On Fri, 1 Jul 2005 14:29:20 +0100, Jaques d'Alltrades
wrote:

My cookbooks advise blanching all vegetables before freezing to kill
certain food-poisoning bacteria which can multiply (slowly!) at ****
freezer temperatures.

You blanch veggies not to kill bacteria so much as to render inactive
enzymes that would otherwise cause deterioration even when frozen.

Bacterial contamination of vegetables is pretty much a matter of
surface contamination. You can pretty much get rid of superficial
bacteria by swishing in cool water with a dash of dishwashing liquid,
then rinsing thoroughly. An organic liquid soap is perhaps even better
for this purpose.

I don't blanch fruit.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, BC, Canada
to send email, change atlantic to pacific
and invalid to net