How to Store Cauliflower? Several ways
Large cauliflowers, small cauliflowers, orange cauliflowers, green cauliflowers, purple Cauliflower, white cauliflowers, Indian cauliflowers, European cauliflowers, there are cauliflowers in many shapes and sizes. This tasty vegetable is relatively easy to cook and season. However, it is a great vegetable to keep. Here you can read everything about how to store cauliflower.
How to store cauliflower?
- You can store whole fresh cauliflower in a cool, dark place or in the refrigerator for 7 days.
- You can store chopped cauliflower in the fridge for 5 days.
- Boiled cauliflower can be kept in the fridge for 2 days.
- Cauliflower can be stored in the freezer for 9 months after blanching.
The cauliflower often has to lie down for a while before it is used in a dish. And sometimes you just have leftover cauliflower florets that you don’t know how to store. And what about boiled cauliflower, can you also keep it? The article below answers all these questions and many more.
Which cauliflower to buy?
How long you can store a cauliflower starts with buying the cauliflower. When buying cauliflower, it must have a firm, dense structure.
Also Read this: How to store eggplant
If there are still a lot of green leaves in the store, remove these and look at the structure of the cauliflower and squeeze the cauliflower. The structure must be closed, there must be no dark spots on it and it must feel nice and firm. You can then keep this cauliflower the longest.
Store Cauliflower in the Refrigerator
A distinction must first be made. Is it a very fresh cauliflower or has it already been cut, have cauliflower florets already been removed? This is important because a fresh whole cauliflower will not have any cuts yet. This affects the shelf life.
Store whole cauliflower
Fresh whole cauliflower is best kept in a cool dark place in the house, such as a cellar cupboard. Since modern houses do not have such a closet, it is a matter of searching for this cool dark place in the house.
As the best alternative, the refrigerator is the option. Place the whole cauliflower in an open plastic bag on the shelf in the refrigerator. Leave the cauliflower as it is and don’t cut the leaves. Cutting away the leaves creates new cuts that shorten the shelf life.
The cauliflower can be stored in this way for a week.
Store sliced cauliflower
You can also keep a sliced cauliflower outside of the refrigerator, but it will rot very quickly. It can then be kept for a maximum of 2 days. The best place for sliced cauliflower is the refrigerator. Cover the cauliflower with cling film and place the cauliflower in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator. The cauliflower can be stored for at least another 4-5 days.
If you want to start using cauliflower again, the advice is always to look, smell, feel and taste.
Check if the color is still good and if there are no rotten spots on it. Smell for unpleasant odors and feel whether the cauliflower still has firmness. In this case, tasting does not seem necessary to me!
Freezing cauliflower
If you want to store cauliflower for longer, you can also choose to freeze the cauliflower. Freezing cauliflower can be done two ways, freezing raw cauliflower and blanching cauliflower and then freezing it.
Freeze Raw Cauliflower
You can freeze a whole cauliflower. If you want to do this, leave the leaves on the cauliflower, as these will protect the cauliflower from drying out. Put the cauliflower in a bag and put it in the freezer.
The disadvantage of freezing a whole cauliflower is that it takes a long time to thaw the cauliflower. And if the whole cauliflower is thawed, it has a weak structure and is not pleasant to work with.
It is better to clean the cauliflower first. Remove the leaves and get rid of the ugly spots. Then cut the florets from the stem and put them in a plastic bag. Then put the bag in the freezer. You can now store the cauliflower for about 6 months. If you keep it longer, taste and texture will quickly deteriorate.
If you want to use the cauliflower florets in a dish, add straight from the freezer to the boiling water or to your stir-fry dish. Do not thaw them as they will become limp and lose texture.
Blanching and freezing cauliflower
The best method of freezing fresh cauliflower is to blanch first and then freeze.
But what is blanching? To blanch, boil the cauliflower for about 2 minutes and then play it under the tap in a colander with ice-cold water. You can also cool the cauliflower by tossing it into another pan with water and ice cubes. Short heating kills the bacteria. Rapid cooling of the cauliflower then stops the cooking process.
Pat the cauliflower florets dry as best as possible with a clean tea towel or kitchen paper. Then put them in a sealable freezer bag and put the cauliflower in the freezer.
You can now store the cauliflower for approximately 9 months.
If you want to use the cauliflower florets in a dish, add straight from the freezer to the boiling water or to your stir-fry dish. Do not thaw them as they will become limp and lose texture.
Keep Cooked Cauliflower
When the cauliflower is cooked, you can store it for a limited time. Put the leftover boiled cauliflower in a sealable container and place this container in the refrigerator. You can now keep it for approximately 2 days.
The advice before you want to use it again is to look, smell and taste. Soon enough you will get an idea whether the cauliflower is still good or not.
Boiled cauliflower cannot be stored in the freezer. Taste, texture, and color deteriorate quickly. Especially when the cauliflower has to be thawed again for further use in a dish.
Store Cauliflower in Dish
Storing cauliflower in a dish is a completely different story. Because several ingredients are used, and we do not know which one, it is difficult to give advice for this. As a rule, dishes that are, for example, stir fry can be kept in a closed container for 2 days.
And for the rest, it is important that you follow this advice when you want to eat it again: see if it still looks good, smell if there are no unpleasant smells coming from it, and as a final test if it still tastes good.
