Blanching Vegetables Time Guide

Blanching is a process of food preparation wherein an ingredient is rapidly plunged into boiling water and then removed after a brief, timed interval and then plunged into iced water or placed under cold running water.

This process rapidly heats and then cools the food. This allows the food, usually fruits and vegetables, to firm up and makes the food's natural flavour more pronounced, and is often a preparative technique for freezing food. It is also an effective method of loosening the skin on fruits or nuts that one may wish to peel, such as tomatoes, plums, peaches, or almonds.

In addition, the process enhances the colour of some (particularly green) vegetables. 

It is very important to remember that blanching time varies with the size and variety of ingredient. Under blanching stimulates the activity of enzymes and is worse than no blanching. Over blanching causes loss of flavour, colour, vitamins and minerals.

Blanching sufficiently wilts vegetables like spinach and silver beet so they pack better. Without blanching, the flavour in frozen vegetables changes noticeably.

Some vegetables, although they can be eaten raw, have a tougher structure than traditional salad vegetables. Some of these benefit from blanching before addition to a salad of raw vegetables. The blanching softens the cellulose structure enough to make the vegetable more palatable than in their raw state, so that they combine better with the natural crispness of the raw vegetables in the salad.