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Broccoli has to be one of the most popular vegetables out there, and a vegetable everyone seems to have a strong opinion about, positive or negative. Well, love them or hate them, we all know broccolis are jam-packed with loads of nutrients: proteins, fibers, vitamins, potassium, calcium, you name it.
However, you can’t just keep these green bobbleheads lying around, expecting them to be fresh forever. So today, we will be giving you some amazing tips and tricks to make this bunch of goodness last longer.
If you’re wondering, “how long does broccoli last?”, we have the answer for you, and it is that it varies from a few days to a few months. It may sound really odd, but it’s a fact. Actually its depends on your preservation process. So, stay with us throughout the article to clear out all your confusions.
Broccoli Preservation Tips That You Should Follow
Here are some tips for you that you can use to preserve broccoli.
1. Using the Freezer
The most obvious way of preserving broccoli is by refrigerating it, and it is most definitely an effective way to make your broccoli last longer. So how long does broccoli last in the refrigerator?
Your uncooked broccoli will last in the freezer from about 3-8 months, but that is only if you store it the right way.
If you buy freshly picked broccoli from the market, then it is essential for you to blanch them first. You will have to blanch your broccolis in boiling water for about 3 minutes.
Afterward, you should place your broccoli in a vacuum-sealed container or a ziplock bag. It is necessary for the container to be airtight since bacteria flow in the air, which would easily rot your greens.
You should also keep in mind that your broccolis must be completely dry before you store them in the freezer because the moisture would make the broccolis start to rot quicker. So, after you blanch them, spread the florets and stems on a large piece of parchment paper and let them dry completely.
And you can also keep your broccolis outside in the morning to ensure that there is not a drop of moisture remaining.
Place your container in the deep freezer for approximately an hour, so they do not stick together but freeze properly at the same time. Then, place them in the regular fridge, and you will have these amazing nutritious veggies for a long time at an arm’s length.
2. Using the Fridge
On the other hand, if you just put your broccoli in the fridge, then it will last for a much shorter period of time. If it is picked up from the supermarket, then it will last about a week or two, and if you have it freshly picked (which is highly unlikely), then it will last for about 10-14 days.
Also, if you have bought canned broccoli, then just check the expiry date on the can given by the manufacturer. It will be at least 3 months from the date of packaging.
3. Canning Broccoli by Yourself
There are two ways to preserve food, water bath canning, and pressure cooking canning. However, with broccoli, we can only use pressure cooking canning because the 100 degrees celsius reached by the boiling water bath is insufficient to kill the botulism spores.
The temperature in the pressure cooker is high enough to scorch the bacterial spores and prevent botulism. So, pressure canning is definitely a good way to preserve your green bites, and it ensures a longer life.
4. Refrigerating Cooked Broccoli
We completely understand that with the hectic schedule most of you have now, it is very difficult to find time to cook every day, and hence meal prepping is so popular. With broccoli, if you cook them separately and keep them in the refrigerator, they will be just fine for approximately a week.
Even after cooking the broccoli, you must keep them in an airtight container, or else it will go off relatively quickly.
5. Pickling
Although initially pickling broccoli might sound absurd, but with the rise in popularity of fermented foods as of now, we think a lot of you might find this option of preservation tempting.
What you have to do is cut your broccoli to bite-sized florets and place them in a mixture of vinegar and salt, and in addition to that, you can sprinkle in some delectable spices of your choice for the extra zing of flavor.
However, here too, you must keep the pickled broccoli in a closed container in the freezer to prevent any moldy situation.
The major advantage of pickling is that it lengthens the life of the broccolis by an astonishingly long period of time. That is, it will last for 4-6 months! The long-life is possible due to the acidic environment created by the vinegar, which disrupts the growth of bacteria.
6. Shelf Life of Raw Broccoli
If you keep a freshly picked broccoli on a shelf, after 3-5 days, it will be rotten, and we would highly suggest you not be a daredevil and eat that nasty junk then.
Like the larger portion of people, when you take home a wonderful and vibrant green broccoli home, at room temperature, it will be edible for 1-2 days, which is an astonishingly short time. Hence, we would recommend you to not leave your broccoli or any veggies outside of the freezer for a long time.
In this video you will know some other method of storeing broccoli for long time.
Is It Still Edible?
If you are someone who was recently started cooking, you might not be unable to distinguish between what’s rotten and what’s not.
But with broccoli, it’s quite easy to tell if it has begun to rot because there will be a distinct foul smell, and you will most likely also notice the green buds would begin to look yellowish and the broccoli would become limp.
In case you cooked rotten broccoli, you would realize that it has gone bad because take our word for it, it will taste horrendous.
Conclusion
We believe we have provided all the essential information in this article, and we hope that you clearly understand how to preserve broccolis in the numerous ways described above!
Also, we hope that you got the answer to the question, “how long does broccoli last?”. If you are still puzzled, then feel free to drop down your questions in the comment section below!
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