Can you freeze celery? Celery can be frozen as well as other vegetables and fruits. If you freeze celery, it can change its texture while causing it to become crisp. And it can also lose its flavor and taste. It is important to know that you can freeze celery for up to two months.
You can retain flavor and texture by blanching your celery before freezing it. Doing this kills harmful microorganisms while blocking the enzymatic reactions that cause vegetables to deteriorate more quickly.
What is blanching? It is scalding vegetables in boiling hot water.
Can you freeze celery? Photo credit: iStock-Tim UR
Fresh celery can last up to 2 months in the freezer while blanched celery can last 12 to 18 months in the freezer. Frozen celery can be used in cooked dishes like soups, stews, stuffings, stir-fries, etc. It can also be added to casseroles and sauces.
Celery contains a good number of antioxidants as well as Vitamin C, beta carotene, flavonoids, etc. Research studies have shown that there are at least 12 additional antioxidants nutrients in one celery stick. The more antioxidants that your body gets from celery or other vegetables and fruits the more it will reduce the risk of many different chronic diseases.
Celery has about 25 different anti-inflammatory compounds and this can provide protection against inflammation to the body. Chronic inflammation has been linked to arthritis and osteoporosis.
Eating celery regularly as part of your normal daily diet helps to support good digestion. It also contains a good amount of insoluble and soluble fiber and has about 95% more water.
One cup of celery contains about 5 grams of dietary fiber. Celery is rich in vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Vitamin C. And minerals such as potassium and folate.
The Bottom Line is you can freeze celery just like you can freeze other fruits and vegetables. But you can only freeze it for up to two months.
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References
- Science Direct- Hong-Wei Xiao, Zhongli Pan, Li-Zhen Deng, Hamed M. El-Mashad, Xu-Hai Yang, Arun S. Mujumdar, Zhen-Jiang Gao, Qian Zhang,
- Recent developments and trends in thermal blanching – A comprehensive review,
- Information Processing in Agriculture,
- Volume 4, Issue 2,
- 2017,
- Pages 101-127,
- ISSN 2214-3173,
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inpa.2017.02.001.
- (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214317316300919)
- Abstract: Thermal blanching is an essential operation for many fruits and vegetables processing. It not only contributes to the inactivation of polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POD), but also affects other quality attributes of products. Herein we review the current status of thermal blanching. Firstly, the purposes of blanching, which include inactivating enzymes, enhancing drying rate and product quality, removing pesticide residues and toxic constituents, expelling air in plant tissues, decreasing microbial load, are examined. Then, the reason to why indicators such as POD and PPO, ascorbic acid, color, and texture are frequently used to evaluate blanching process is summarized. After that, the principles, applications and limitations of current thermal blanching methods, which include conventional hot water blanching, steam blanching, microwave blanching, ohmic blanching, and infrared blanching are outlined. Finally, future trends are identified and discussed.
- Keywords: Thermal blanching; Hot water blanching; Microwave blanching; Steam blanching; Ohmic blanching; Infrared blanching
- Water
content of fruits and vegetables. (1997, December). Retrieved from https://www2.ca.uky.edu/enri/pubs/enri129.pdf
