Freezing & preserving rhubarb: this is how you preserve it

Rhubarb can be preserved very easily, for example by freezing or boiling. We have collected our tips for you.

rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum) tastes delicious in many variations and can also be preserved with a few tips. The freshly harvested rhubarb stalks can be kept for up to a week, but peeling becomes more and more difficult with age. Wrapped in damp kitchen towels and placed in the fridge, the rhubarb stalks will keep for up to two weeks. Nevertheless, it is advisable to only harvest as much as you currently need. This protects the strength of your rhubarb plant.

Pro tip: Be sure to remove the rhubarb leaves, which are poisonous anyway. If the leaves are not removed, the rhubarb stalks lose water unnecessarily and quickly become limp.

Preserve rhubarb

If you lose your appetite for fresh rhubarb during the rhubarb season, there are ways to preserve it. We have put together everything you need to know about freezing and preserving rhubarb so that you can enjoy your tasty rhubarb harvest for as long as possible. At the end of the article, we also share some tips about the oxalic acid contained in rhubarb.

Freeze rhubarb

Rhubarb can be frozen in just a few steps. Wash the stalks well with water and peel the rhubarb. It is then advisable to cut the sticks into smaller pieces and place them in a suitable container for the freezer. So you can still log in to your rhubarb harvest delight. The frozen pieces are particularly suitable for later processing into compotes or cakes. If frozen rhubarb is to be used for a cake, however, the rhubarb must first be completely thawed and drained.

Summary of freezing rhubarb:

• Wash the rhubarb thoroughly
• Peel the rhubarb and cut into pieces
• Choose a suitable container for the freezer

Boil the rhubarb

If you cannot process your rhubarb in time or want to preserve it for later consumption, you can boil it down. Rhubarb compote or jam is especially good in combination with strawberries or raspberries excellent.

Before preserving, wash and peel the rhubarb and cut it into slices about one centimeter wide. Before actually cooking, the rhubarb should be blanched. Depending on the piece size, put it in boiling water for a maximum of 30 seconds to reduce the oxalic acid content. You should not use this water for the subsequent preserving. Basically, rhubarb can be boiled in two ways: just in water or as a sweet alternative with sugar and without water. For the first variant, you need three to four parts of rhubarb in relation to one part of water. If you prefer the sweeter alternative, you should sprinkle the rhubarb with some sugar and let it steep for half an hour. This will allow juice to escape and serve as the cooking liquid.

With both variants, you can refine the rhubarb with ginger, lemon juice, vanilla or cinnamon, depending on your taste. Now the rhubarb is only cooked to the desired consistency, whereby ten minutes can often be enough. After cooking, it is filled into sterilized jars while still hot and these are tightly sealed. Place the jars on their lids until completely cool. The boiled rhubarb will keep for several months in a dark place. When opening the jars, make sure that you hear the typical cracking noise.

Summary of how to boil rhubarb:

• Wash the rhubarb and cut into centimeter-wide slices
• Blanch the rhubarb pieces in boiling water for a maximum of 30 seconds
• You can boil the rhubarb either in water or in sugar
• If you only want to boil it in water, you need three to four parts of rhubarb to one part of water
• To boil rhubarb in sugar, sprinkle the blanched pieces with a little sugar and leave for half an hour so that the liquid comes out
• Boil the rhubarb to the desired consistency and pour it into sterilized jars, which you leave on their lids to cool
• If you keep the rhubarb in a dark place, you can keep it for several months in a jar

Important: With any type of processing of rhubarb, care must be taken to ensure that the rhubarb is not placed in aluminum containers or cooked and is not covered with aluminum foil. The acid contained in the rhubarb attacks the aluminum and releases dangerous substances!

Enjoy rhubarb properly

Rhubarb sticks contain a lot of vitamin C and taste great in desserts, cakes, juices and jam. Rhubarb leaves, on the other hand, are poisonous and must not be eaten.

The typical plaque that one feels after eating rhubarb is evidence of the oxalic acid contained in rhubarb. This also in spinach and chard The acid it contains impairs iron absorption in the body. People suffering from iron deficiency should not consume food containing rhubarb with or immediately after other meals. People suffering from gout, rheumatism, arthritis or kidneys should generally be cautious about eating foods containing oxalic acid. The oxalic acid in rhubarb is half the battle if you keep a few tips in mind:

• People with kidney or bladder stones should generally avoid rhubarb
• Oxalic acid is increasingly found in the leaves and outer layers of rhubarb; Leaves must therefore be removed generously; the stalks of the rhubarb should also always be peeled
• Rhubarb varieties such as Elmsblitz or Elmsjuwel produce little oxalic acid, which is why they are very popular in private gardens
• Rhubarb goes well with dairy products. to be eaten the calcium it contains binds with the oxalic acid to form calcium oxalate and is later excreted by the body

More about the rhubarb varieties with less oxalic acid can be found in our special article.