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Are you using your freezer efficiently? Are you wondering which food is safe to freeze and which are not? Then you have come to the right place for freezing food information.
It can be a huge hassle to prepare everyday food, buying fresh groceries and processing them to turn it into a wholesome meal. You can prepare the whole week’s meal over the weekend and storing them in your freeze can save a lot of your time and energy.
You might also want to keep your monthly rations reserved to slowly savour it. Freezing food is a great way to preserve food for an extended period.
Many of us do not even know the proper techniques to store food in the freezer and often land up with foods that are mushy, smelly or funny to taste after freezing them. Preserving food the correct way can be a lifesaver any day.
Advantage & Disadvantage of Freezing Food
Preserving food through freezing keeps the food colour, taste and texture more intact than preserving them with any other method. Moreover, storing away leftover meals and perishable foods in the freezer can save it from being wasted, saving your budget and world economy.
According to Worldwide food waste, “Roughly one-third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year – approximately 1.3 billion tonnes – gets lost or wasted.”
People have been using the process of preserving food through the use of ice for many years. Furthermore, freezing food is much healthier as there is no need of adding preservatives or chemicals for stopping it from freezing.
Advantage of Frozen Food
- You can keep seasonal food in stock.
- Can store food for longer periods of time.
- You can bulk purchase food when there is a sale and store them for later use.
- You will always have something to prepare meals with. It is even more helpful if you are planning to eat healthy
Disadvantage of Frozen Food
- Freezers are expensive, require space and stable electricity. It increases electricity bills.
- Freezer burn may affect the taste and texture of food.
- It is hard to store vitamin B and C as they are lost in the freezing process.
- Food that is not packed well may catch odd smells.
What Food Can You Freeze?
Some foods are great even after being frozen, while others require more care and proper techniques to freeze effectively. This includes using a sharp cutting knife, airtight boxes and packets, aluminum foil, and plastic wraps. There is also a specific duration for how long you can store various types of food in the freezer, as most foods will maintain their best quality for a certain period. Below you will find methods to freeze different kinds of food, along with guidelines on how long you can safely store them.
How to Freeze Raw Fish and Meats?
Chicken, beef, pork and fish are favourites of a vast population. Animal products are convenient and most comfortable to store, and you can keep it frozen for more than a year.
- Fish and meat can rot or get infected by pathogens quite quickly if left unattended for hours. It is necessary to put it in the refrigerator or at a cool place before you begin preparing it for freezing.
- For preparation, wash the fish and meat properly till they are clean.
- Cut the meats into serving pieces. Scale the fishes and clean the inside of it and cut them into serving pieces if you want.
- Use moisture and vapour proof packets and containers to seal meats and fishes tightly so that there is minimal air trapped in the package.
- Fishes are recommended to eat fresh. Fish with more fats can be a bit smelly to eat.
- Minced meats of any kind are also convenient to store for a long time. In case you are mincing them at home, use clean and fresh meats. Wrap them into airtight containers before turning them frozen solid.
How to Freeze Vegetables?
Enjoy seasonal bounties all through the year or cut your weekly veggies on your free time. Store well-packaged vegetables for more than a year. Here is how you can prepare your vegetables into portions and save it away in the freezer for later use.
Vegetables like carrot, potato, broccoli, zucchini and bell paper and all similar vegetables should cut down to chunks and florets. Blanch them in boiling water until they are half-boiled or dented. Drain out the excess water and pat dry them on a clean, dry tray. Cool them down to room temperature and then put the tray in the freezer until they are hard. You can put them into an airtight container or zip lock bags and put them back to the freezer.
Onions can be chopped into fine slices and spread on a dry tray and put into the freezer till they are frozen solid. Transfer them to plastic packages or boxes in portions you will use and put it back to the freezer. You can directly fry them whenever you want with or without defrosting them.
Peel off ginger and garlic and grind them into a fine paste. Spread them into ice trays and then freeze them. Take out cubes from the ice tray and use them in your cooking without the need for defrosting. You can also process them like onions by cutting them into slices.
Vegetables with high water content are not suitable for storing in the freezer directly. Leafy vegetables are very inconvenient to store as they turn out mushy.
For freezing corn, remove the husks, and only the kernels can be blanched for and stored. You can also similarly keep peas in the freezer. You can cut and remove the core of the tomatoes and store them in the freezer. Moreover, you can boil and turn the tomatoes into a puree.
How to Freeze Fruits?
There are so many various ways you can freeze most of your fruits, even the tropical ones too. Enjoy your summer fruits in winter or vice-versa without intaking any chemicals or preservatives. You can keep your favourite fruits for almost a year in the freezer.
Processing Fruits
Start by selecting fresh fruits. Wash them clean and if there is any damaged or overripe fruit separate them. Cut out the stems or leaves and slice your fruits in half or preferable sizes. Spread them in baking sheets and freeze them until they ice. Transfer the fruits into ziplock or airtight containers. Make sure there is very little no air as air may change the fruits’ colour or flavour.
Freezing Bananas
Fruits like bananas can be peeled and stored in pieces or slices. Banana peels turn mushy and get discoloured when frozen. So do not keep bananas with its peel.
Freezing Apple, Peaches, Apricots
Fruits like apple, peaches and apricots get brown, to keep their colour intact tend the sliced pieces of this fruit with diluted ascorbic acid. You can mix 2-3 tablespoon of 3 spoons of water, brush the fruits with the water-acid mixture. Freeze them similarly first by spreading them on a tray and then packing them in the air-locked package.
Turn Fruits into Smoothie
Turning the fruits into a thick smoothie and storing them in plastic jars can also save the fruits a long way in the freezer.
Freezing Fruits with Sugar Syrup
Freezing fruits dipped in sugar syrup is a handy method. Sugar syrup keeps the colour and texture of the fruits intact, and it tastes great too.
How to Freeze Dairy Products and Eggs?
Dairy products can be frozen better than any other food, but they can be stored only for six months or less.
Milk that is pasteurised and is in 1 ltr cartoon can directly be kept in the freezer. Milk tends to separate in layers. Thaw the milk and boil it before consuming. Pure milk should be boiled and slightly thickened. Then it should be cooled down to room temperature and separate into the container. When sealing the containers, make sure they are not full. Leave at least 2cm of the container empty. This is because when the liquid expands, they start to freeze. The container may explode if there is not enough space.
You can keep milk in the ice tray and use milk cubes directly for milkshakes or iced coffee without defrosting them. In addition, you can freeze yoghurt in small boxes at most for months. The flavour might vary slightly, but if you are using it to prepare dishes and have it with salads, you will not notice any changes. Stir the yoghurt well after defrosting it as the water comes apart.
Cheese crumbles down after freezing, which you can eat with salads. It’s also convenient to grate cheese like mozzarella and cheddar and keep them in suitable portions inside boxes. Thaw them slightly before using it as pizza toppings and or in cooking pasta.
You can store butter for more than four months in a plastic wrapper or aluminium foil. Do not refreeze unsalted butter. Salted butter can be thawed and used at your convenience.
Unwhipped creams are not very suitable for freezing. Whipped cream can be divided into small lumps and must be wrapped in wax paper.
Do not directly put eggs into the freezer. They might explode. You can crack them and freeze them in a muffin tin. Once frozen shift into another container if you want. You can also scramble the egg lightly with a spoon so that it doesn’t trap any air bubbles. Adding salt or sugar to the egg stops it from being too thick when it is defrosted.
How to Freeze Cooked or Ready to Cook Meals?
Do not worry if you have cooked too much food. You can always store them in the freezer and relish the food when craving hits.
- Try always to put fresh cooked and cooked food into the freezer.
- Large chunks of cooked potatoes and vegetables get spongy or taste weird. So the technique is to cook dishes with small pieces of vegetable if you want to freeze them later.
- You can cook rice in any way you want and freeze it.
- Cooked meat and fish can be kept in the freezer for a long while. Specially curries and food that is cooked with lots of oil.
- Cooked pasta is one of the best meals to store without any problem.
- You can prepare sauce, stalks and soups ahead and freeze them for six months.
- Chickens can be marinated and frozen. Defrost chicken before frying or cooking.
How to Freeze Dry Foods?
You can store dry foods and save being contaminated or affected by insects by keeping them in the freezer.
- All kinds of flours, dried herbs, raisins, and nuts stay well in the freezer.
- All sorts of spice powders stay fresh in the freezer and don't turn stone cold.
You can plan your meals ahead of time and store them in your freezer, saving yourself lots of trips to the shops. Eating proper food and maintaining the diets and nutrition your body intakes is a healthy lifestyle choice. To get interesting insight and educate yourself about foods grab a look on our course Diet and Nutrition.
Some Important Tips on Freezing Food
Simply keep these in mind while you are going to process food to keep in the freezer.
- Do not immediately freeze hot food. Instead, cool it down to room temperature to have the same colour flavour and consistency when you are ready to eat afterwards.
- Do not refreeze already thawed food. It can easily be affected by more active microorganisms. Instead, cook the food thoroughly, cool it and then freeze it again.
- Properly seal your food so that it can freeze without getting too much dry or getting freezer burn.
- Keep it in mind that freezing doesn’t improve food quality so choose fresh food to store.
- Keep your food in portions. If you usually cook meals for four people, pack the food in that amount and keep it in the freezer.
- Do not mix up the foods. Keep each type of food in separate containers and sections to avoid cross-contamination.
- Keep raw vegetables and fruit packages separate as some fruits cause other vegetables to ripen faster.
- Keep the meats and fishes at the bottom or as close to the coolest area of the fridge as possible.
- Always label your containers or package with the name of the food in it. This makes it easier to identify food If using tapes use freezer-friendly tapes.
- Liquid expands when frozen, always keep enough empty space so that they get room to expand and solidify.
- Avoid using thin glass containers for storing, cause it might crack in low temperatures. If you are using glass containers, wrap it further with plastics to protect the glass and avoid possible freeze burns.
You can plan your meals ahead of time and store them in your freezer, saving yourself lots of trips to the shops. Eating proper food and maintaining the diets and nutrition your body intakes is a healthy lifestyle choice. To get interesting insight and educate yourself about foods grab a look on our course Diet and Nutrition.
Freezer Management
Using the freezer in the right way is an essential part of frozen food preservation. Check out how you can regulate your freezer.
- Keeping the freezer in a cool and dry part of your house where the temperature is stable
- Do not overcrowd your freezer; keep some spaces for air circulation.
- Avoid unnecessary opening and closing of the freezer door.
- Once in a while defrost the manual freezer and clean it properly along with the condenser coil.
- Shuffle up the stored products so that freeze and stick to each other.
- Keep the temperature of the freezer at 0 degrees Fahrenheit to keep your food in their best quality.
- If there is a long period of power outage do not open the freezer at all. The temperature inside the freezer can keep the product intact for at least 24 hours.
- Do not put hot items into the freezer; it causes other frozen foods to thaw.
- Clean the freezer every once in a while.
Can You Freeze Warm Food?
Freezing warm food is generally not recommended because it can cause the temperature in your freezer to rise, potentially leading to the thawing and refreezing of nearby items. This can compromise the quality and safety of the food. It’s important to let food cool down to room temperature before freezing it to avoid these risks.
However, letting food sit out for too long can also be problematic, as bacteria can begin to grow. Ideally, you should allow the food to cool for no more than two hours before freezing. To speed up the cooling process, you can transfer the food to smaller, shallow containers, which helps dissipate heat more quickly. Once the food is at room temperature, you can safely place it in the freezer, where the cold environment will halt bacterial growth and preserve the food’s quality.
Food Freezing Myths
There are lots of myths surrounding freezing foods. Let me burst it for you so that next time you store something you can do it without any doubt
- Freezing foods that are starting to rot cannot be saved. What spoilt is spoilt.
- Freezing doesn't kill bacteria or viruses existing in the food. It just deactivates the microorganisms, which can become active once the food is defrosted.
- Nutritional value of frozen raw foods does not decrease; you can enjoy healthy meals for several months. The temperature keeps the nutrients intact. But if you are storing it for too long like more than one year, it gradually breaks the nutrients. Blanching before freezing food also breaks down some of the nutrients.
There you are all set to prepare your food for freezing them.
Related:
1. 7 Steps to Create Your Own Fitness and Diet Plan
2. Healthy Food List: Top 50 Weight-Loss Friendly Foods
3. Essential Things to Know about Reheating Food in the Oven
4. A Complete Guideline to Healthy Eating Pyramid
5. 20 Healthy Foods to Eat Everyday According to Expert Advice
6. How to Lose Weight Fast: 7 Scientific Steps to Drop Weight Effectively
Closing Remarks
It might seem like lots of work and process. But the benefits of food freezing is really fruitful. Not only does it save your time in the future, you also do not have to worry about spoiling or wasting food, maintaining proper meals every day is very easy. With self processed food you can easily avoid junk foods and leave a healthier life.
Food Hygiene and Safety for Catering
In this course, you will be trained in all areas of food safety for the catering industry.
FAQs
1. Why can you only freeze food for a month?
Freezing food for only a month is recommended because over time, ice crystals can grow larger and damage the texture and flavor of the food, leading to freezer burn and a loss of quality.
2. Can you freeze food when it’s hot?
Food Hygiene and Safety for Catering
In this course, you will be trained in all areas of food safety for the catering industry.
Further Resources
- What Can You Cook From Frozen? Your Questions Answered
- Essential Things to Know about Reheating Food in the Oven
- 20 Healthy Foods to Eat Every day According to Expert Advice
- The Importance of Health and Wellness Training
- Healthy Food List: Top 50 Weight-Loss Friendly Foods
- 7 Steps to Create Your Own Fitness and Diet Plan
