How Long Does Cooked Cauliflower Good For
Cauliflowers were on sale and you've brought dwelling one head too many. Now, you lot need to know how long cauliflower lasts.
Or perhaps you're not quite familiar with this veggie, and you need to learn how to shop cauliflower heads, or how to tell if yours is nevertheless okay to eat or not.
Either fashion, this article is for you. In it, we're going to cover:
- storage time of this veggie
- signs that you should throw out your cauliflower head
- storing cauliflower at home
- freezing cauliflower – how and when to exercise it
Subsequently reading this piece, yous should be well equipped to handle your cauliflower "state of affairs." Read on.
How Long Does Cauliflower Terminal?
A whole fresh cauliflower head lasts ii to four days on the counter and 7 to 10 days in the fridge. If you cut it upwardly and store the florets, they keep for 4 to v days in an airtight container, and the same is truthful for cooked cauliflower.
The storage time for a fresh cauliflower caput depends on a couple of factors. Those include:
- storage conditions – if the bag was vented
- how long the head was stored before you bought information technology
- overall quality – if there were any blackness spots when you bought it, and the like
Because of that, it's impossible to come up up with a more than specific estimate.
Tip
Cauliflower loses quality fast at room temperature, and then it makes sense to exit it that mode only if your refrigerator is total, or yous plan on using information technology inside a day or two.
| Pantry | Fridge | |
|---|---|---|
| Cauliflower (fresh) | 2 – four days | vii – 10 days |
| Cauliflower (cooked) | 4 – five days | |
| Cauliflower florets | 4 – 5 days |
How To Tell If Cauliflower Is Bad?
Signs of spoiled cauliflower include:
- Mold or big brown or black areas. If either is present, discard the head. Of class, if the "spoiled area" is quite small, you can cut it off (and then some) and use the rest, like many of us practise for other veggies. Minor blemishes and imperfections are perfectly normal.
- The head is soft or slimy. Fresh cauliflower is firm to the touch. If yours has turned limp, it's time for it to go.
- An off olfactory property. If the caput smells off, and you lot oasis't stored information technology near whatever evil-smelling food item, there's something wrong with information technology. Getting rid of it is the style to get.
As you lot tin can tell, cauliflower (and all of its varieties, including the standard white, and the more unusual ones like imperial or orange) is no unlike than other veggies. And the signs are super like to those of broccoli (read How to Tell if Broccoli Is Bad for more)
When information technology comes to cooked cauliflower, wait for any signs of mold. And make sure you do and then every time before using it.
Even though the cooked cauliflower often keeps well for up to a week, if you accidentally exposed information technology to microbes before refrigerating, it will go bad within a twenty-four hours or two.
In one case or twice I've had cooked cauliflower that grew mold after being only ii days in the refrigerator, so that's definitely possible.
How To Store Cauliflower
The all-time place to store cauliflower is the fridge (UMN).
Of grade, you can become away with leaving information technology in the pantry for a couple of days, just its quality volition deteriorate there much faster.
Info
Wash your cauliflower under running h2o right earlier cooking. If you're not using the whole head, cut off equally much equally y'all need and only launder that role. Don't use soap, as some of it might get stuck in the florets.
Should you merely toss the cauliflower head into the crisper drawer and be done with information technology, so? Not necessarily.
Cauliflowers proceed best in a cold and moist environment (UMN). While the refrigerator takes intendance of the temperature, it doesn't provide the humidity. Sure, the veggie drawer is more boiling than the balance of the fridge, but it'due south still not an ideal setting.
The easiest fashion to fix that is to leave the head in a vented plastic bag. The bag will trap the moisture, but the holes help release the surplus.
Alert
Using unperforated numberless or not leaving the top open up is non a good idea. A well-sealed environment creates too much humidity, which leads to condensation. That, in turn, promotes the growth of microorganisms (UMN).
Once you've cooked the cauliflower, seal information technology in an airtight container and continue it in the fridge.
If you need to keep the fresh cauliflower for an extended menstruum, freezing is the way to get.
How To Freeze Cauliflower
I'm certain you've seen frozen cauliflower florets in the supermarkets' freezers, and then you know this veggie freezes quite well.
When information technology comes to the procedure, it's a scrap more fourth dimension-consuming than simply cutting the florets from the stalks and chucking them into the freezer.
Here's how it goes (MSU):
- Prep the cauliflower(s). Trim off the leaves, and cut the head into florets. Wash them thoroughly. If you're worried about insects, check out the tip below.
- Blanching. Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the florets for 3 minutes. The Michigan Land University Extension suggests blanching in h2o with 4 teaspoons of salt added per 1 gallon of water (MSU). Nonetheless, many people blanch with no salt and are happy about it. Test both options if needed.
- Cool and drain the florets. After blanching, transfer the florets into cold h2o and get out in that location for a couple of minutes, to stop the cooking process. Bleed the water and pat the pieces dry.
- Portion and pack the veggies. Divide the florets into dish-size portions, and put each into its own freezer handbag or airtight container. Seal everything tightly and add labels if you like.
- Put everything into the freezer.
Tip
If you're worried almost insects in the florets, soak them for half an hour in salty water, adding 4 teaspoons of salt per i gallon of h2o (MSU). Any insects that might exist in the florets will dice and float to the surface. Drain the water and proceed with the freezing process.
Frozen cauliflower retains best quality for about 8 to 12 months (MSU).
In virtually cases, y'all will cook the frozen cauliflower, then generally, there'south no existent need to thaw information technology. You lot can add it frozen, and that'south information technology.
Just if you lot really need to defrost it, practice it in the refrigerator overnight.
Cauliflower Shelf Life and Spoilage Summary
Thanks for reading this short article on handling cauliflower. Let'south go through the most of import points 1 more fourth dimension:
- How long does cauliflower last? A whole fresh cauliflower caput keeps for about ii to 4 days at room temperature and 7 to ten days in the refrigerator. If yous cut information technology upward into florets and refrigerate in an airtight container, they keep for 4 to 5 days.
- Does cauliflower need to be refrigerated? No, simply cauliflower loses quality much quicker on the counter than information technology does in the fridge. Unless yous know that yous're going to use it inside 2 days, it'due south best chuck it in the fridge.
- How to tell if cauliflower is bad? Mold and discoloration are typical signs of spoilage for cauliflower. You can trim bad florets, but if the whole head is yellow or sprinkled with black spots, it's time to discard it. An quondam caput could as well go soft and limp, and information technology upwards to you lot to decide if y'all're going to utilise it or not.
Sources
- UMN University of Minnesota Extension: Harvesting and storing home garden vegetables
- MSU Michigan State University Extension: Using, Storing and Preserving Cauliflower
Source: https://www.doesitgobad.com/does-cauliflower-go-bad/
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