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What is a Blancher Pot?
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
A blancher pot is a kitchen tool which is designed to facilitate the blanching of vegetables and fruits. Typically, a blancher pot is designed for stove top use, and consists of three parts: a pot, a blanching tray, and a lid. Using a blancher pot can make blanching much easier, and also ensures even exposure of fruits and vegetables to the water or steam in which they are being blanched. Many kitchen supply stores sell blancher pots, which are also useful for other kitchen tasks.
When foods are blanched, they are lightly cooked to preserve their color, flavor, and texture. Blanched foods are often frozen for later use, or added to dishes at the last minute. Blanching ensures that the foods will be fully cooked, and that they will stay crispy and colorful in the finished dish. Blanching is also used to loosen the skins of things like tomatoes, almonds, and beans, making them much easier to skin.
Blanching is a two step process. First, the vegetables are dunked into a pot of boiling water for several minutes, or steamed for a longer period. The exact time required for this stage of blanching varies, but when the fruit is almost cooked and still crisped, it is done. Next, the food is dunked into an ice-water bath to “shock” it, bringing the cooking process to a halt.
By using a blancher pot, you can ensure maximum utilization of the pot space. The foods being blanched can be easily loaded into the steam tray, making it very easy to pull them in and out of the water. The tray typically has holes to let water or stream through, which means that the blanched food can also be easily drained. A blancher pot can also be used to steam foods ranging from lobster to artichokes.
There are two basic variations on the blancher pot design. One uses a folding tray which can be inserted inside the pot, which is filled with varying levels of water, depending on whether the cook wants to steam or boil the vegetables. The other type of blancher pot has a stacking design, in which the blanching tray hooks over the top of the pot. The lid is placed on top of the pot for blanching to promote even cooking. Some cooks prefer a blancher pot with a glass lid, so that they can see the foods being blanched inside.
Mary McMahon
Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a DelightedCooking researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.
Learn more...
Mary McMahon
Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a DelightedCooking researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.
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![Blancher pots are designed for stovetop use.]()
By: Tiramisu StudioBlancher pots are designed for stovetop use.
Discussion Comments
@croydon - That's true, and it's the reason the water in the bottom pan often goes green. My grandmother always kept that kind of water and drank it, and sometimes she would make us drink it too. I guess it is mostly B vitamins that are in there.
On the other hand, most people aren't doing too badly with their B vitamins and not putting a lot of water in the bottom pan means you are at risk of letting the water boil away and scalding the pot.
So, remember if you are steaming veges it doesn't take very long, and you should watch them carefully to make sure the water doesn't boil away.
If you are using a blancher to steam vegetables, you should be careful about how much water you put in the bottom pan.
One of the best things about eating steamed veges is that they are a better source of vitamins than boiled veges. Not just because they are less cooked, although that is part of it. Many vitamins are water soluble, which means they can be dissolved into water.
These are often the kinds of vitamins you need to have pretty much every day, since they can leave your system really easily when you urinate.
If you boil your veges, then the vitamins go into the water, which usually gets discarded. Sure, you get to keep some of them, but if you steam your veges, you get to keep more.
So, if you fill the bottom pot too much, the water will cover the veges and leach out the vitamins.
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