[Mr Pickles]

Hi.
I hear that 'Blanching destroys certain enzymes and bacteria whilst helping to preserve the colour, texture and flavour of the food. It also helps retain vitamin C.'

a few questions:

1) is it a good thing that it destroys certain enzymes and bacteria, i guess it always best to eat raw, but what's the next best thing in terms of cooking to preserve all those good nutrients, would it be steaming or?

2) After the blanching process, and my spinach is frozen, how long will it keep in the freezer for? and when you take it out of the freezer do you defrost it, or boil it straight away or anything else, please give me ssome suggestions? and can i use the frozen spinach to put straight in a blender to make smoothie out of it, so the smoothie is nice and cold instead of using ice cubes right.

3) if i do need to cook it gain after freezing(blanching), will i lose nutrients?

4) If i let the spinach defrost in the fridge after the freezing, how long will it keep there for, or do i keep it until SLIMY.. Spoiling?

5)  with raw spinach, in general is it best to keep them in the fridge, how long will it last there for, and perhaps know when it;s bad with the SLIMY.. Spoiling?

6)lastly, is the frozen spinach (and other veggies) sold in the supermarkets been blanched, it normally says on the back of the bag to not eat raw, but if it's been blanched it maybe okay to eat raw once defrosted, or at least be able to put it frozen into the blender for my smoothie?



Many Thanks!

[WG.]

Hello Mr Freezing and welcome to the gang.  A few thoughts although not in direct reply to your specific questions ...

Spinach is one crop which you can have fresh almost year round.  This lets you eat it raw, or cooked from fresh which is always best.

Spinach does blanch and freeze pretty well if you find yourself in surplus.  Good for 6 to 9 months.  Freeze in small quantities so that you can cook straight from freezer.

And if you keep chickens, they'll appreciate any outer leaves / bolted plants.

[John]

Hi.
I hear that 'Blanching destroys certain enzymes and bacteria whilst helping to preserve the colour, texture and flavour of the food. It also helps retain vitamin C.'

a few questions:

1) is it a good thing that it destroys certain enzymes and bacteria, i guess it always best to eat raw, but what's the next best thing in terms of cooking to preserve all those good nutrients, would it be steaming or?

2) After the blanching process, and my spinach is frozen, how long will it keep in the freezer for? and when you take it out of the freezer do you defrost it, or boil it straight away or anything else, please give me ssome suggestions? and can i use the frozen spinach to put straight in a blender to make smoothie out of it, so the smoothie is nice and cold instead of using ice cubes right.

3) if i do need to cook it gain after freezing(blanching), will i lose nutrients?

4) If i let the spinach defrost in the fridge after the freezing, how long will it keep there for, or do i keep it until SLIMY.. Spoiling?

5)  with raw spinach, in general is it best to keep them in the fridge, how long will it last there for, and perhaps know when it;s bad with the SLIMY.. Spoiling?

6)lastly, is the frozen spinach (and other veggies) sold in the supermarkets been blanched, it normally says on the back of the bag to not eat raw, but if it's been blanched it maybe okay to eat raw once defrosted, or at least be able to put it frozen into the blender for my smoothie?

Many Thanks!

Hello
The concept of freezing is to suspend time -hold the food as it was on the second it froze.  Blanching is not cooking. You want to heat the food up quick and cool it down quick - hence dunking in iced water etc.

Ho w long  things keep depends on how cold your freezer is and  the type of food. If your freezer is -20C you can keep it for a year (or more)

When defrosted  treat as if it has just started cooking.  No idea about smoothies (sounds horrible, sorry)

Yes you need to cook it after freezing - as it is only very slightly cooked.

We freeze things in portion size - it defeats the object to take it out of the freezer and leave it in the fridge. Defrost and use.  Never re-freeze btw.

The reason they say not to eat raw is because some people will think it  is cooked. If you would normally eat something raw you can eat it raw after defrosting

[Mr Pickles]

Hi there, Thanks for the responce guys, it's a pleasure to be hear folks, those chickens will most certainly be strong to the finish;)

As you can eat spinach raw, isn't it possible to let the spinach defrost and then eat it (as in like the raw), rather then having to cook it, i understand that you have to cook other veggies but is that the case for spinach, or is just because you have blanched it that it needs to be cooked, so that leads me on to say why do you say that it defeats the object to take it out of the freezer and leave it in the fridge. Defrost and use?
with frozen spinach from the supermarkets i was assuming they said that because they don't want people to eat them frozen, but some recipes i've come accrosss have said to blend the spinach frozen staright from the frozen spinach bag, it is very tasty if you sweeten it with dates etc.

another question, is it important to wash your veggies with vinegar and 3% hydrogen peroxide to get rid of bugs, bacteria, molds, fungus, and pesticides?

[cozzcov]

You must always blanch veg before you freeze - it does help reduce enzymic and bacterial affects- if you aren't freezing then cook to you own personal preference or eat raw.  The same enzymes and bacteria are there - they only get destroyed over 115C/240F so you'd need to pressure cook them. (The things you remember from O-level Biology! :oops: )

Most veg will keep well frozen for a few months (2 max in my house as i love cooking and eating) but I'd use most home frozen stuff within 6 months.

Spinach is a great veg to grow, as you can cut it as a crop n come again plant, its grows quickly and all year round.  If you are picking it and storing it in the fridge, I'd say pick less.  Just pick what you need.  Any veg loses nutrients as soon as its picked so storing means that you are losing goodness.

If I ever get a glut of spinach and have to freeze it, I cook it fully first, ie just in the water that clings to it after washing, for a couple of minutes, the squeeze and chop.  (I use a mezza-luna to chop, its more fun) Then freeze in a large sized ice cude tray.  Once frozen I store the cubes in bags.  Neat little portions of spinach to eat.  Add to the pan straight from frozen.  Or defrost in a sieve, to allow excess water to drain out, and add to pies etc.

Spinach smoothie?  Never tried that one >> heads off to kitchen. . . . .

[WG.]

As you can eat spinach raw, isn't it possible to let the spinach defrost and then eat it (as in like the raw), rather then having to cook it

The texture would be absolutely 'orrible.  After all, would you eat it after part-cooking?

[John]

another question, is it important to wash your veggies with vinegar and 3% hydrogen peroxide to get rid of bugs, bacteria, molds, fungus, and pesticides?

Good lord NO -  yes wash your veggies in water but hydrogen peroxide?

To re-cap on storage. We have good freezers and an accurate thermometer (I checked temps as I use sava plugs) and have left things way beyond what you should. They've been fine (to our taste buds anyway)

Meat & fish are different, you can't risk it with them (keeping far too long) although I believe some meat stays for years in cold stores.

[Mr Pickles]

cheers for that all, if I must always blanch veg before freezing in order to reduce enzymes and bacteria, that obviously means if i'm going to eat the veg raw (spinach) it's going to br harmful, hence the thought of washing them with vinegar.

Also if they only get destroyed over 115C/240F with a pressure cooker is not making me feel comftable. btw were you referring to the good or bad
enzymic and bacterial?

 I like your idea of cooking it fully first and lkeeping them in ice cube trays, but what method do you do with cooking it?
your description with the water that clings to it after washing is not making sense, are you refrring to blanching or boiling it?

Hey WG, if it's bad for you having it partly cooked i won't bother, i prefer steaming/welting it from raw and any leftovers will go in the fridge or freezer but i'm getting caught up with this blanching business and the things that are scaring me like the bacteria business, if i need to blanch it and i get the thumbs up that's it's safe to eat?? when i defrost it or put it frozen into a smoothie blender i'll do just that, it's quite yummy with sweetened with fruits btw.

Any ideas about how the frozen spinach is made up that you find in places like Tescos, are they blanched, or just frozen raw, do they safely get rid of all the enzymic and bacterial that affects? to me i think it's fine to eat the frozen spinach from tescos straight from the bag and into the blender,but what do youlot think, is it risky, should i heat them up or something?

cheers!

[ytyynycefn]

FWIW, and I know many disagree with me, I don't blanch any of my veg before freezing.  It seems to taste fine and last well enough for us.  

As for spinach, I grow Swiss Chard Bright Lights and perpetual spinach (leaf beet) which gives a good supply of leaves pretty much all year round.  When I do get an excess, I put the leaves in a plastic bag, freeze them, and then crush the frozen leaves still in the bag.  I can then pour some into a curry or pasta sauce after dishing up OH's portion (he doesn't do dark green  :? ) - this works really well for us!

[Ice]

Hi Mr P.  My chef tutor at college always says to cook frozen food according to the manufacturers instructions as a whole load of research goes into their product and it's cooking recommendations.

If you are worried about bacteria get yourself a temperature probe and make sure that when you blanch anything it reaches 65C or above.  Most harmful bacteria is killed at that point.

Freezing veg soon after picking keeps in a good deal of nutrients.  The veg you get in a supermarket that's been stored for days or weeks has very little goodness compared to frozen.

Apart from that, just common sense and good hygiene will be all that's required.

So my recommendation is to chill out (geddit?) Enjoy and welcome to the forum.

[GrannieAnnie]

Sometimes I blanch surplus veggies, sometimes I don't and they seem to taste and look the same to me.  the last time I grew spinach, I steamed it slightly first, then froze it after squeezing out the excess water, but I don't like spinch much, so I think when I defrosted it, it just went into another recipe.

Last year I grew swiss chard for the first time, thanks to one of the guys on here for the seeds!!!!  I liked it, but oH went off it after the first few days, but it lated well into the winter, and what I didn't eat I gave to the chickens, they loved it!!!!
I don't freeze many things, mainly tomatoes and runner beans, and am still using them now 9 months or so after freezing!  I use the tomatoes for soups, pasta sauces etc.

Sometimes I think all this talk of bacteria is overrated.  It frightens people.  When we were little, we ate dirt, got dirty, and did loads of things.  Children now are brought up in a cleaner environment, and I think they seem to get more colds, coughs, asthma and other things than we ever did, because their bodies aren't used to a bit of dirt!!!

Sorry, hope saying this hasn't annoyed anyone, but I think about when my grandchildren come over..... "don't tough that, its dirty, don't touch that egg, it hasn't been sterilized. Don't walkaround with nothing on your feet, you don't know what you'll catch etc etc"

[Ice]

Sometimes I think all this talk of bacteria is overrated.  It frightens people.  When we were little, we ate dirt, got dirty, and did loads of things.  Children now are brought up in a cleaner environment, and I think they seem to get more colds, coughs, asthma and other things than we ever did, because their bodies aren't used to a bit of dirt!!!

Couldn't agree more Grannieannie

Not good at this quoting thing.  Not sure why it wasn't highlighted.

[GrannieAnnie]

Mine didn't used to go into a little white box either IHM, but John and Jake couldn't figure it out, then suddenly it did it properly!!! don't know why!!!!

But thanks for your support.  I sometimes don't like saying things in case people think I'm weird!!!!  When we first moved here, OH's son and DIL came up with their little boy.  "don't go out into the garden without your shoes on, in case there's glass around."   Why on earth would she think there'd be glass in the garden???  Silly girl

Now we get don't go into the garden without your wellies htere might be some poo around.  Sounds reasonable, we do have a dog, a cat and 64 chickens!!!!!!

[Ice]

In all the donkeys years I have been cooking I have never given myself or anyone else food poisoning.  Yet, earlier this year, I did a food hygiene course and discovered myself to be the devil's advocate in the cause of bacterial infestation.  Rice, for goodness sake is said to be one of the worst culprits.  Yet over the years I have done exactly the opposite of what is now recommended and lived to tell the tale.  Oooooh those left over chinese meals the morning after the night before, cold! :shock:

Of course it might be because I have built up immunity over the years.  The other possible cause of  all the regulations now is the compensation culture gone mad.  It is breeding insecurity and paranoia.

[ytyynycefn]

Sometimes I think all this talk of bacteria is overrated.  It frightens people.  When we were little, we ate dirt, got dirty, and did loads of things.  Children now are brought up in a cleaner environment, and I think they seem to get more colds, coughs, asthma and other things than we ever did, because their bodies aren't used to a bit of dirt!!!

I'm with you on that one, too, Grannie!