Peel and Clean The Rhubarb – That’s How it Works

Cleaning rhubarb made easy

If the rhubarb comes from your own garden, it is usually sufficient if it is only cleaned. This is especially true for young rhubarb, as its skin is not yet so fibrous.

• Before you start cleaning the rhubarb, first remove the leaves.
• Then hold the rhubarb stalks under running water and wipe them with a cloth.
• Alternatively, dampen a rag and wipe over the rhubarb stalks.
• Finally, remove any damaged areas from the rhubarb and place the stalks on a cotton towel to dry before continuing.

Peel the rhubarb – this is how you do it without major losses

If you would like to process the rhubarb into finer dishes, you should peel it before further processing. The same goes for older rhubarb, as most of the oxalic acid is in the skin.

• It is best to use a small kitchen knife to peel the rhubarb stalks. A vegetable peeler, such as the one you use for asparagus, is less suitable because you remove too much of the fruit.
• After you have cleaned the rhubarb, first cut off the dried cut edges at the two ends of the stalk.
• Then place the kitchen knife on one end of the rod and pull the fiber upwards. This is how you work your way around the rhubarb stalk piece by piece.