BLANCHING & IQF
What is "blanching"?
Blanching is a process in food industries where vegetables are scorched in boiling water, removed after a brief, timed interval, and finally plunged into Nitrogen to halt the cooking process.
Some benefits of blanching?
- Blanching can help clean the surface of vegetables and can kill bacteria, molds and other organisms existed on the surface of vegetables.
- Blanching stops the enzyme action. This will help preserve the taste, color, and texture of the vegetable.
- Blanching helps get the vegetables prepared for long-term freezer storage.
Why blanch with salty water?
- Saltier water is denser than regular water. Because the saltier water is denser than the water inside the vegetable, it prevents nutrients from coming out of the vegetable and into the water.
- Salting the blanching water helps keep the magnesium in the chlorophyll where it belongs, which keeps the green vegetables greener.
- Salting the blanching water also helps to better flavor the vegetables.
How blanching enhances the color of vegetables?
The problem is the green of the chlorophyll in these vegetables is there providing the green color, but small air pockets cloud the color. Blanching is a solution to this issue because a quick plunge into this boiling water bursts some outer cell walls allowing the air to escape and letting the true bright green of the chlorophyll shine through.
What is "IQF"?
IQF freezing allows business owners to individually freeze a large portion of the products at the same time. The term IQF stands for "individually quick freeze." IQF is a method that does not allow large ice crystals to form in vegetable cells and since each piece is individually frozen, particles do not cohere, and the final product is not frozen into a solid block.
How does IQF work?
IQF relies on freezing the product extremely quickly. Far less ice crystals will form if the IQF process is done correctly. The formation of larger ice crystals damage the cell walls and reduce the quality of the food. IQF freezing however does not allow the process of bigger ice crystal formation to take place.
Benefits of IQF?
- Preserves freshness
- Individually freezes each vegetable instead of the vegetable freezing into one solid block
- retains vegetables natural color, flavor, and nutritional value
When does ice crystallization occur?
The process of ice crystallization takes place between 30 to 25º F or -1 to -4º C. IQF Freezers freeze content extremely fast, bypassing the crucial zone as quickly as possible. This causes the foods to barely have the chance to develop any ice crystals.