How to Store Cauliflower
Forget about how to keep your cauliflower fresh. Instead, let’s talk about how to keep cauliflower alive.
Cauliflower is rife with life and nutritious as ever. Abeego keeps these nutrients tucked into your food so when you’re ready to eat it, you’re getting food that has retained its vital nutrients. Take care of your food that takes care of you!
But don’t take our word for it:
“We bought a Giant Abeego a few weeks ago and the first thing we used it for was a huge cauliflower. It took the two of us about ten days to eat it all and there was not a brown spot on it.” - Heather C. via Facebook
Enjoy your cauliflower to the very last floret! Keep reading to learn how you too can relish in the victory of perfectly preserved cauliflower:
We’ll show you:
- What happened to cauliflower in our test kitchen (it’s shocking!)
- How to store cauliflower for longer at home
- How to choose the best cauliflower
- Our favorite way to eat cauliflower as an entree, plus a recipe!
ABEEGO TEST KITCHEN RESULTS | ABEEGO VS. NAKED CAULIFLOWER
Our Method:
In the Abeego Test Kitchen, we cut a head of fresh cauliflower in half, wrapped half in Abeego and left the other half naked. We stored both halves in the fridge for two whole weeks.
Our Results:
Wrapped in Abeego, the curds on the left are firm and large with still-perky greens. The shrinkage in the naked cauliflower on the right is dramatically noticeable! The curds also felt rubbery, the florets separated, and the greens wilted.
In numbers, the Abeego-wrapped cauliflower retained heaps more moisture, having lost only 1.8% of its original weight, versus the unwrapped cauliflower, which lost 20% of its weight.
Our Why:
Comprised of 92% water, cauliflower is susceptible to rapid dehydration, which is why grocery stores wrap it in plastic. However, and we can’t stress this enough, your cauliflower is alive and it needs to breathe! Those brown spots and blemishes on cauliflower? That’s what happens when it’s stored in a plastic bag or other airtight container—its natural oxidizing gases get trapped and start to suffocate the veggie, turning it brown and mushy.
Abeego works because nature works. Like nature's lemon or avocado peel, it has pores to breathe while it protects at the same time. Wrapped in Abeego, your cauliflower can breathe like it needs to—its oxidizing gases are able to slowly escape. At the same time, it’s protected from drying out too quickly. Cauliflower wrapped in Abeego means firm, white, nutritious curds for longer than any other way you’ve tried to save it. Abeego protects and slows down cauliflower from aging.
THE BEST WAY TO STORE CAULIFLOWER WITH ABEEGO
From blanching to freezing cauliflower to layering the florets with paper towels on a baking sheet, food storage tips can feel overwhelming. With Abeego, you can breathe easy knowing that the food-saving power is in your hands. One wrap, any way, any time.
A Giant Abeego is recommended for a whole head of cauliflower and a Large Abeego suits a half. Fold and mold around it and press firmly as Abeego sticks to itself, or roll it up and bunch or twist the ends. There’s no wrong way.
Cut cauliflower florets? Make a bag with the Abeego Giant or put the cut florets in a large bowl and cover with a Large or Medium.
Keep cauliflower wrapped in Abeego and in your refrigerator’s crisper drawer for fresh florets for days.
For more wrapping inspiration, check out our Abeego YouTube channel.
HOW TO GET THE BEST CAULIFLOWER
While white cauliflower is the most common, there are hundreds of varieties enjoyed worldwide in almost every color of the rainbow.
Leaves on
Look for cauliflower with leaves on if possible. The fresher the cauliflower, the perkier the leaves!
Firm curds
Farmer’s markets often offer plastic-free cauliflower, however, if plastic-wrapped is the only variety at hand, choose cauliflower with firm curds with no sponginess. A freshly harvested cauliflower is heavy and free of brown spots.
Protect it
At home, swaddle that cauliflower baby in Abeego so it can live its best life. Abeego’s breathable environment will maintain a firm and nutritious cauliflower and extend its shelf life for what feels like forever.
HOW TO EAT CAULIFLOWER
Devour the Leaves
Did you know the whole cauliflower is edible? In the process of getting the cauliflower from farm to store, the green leaves are commonly cut away in favor of protecting the head in plastic. If you can find cauliflower with leaves attached, try them roasted with a little olive oil and salt. You can thank us later! They can also be wrapped up and saved for your future cauliflower soup stock. Abeego Founder & CEO, Toni Desrosiers, explains further as a panelist on Random Acts of Green’s Food Resilience Now & in a Post-Pandemic World Panel:
Roast and Eat it Whole
Cauliflower is the flavor of the month as low-carb mashed potatoes, pizza crust and even cauliflower rice. Often thought of as a side dish, we believe the true beauty of this cruciferous beast deserves to be devoured in its glorious wholeness and, dare we add, as the main dish! We simply adore this elevated cauliflower recipe from The First Mess, which places cauliflower at the center of the table.
Romesco roasted whole cauliflower with herbed tahini cream is stuffed, basted, and roasted to render a beautiful and bright crust that you won’t be able to wait to sink your teeth into. Enjoy the cooking process and celebrate the vibrancy of vegetables for the nutrient packed powerhouses that they are.
Abeego Tip: Recipes are a wonderful source of inspiration to create your own concoction based on what you have on hand without the need to run to the store.
BUILDING THE ABEEGO HABIT
Rethink Entrees
Celebrate the vibrancy of vegetables for the nutrient packed powerhouses that they are. Our planet can benefit from everyone enjoying a plant-based main dish on a regular basis.
Cauliflower Gifts
Imagine receiving a gift basket with a Giant Abeego, a beautiful cauliflower, a recipe card and all the fixings to make your favorite cauliflower dish. What a delicious way to highlight the preciousness of food.
SHOP ABEEGO & KEEP CAULIFLOWER ALIVE
It is with deep respect and gratitude that we create, build and operate our business in the communities of Southern Vancouver Island, which as a business we acknowledge is located within the ancestral and unceded territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) (Esquimalt and Songhees), Malahat, Pacheedaht, Scia'new, T’Sou-ke and W̱SÁNEĆ (Pauquachin, Tsartlip, Tsawout, Tseycum) peoples.
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