Freezing broccoli and cauliflower?

[SwampNut]

The ones the sell frozen feel like eating a sponge, and I also don't like the flavor.  I can overcome the latter with more chiles and Sichuan pepper.  I have a feeling that the shitty texture is because frozen veggies are par-boiled first.  I know the shitty flavor is because of that.  If anything green touches steam or hot water, it tastes terrible to me. 

 

Anyone done this?  Tips?

 

Is there danger if I don't blanch it?  I kinda figure it's done commercially just for extreme liability protection, but is there a real danger to just taking a bag of broccoli and tossing it in the freezer?

 

And is my texture hate actually from the blanching and not the freezing?

 

Yeah, I could YouTube it or just try it, but discussions here often lead to much greater ideas.

 

[Zero Knievel]

Never had an issue with frozen vegetables.  All need some form of seasoning, so I've not noticed an issue.

[SwampNut]

That's awesome for you.  I'm really happy.

 

[Zero Knievel]

To be fair, I hated vegetables until someone told me you need to prep/season most of them to make them palatable.  In the south, that often means breading and deep fat frying or covering with cheese. 😂

[poida]

i buy frozen broccoli and cauliflower.tastes fine once ive steamed it.packet says picked and snap frozen 

 

[Zero Knievel]

On 2/4/2022 at 3:30 PM, SwampNut said:

That's awesome for you.  I'm really happy.

 

2 hours ago, poida said:

i buy frozen broccoli and cauliflower.tastes fine once ive steamed it.packet says picked and snap frozen 

 

The improvements in freezing technology/methodology has really improved the quality of what you can get in the frozen section.

[SwampNut]

I want to throw up the second steam or hot water hit a green thing.

 

[Biometrix]

So I freeze fresh veggies because any bought frozen from the store simply suck in comparison. Freezing without blanching is likely to make them taste worse. It will definitely make them look worse as blanching helps maintain the color and texture. Under blanching and over blanching also make them taste bad. It's an art and science to get it right. I only steam blanch which takes a little longer but I think submersing them in boiling water leaches more flavor. That may be subjective but it's what I believe so...

 

Anyhow, I steam blanch Broccoli for 5 minutes. Exactly 5 fucking minutes from when I put the lid on the steamer to when I dump them into ice water to stop the cooking. You can find the times for all veggies on the Google and they should be different for boiling vs. steaming. I also steam cauliflower and Brussel sprouts. Those are also 5 minutes each unless the Brussel sprouts are medium not small, then I will do them for 6 minutes. I also cut up the broccoli and cauliflower into about 1.5" florets first. Most other veggies I just buy fresh and use them up quickly enough so I don't have to freeze them but the others I use so often I like to keep them on hand frozen.

 

So...experiment with times but no I don't suggest that you just throw fresh veggies in the freezer because that's kinda a proven sciency thing not to do for best results.

[SwampNut]

Minimal contact with steam or water ruins green things for me.  So, I guess no freezing for me.  We have a really nice crop of broccoli that is super tasty (when roasted), and I was thinking I might grow larger amounts to freeze.

 

I didn't eat anything green and cooked most of my life because of this.  I thought I hated green cooked things.  But they are fine roasted, it's the steaming that converts them into horrible bitter garbage that tastes like ass.  And until recently, you couldn't get a non-steamed green thing anywhere.

 

My DNA test shows I have this gene marker:

The TAS2R38 gene makes a protein that interlocks with a chemical called phenylthiocarbamide, or PTC, creating the sensation of bitterness. That chemical is very similar to compounds found in some common vegetables, particularly from the brassica family, which includes cabbage and broccoli.

[Biometrix]

Well that sucks although roasted is pretty good. I don't think I willingly ate any green vegetables until I was well into my 20's. It was only then when I started to learn to cook and realized the difference between frozen and fresh and steaming vs. killing them in boiling water. I have the  OR26A SNP that makes cilantro taste like soap which sucks when I forget to ask or pay attention to the menu and suddenly feel like I have a mouth full of Dawn dish detergent.