Although celery can be kept in the fridge for up to three weeks, there are many advantages to storing it in the freezer: it stays fresh much longer when frozen and is rich in vitamins.

Celery can be frozen raw or blanched

What is the difference between the different types of celery?

Celery, sticks of celery, celery? All these terms refer to the same vegetable: In contrast to celeriac, which is cultivated in such a way that it develops the strongest possible root, the focus of celery is on the above-ground parts of the plant. It does not have a strongly developed root bulb, but rather particularly strong "sticks" - these are bleached, i.e. grow without the influence of sunlight, which means that the celery sticks remain light green and have a mild taste.

Freeze raw celery

If you are in a hurry, you can put raw celery in the freezer. Clean it beforehand, cut off the root and top leaves and slice the stalks crosswise. This means that you have perfectly prepared celery at hand for later processing, which does not have to be thawed and cut before cooking. This would also come at the expense of its crunchy consistency.
Put the prepared celery in freezer-safe containers that you have labeled with the freezing date and content, close them carefully and place in the *** freezer compartment. You should use up raw frozen celery after three months at the latest.

Freeze blanched celery

For a longer shelf life, better texture and more aromatic taste, you should blanch the celery sticks before freezing. This keeps it tasty and durable for up to a year.

  1. Clean the celery from dirt, cut off the roots and top leaves.
  2. Slice the celery sticks.
  3. Place the celery slices in boiling salted water.
  4. After three minutes, scoop out the celery with a slotted spoon.
  5. The cooking process is interrupted by a short bath in ice water and the celery sticks get their fresh colour.
  6. Allow the celery pieces to cool and dry completely.
  7. The celery is now placed in the *** freezer compartment in labeled, well-sealed freezer boxes or freezer bags.

Thaw and process celery stalks

Depending on further use, either defrost the celery gently or add it directly to the dish to be cooked.
Defrosting in the refrigerator takes several hours. Place the sealed freezer inside. This keeps the celery crisp, thanks to the unbroken cold chain it is not contaminated by harmful germs and can be used unheated.
When cooking with frozen celery sticks, simply add the frozen celery pieces to the pan or saucepan, where it will cook with the rest of the dish.

The garden journal freshness ABC

How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?

The garden journal freshness ABC as a poster:

  • as a free PDF file to print out yourself

Category:

Vegetable garden