Blueberry Cooking Tips and Hints
You may wish to drain, rinse, and pat dry canned blueberries before adding to your recipe to avoid the color bleeding into the final product.When improvising by adding blueberries to a recipe, keep in mind that those recipes which include an alkaline such as baking soda may cause an ugly brownish-green tinge to your recipe due to a chemical reaction. Baking soda is usually included in recipes using an acidic ingredient, such as buttermilk or yogurt. Try substituting regular milk for buttermilk and baking powder for the baking soda to avoid discoloration.
When using frozen whole blueberries in a recipe, do not let them thaw before adding. This will preserve not only texture, but will also keep the blueberries from bleeding into the recipe. However, as a general rule, blueberries will not bleed their color into your recipe unless the skin has been broken.
In most cases, other berries may be substituted for blueberries on an equal basis, including huckleberries, red currants, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries.
Blueberry Equivalents
• 1 pint of blueberries = 3/4 pound or 2 cups• 1 pint of blueberries = 2 cups
• 1 quart = 1-1/2 pounds or 4 cups
• 1 10-ounce package of frozen blueberries = 1-1/2 cups
More about Blueberries:
• Blueberry Selection and Storage
• Blueberry Cooking Tips, Equivalents, and Substitutions
• Blueberries and Health
• Blueberry History
• Blueberry Recipes
Photo © 2006 Peggy Trowbridge, licensed to About.com, Inc.
