25 Rhubarb Tips

Rhubarb is easy to grow but not as easy to love. Most folks find rhubarb too tart to eat unsweetened. However, once sugar is added, rhubarb becomes a favorite. Chopped rhubarb makes great pies, crisps, cobblers, muffins, and jams; but that's not all. Rhubarb sauce tops ice-cream and even poultry. Plus, some folks make salads, soups, and wine with rhubarb. If you have been wondering how to harvest, preserve, and cook rhubarb, here are 25 rhubarb tips.

Harvesting Rhubarb Tips

1 - Rhubarb is a perennial plant that grows in cooler climates. Only the stalks are eaten--the leaves are poisonous. The juicy stalks are tart and crisp and are usually eaten cooked in sweet and savory dishes. But some folks do eat rhubarb raw.

2 - Your rhubarb plant should be growing a sunny well-drained location. It's best to wait until at least year three to harvest it. Let it develop good root structure, and allow stalks to get about an inch thick.

3 - To get more out of your rhubarb plant, remove the flower stems when they come up. If you want good rhubarb stalk-development, you don't want to let the plant bloom.

4 - The best time to harvest rhubarb is April through June. Hothouse varieties are available year around.

5 - To harvest rhubarb, pull or twist the stalk off at the base of plant. You don't want to cut it off, because it leaves a bit of stalk that can decay.

6 - If you want the sweetest stalks, go for the brightest red and thinnest stalks.

7 - Be sure your stalks are firm and flat; you don't want any limp, curved, damaged, frozen, or diseased stalks.

8 - Cut all leaves off the stem right below the leaf, and dispose of the leaves. Composting is not recommended, especially if there are any diseased leaves.

9 - It's a good idea to harvest only half the plant at one picking. This gives your rhubarb plant time to recover.

Preparing Rhubarb Tips

10 - You can store cut rhubarb in the refrigerator for at least 2 weeks wrapped in plastic. But an hour before you use your rhubarb, put rhubarb stalks in a container of cold water to hydrate them.

11 - When you are ready to work with your rhubarb stalks, trim both ends of the stalk. Then remove any spongy ends. Pull off fibrous strings by peeling down the stalk, but try not to remove the flavorful skin.

12 - Cut stalks that are wider than one inch into half or thirds. Slice lengthwise and trim off any blemishes.

13 - A pound of cut rhubarb makes three to four cups of chopped rhubarb. To chop rhubarb, cut the width of the stalk into quarter-inch or half-inch pieces.

Cooking Rhubarb Tips

14 - Home-grown rhubarb is stronger in flavor and brighter in color than hothouse varieties.

15 - If you harvest rhubarb late in the season, you may need to add more liquid to your recipe or reduce the thickener. Late stalks may not be as juicy.

16 - Rhubarb is acidic--you don't want to cook it in aluminum, copper, or iron pans that react. In reactive metal pans, rhubarb turns brownish and the pan discolors. Instead, cook rhubarb in coated pans or glass baking pans.

17 - To help reduce the acidity of rhubarb, you can add orange juice or pineapple juice to your dish.

18 - Rhubarb can be substituted for cranberries in recipes; both are tart.

19 - If you combine rhubarb with sweeter fruits, you won't need as much sugar to sweeten.

20 - Rhubarb has a tendency to sweeten when cooked. It's best to add sugar slowly. You can always add more, but you can't remove it.

21 - Strings break down during cooking, but so does texture. If you want texture in your dish, be sure your rhubarb doesn't cook too long.

Freezing Rhubarb Tips

22 - If you plan to freeze your rhubarb, wash it first; then chop it or make it into sauce. For sauce, choose a firm freezer container, and leave enough headspace. In an airtight container, frozen rhubarb keeps for half a year to a full year.

23 - You can freeze chopped rhubarb raw, or you can blanch it first. To blanch it, drop chopped rhubarb into boiling water for one to two minutes. Strain and plunge it into ice cold water to stop the cooking. Drain it dry.

24 - Freeze raw or blanched individual pieces on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, you can put individually frozen pieces of rhubarb into a sealable freezer storage bag. This method allows you to get just what you need out of the bag at time of use.

25 - Label and date the bag and freeze it flat. Don't freeze it on wire, because the pieces have a tendency to get stuck between the wires. You can always restack frozen flat bags, but you can't easily stack ones that get stuck or become odd-shaped.

No more ignoring rhubarb. Now you know how to harvest it, preserve it, and cook with it. With these 25 tips, you can get cooking with rhubarb any time of the year.