Rhubarb… yeah its one of those things that you either love or hate… but it is also one of those things that most people love when its prepared well. Here’s a tutorial with pictures to help you prepare and serve rhubarb.
I had a few stalks of beautiful, red rhubarb on hand and thought some of you might want to know how to prepare it. So here is one way of preparing rhubarb to be stored in the freezer til you want to use it in cobblers, tortes, toppings or other yummy desserts. This method uses sweetener and thickener so its ready to go right out of the freezer.
First give your rhubarb a rinse. Next, you are going to want to peel the rhubarb. You peel it like you would celery. Take your paring knife and cut into the top of the stalk and then just pull the thin peel off the stalk all the way to the bottom.
After the stalks are peeled you will cut it up into pieces. It will resemble cut up celery. Cut a thin slice off each end, too.
If the stalk is very wide you may want to cut it down the middle before cutting it up.
The next step is to cook the rhubarb in water. I use 4 cups cut up rhubarb and just enough water to cover it in the pan. My pan is a 2 quart pan, and I have 4 cups of cut up rhubarb in it. I will add 1 1/2 cups sugar to these 4 cups of rhubarb. 
This is how much red paste coloring I use for my rhubarb. Some people prefer not to color it at all. but I find that it is a pale greenish brown without the coloring and its not too appetizing. So I just stir in a tiny bit to make it pale pink. Rhubarb has some natural red coloring of its own, but it often cooks away.
Now I add some almond flavoring, just a teaspoon for this much rhubarb. Yes, you can use a measuring spoon.
At this point, before you thicken it, you must taste-test the rhubarb. I always get one of my professional taste testers to do this. this particular tester is a rhubarb specialist (read: she really likes it!).
Just get some of the juice out in a big spoon and cool it off and let your taste tester have at it. You want something that is sweet…. but with a little but of a tang to it.
Testing…………
And this is the reaction you should get if you have it just right. If you don’t get this reaction, you may want to add some more sugar until it tastes right to your taster.
Just right!
Now you can thicken the rhubarb mixture. I use 6 tablespoons cornstarch and 1/2 cup water. Mix a little of the hot rhubarb in to the cornstarch-water mixture then put the whole thing back into the pan of rhubarb and stir it. It will be thick but not as thick as jam. At this point you can heat it to boiling and can it in a pressure cooker or you can freeze it. If you want to water bath can it, you need to add 1 tablespoon lemon juice to the final product. Or, you can store it in the frig for several days.
Its delicious in cobblers, as an ice cream topping, with granola over yogurt or ice cream, cooked with dumplings or in tortes with oat and brown sugar toppings.
Hello and welcome! I'm Sylvia Britton, and I've been online since 1996 offering encouragement and help in the spirit of Titus 2 and Proverbs 31 at Christian Homekeeper. CHK is the original Homekeeping site on the internet
I’ve never had fresh from the garden rhubarb, well not that I’ve had to deal with anyway – always someone else’s, so I had no idea that you needed to peel it.
I would like to grow rhubarb here in my garden but I am not sure when is a good time to plant it. I am sure that I could get a plant offspring from a good friend at church. This grows really well up here and I have access to lots of different recipes for using it.
Hi Elaine,
Rhubarb loves cool, damp weather! People in Siberia even grow it. Get some root divisions from your friend. Three or 4 roots will grow enough rhubarb to feed a family of 5 or so. With plenty of leftovers. What you want are root divisions taken from the “crown” or base of the plant. Try to get a leaf or two and stems attached to the root piece. Keep them wet and cool.
Plant the root divisions in manure or compost rich soil about 3-4 feet apart. Rhubarb plants get BIG. Water them well and keep them moist. The leaves might wilt a little but they will come back if you keep the plant moist.
You can divide rhubarb most any time of the year but traditional wisdom says to wait til fall or late winter when the weather is mild and wet.
I hope you have lots of success with your rhubarb!
I’m not a rhubarb fan. I don’t know why. I’d like to try it again. My parents had a rhubarb patch, I don’t know if they still do. My mom would make pies and everyone loved them. But I guess I was stubborn. I bet I would like it now.
P.S. Your tester is adorable!
I’d like to make some rhubarb for you, Wardee. I am working on making some ice cream topping that uses agave to sweeten it. I think I will need to use some xanthan gum to thicken it though.
Rhubarb is just one of the many plants that my family grows and consumes that are not like your every day garden plants. We like poke, dandelion flowers and leaves, cat tails, dock, tubers of different kinds and many others.