
> > necessary process for preservation there'd be no need to then
> > subsequently freeze.

> Freezing slows down [controls] enzymatic activity but does stop it completely.

Another functionally illiterate ass... where pray tell did I say STOP?
Join **** face up there.

Some claim blanching is done prior to freezing to set color and flavor,
I've never found that to be true, not in even one case and I freeze a
lot of veggies. Many, many years ago I used to blanch veggies but no
more... that blanching sets color and flavor prior to freezing is an
old wive's tale, a total myth. The only thing I've found blanching
does is help remove vegetable skin, nothing else whatsoever, NOTHING!
Okay, it's a waste of time.

Sheldon

Sheldon wrote:
> zxcvbob wrote:
>> Freezing slows down [controls] enzymatic activity but does stop it completely.
>
> Another functionally illiterate ass... where pray tell did I say STOP?
> Join **** face up there.
>
> Some claim blanching is done prior to freezing to set color and flavor,
> I've never found that to be true, not in even one case and I freeze a
> lot of veggies. Many, many years ago I used to blanch veggies but no
> more... that blanching sets color and flavor prior to freezing is an
> old wive's tale, a total myth. The only thing I've found blanching
> does is help remove vegetable skin, nothing else whatsoever, NOTHING!
> Okay, it's a waste of time.

Okay, Shelly, it's a waste of time. A total waste of time. Okay.
Continuing this with you is too, as there is no point in trying to
communicate with anyone who is chronically correct about everything.

Pennyaline wrote:
>
> Okay, Shelly, it's a waste of time. A total waste of time. Okay.
> Continuing this with you is too, as there is no point in trying to
> communicate with anyone who is chronically correct about everything.

Part of the communication problem is that you're trying to maintain an
academic position and he's speaking from personal experience. No doubt
you're correct about the effects of blanching and freezing. But, and
it's a large but, the question remains whether it matters in its
practical application.

There are obvious detriments to blanching in its effect on the eventual
quality of the vegetable when it is finally used. Not blanching often
yields a superior result in the frozen-then-thawed product. What you
have not addressed in your zeal to be academically correct is whether
blanching is necessary or beneficial in any way when the intention is
that the freezing period will be relatively brief, say, up to a couple
of months.

All your references will say, for example, to blanch green beans or
asparagus for 1 to 2 minutes. Most say 2 minutes. I know from
personal experience that green beans blanched for 15 to 30 seconds will
give me a better result 30 days later when I thaw them. I know from
personal experience that blanched asparagus is no better than limp
canned asparagus when thawed after a month's freezing, while asparagus
frozen raw is at least tolerable. I know that bell peppers frozen raw
are better than blanched peppers. And so forth.

Perhaps what you say would matter if I kept them for a year or two but
I don't care because I have no need to do that. -aem