Mulberry Leaves

aggiegrad2012

New Member
Brought in a new haul today for my silkworms, hopefully this keeps them full till they caccoon out. Here are a few pictures I took to of blanching process. I get a large pot to a rolling boil and put in a handful of leaves at a time for 90 seconds. I then immediately place them in a cold water bath, to stop the cooking. Then a quick dry and a trip to the freezer. I find that if you don't place them in an ice bath after boiling, they get soggy after you thaw them for future use.
 

Attachments

  • photo.jpg
    photo.jpg
    238.2 KB · Views: 192
  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    12.7 KB · Views: 174
  • image_1.jpg
    image_1.jpg
    19.3 KB · Views: 180
  • image_2.jpg
    image_2.jpg
    20.1 KB · Views: 198
Interesting. I'm curious why you blanch them to begin with? Better for freezing? I sometimes get some silkies from a local petstore and the staff gives me a handful of fresh leaves which the silkies seem to enjoy (to say the least).

I freeze other kinds of leaves raw (kafir lime leaves for cooking) without any issues, so just curious about that step!
 
Cool, good idea. It has been dry around here lately and the leaves I have been feeding often dry out before they are consumed.. I will give this a try!
 
That's a great idea I had no idea you could do that. I am growing out tons of eggs all of the time and I was worried what I was going to do when the trees start dropping their leaves. I assume they will last months frozen like that.
 
Interesting. I'm curious why you blanch them to begin with? Better for freezing? I sometimes get some silkies from a local petstore and the staff gives me a handful of fresh leaves which the silkies seem to enjoy (to say the least).

I freeze other kinds of leaves raw (kafir lime leaves for cooking) without any issues, so just curious about that step!

For storage mostly, helps stop enzymatic processes
it also helps break down the waxy outer layer and makes it easier for the worms to consume, especially at the kego stage
 
From what I found it is easier for the worms to eat and they don't dry out nearly as fast. I have been experimenting with it for future storage of leaves, my sources aren't very reliable. Hahaha so unreliable that it's out of my neighborhoods parks, nothing more awkward than asking if they use pesticides on their tree's, gotta protect my "kids"! Yeah and there is definitely no new growth due to the limited rain so the leaves are pretty tough.
 
Also the leaves get soggy after thawing if they aren't blanched, the ice ruins the cellular structure due to the non flexible cell walls.
 
Back
Top Bottom