5 Best Practices for Freezing Your Food As Recommended by the Experts
Freezing is practically the easiest way to preserve your food for a longer time and prevent any wastage. Storing your essential food items saves your frequent trips to the grocery store and even helps you save when buying in bulk.
But don’t think that freezing is only dumping your food into the freezer. To maintain the texture, color, and flavor of the food, you need to be very careful about how you store the food. Cooking experts at Prepared Cooks have laid down certain practices to help you store your food correctly.
Store In Small Portions
After buying a whole loaf of bread, you may not need the whole of it, and it’s not convenient to take the whole loaf out every time you need it. So, make sure you slice it up before putting it into your freezer. This way, you can toast your slice directly from the freezer.
Similarly, freeze your purees, sauces, and stews in a muffin tin or in portions that are enough for your one-time meal. Use a cookie sheet to freeze your berries to prevent them from sticking together, and then transfer them to a bag.
Pack Your Food In Airtight Bags Or Containers
Choosing suitable containers and storage bags is crucial to keeping your food fresh and maintaining its taste. Ensure everything is airtight, as less air will mean your food will be affected less by freezer burn. While storing your meat, make sure you wrap them up in freezing paper or plastic wrap before putting them in a bag. Squeeze any excess air from your bags. And, once you store, try not to open your freezer frequently.
Leave Room For Expansion of Liquids
It’s basic science that matter contracts in lower temperatures, but it’s not true in your kitchen. Liquids expand in the freezer, so when you store your liquid food, make sure you leave about half-inch space at the top of the containers to leave room for expansion.
Blanch Your Vegetables Before Storing
Vegetables or fruits can lose their natural color and might look dull if kept in the freezer for long. So, to avoid that, you can blanch them before placing them into the freezer. Blanching takes a few minutes; all you have to do is put them in hot water and then into cold water.
Blanching helps to preserve the nutrients, food color, and also taste. Blanching time can differ from food to food, so check it at food websites like Prepared Cooks before doing.
Label Containers And Keep Them In Organized Manner
Labeling your container will make your task of finding your food and identifying their expiry date much easier. Make sure you use clear containers with labels on them. Moreover, choose stackable containers as you can place more than one container in the space of one.
Besides, the remaining space on the top can be used to keep your airtight bags. Large containers with a partition are also a great way to organize your freezer. Placing a whiteboard can indeed help those who have kept their whole kitchen into their freezer.
These were the ways you can get most from your freezer. But your task is not over. You have learned how to freeze your food. But you should also know how to defrost frozen foods; otherwise, all your efforts will be wasted.
As per the experts at Prepared Cooks, the safest way to defrost your food is to keep it overnight in the fridge or your microwave or cold water. They strongly recommend not to use warm water or even your kitchen counter for thawing.
The method of defrosting depends upon how urgently you need it. Refrigeration takes the longest time compared to cold water or microwave. While placing in cold water, make sure that the food is in a leak-proof packet.
Microwave thawing is the quickest, but make sure you cook it immediately after thawing. If you use these safe practices, it’s possible to refreeze your food.
