How to freeze food?

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A simple technique to make busy lives easier is to cook extra food at one meal for future meals. This extra meal needs to be preserved in a manner to be kept fresh for consumption, thus freezing of food is an appropriate method to do so.  One easy method of freezing foods, including liquid foods such as soups and stews, is to freeze them in freezer bags. 

The steps for successful freezing are as below:

STEP 1: Cool foods "slightly" at room temperature before refrigeration:

It is not necessary for a food to be completely cool before it is refrigerated. But slight cooling can be achieved by placing a shallow container of food on a cooling rack to allow air to circulate all round the pan for about 20 to 30 minutes and by limiting the depth of food to 2 inches.

STEP 2: Complete cooling of foods in the refrigerator:

Cool foods to refrigerator temperature before bagging them for your freezer. Loosely cover food while refrigeration so as to allow heat to escape and protect the food from accidental contamination from other foods during cooling. It is OK to refrigerate foods while they're still warm.

STEP 3: Pack foods into freezer bags:

Use "freezer" bags, not "storage" bags for storing food in the freezer. Freezer bags are thicker than storage bags and will keep the food fresh longer. Speed freezing and hasten thawing by freezing foods in a thin, flattened shape in freezer bags. Flatter packages also will stack better in your freezer.

To avoid getting food on the outside or stuck in the closure of the freezer bags, use a wide-mouth funnel. Place the freezer bag in a container such as a quart measuring cup. Standing the bag upright also helps if you are filling the bag with a more liquid-type food. You may wish to double-bag liquids to prevent leakage. Open the top of bag and enclose the edges around the bottom of the wide-mouthed funnel. Add food, in desired amount, through the funnel. Hold edges of the bag in place as needed. OR, use some type of scoop - such as a measuring cup with a handle - to transfer the food to the freezer bag.

STEP 4: Label foods:

To avoid confusion between types of food, label foods using freezer tape, gummed freezer labels or permanent marking pens/crayons. The label should include:

·         name of food;

·         packaging date;

·         number of servings or amount;

·    Additional helpful information, such as form of food (sliced, chopped, etc.), any special ingredients.

It is helpful to place filled freezer bags on a flat surface in your freezer, such as a metal pan. Do not stack freezer bags until frozen so they will freeze faster. After they are frozen solid, the bags may be removed from the pan and stored, stacked, directly on the freezer shelf. Or turn them on their edge and store them vertically.

STEP 5: Thaw and cook frozen foods

DO NOT thaw perishable foods at room temperature. If perishable foods are left at room temperature too long, bacteria may grow and produce heat-resistant toxins that can cause food-borne illness. Cooking may not be able to destroy these toxins. It's best to plan for slow, safe thawing in the refrigerator. If there is the possibility a thawing package might leak, you may want to thaw it on a plate or a pan. If food is thawed in the microwave, finish reheating it right away. Unlike food thawed in a refrigerator, microwave-thawed foods reach temperatures that encourage bacterial growth. Cook immediately to kill any bacteria that may have developed and to prevent further bacterial growth:

• Food may be transferred from a freezer bag to a microwave safe container for thawing in the microwave.
• If the freezer bag manufacturer says it is OK to thaw foods directly in their freezer bag, follow manufacturer's directions for such things as venting, recommended heat settings, types of foods suitable for microwave-thawing, etc. for that specific bag. Also, follow manufacturer's directions for your microwave.
• While you may be able to satisfactorily defrost food in some freezer bags in the microwave, DO NOT cook the food in the freezer bag - unless recommended by the microwave manufacturer. At the higher temperatures used in the microwave cooking process, it is possible for the plastic to reach melting temperatures.

Following are some important tips for freezing:

1. When making extra food at one meal for future meals, the portion to be served later should be separated and refrigerated before serving the food on the table. It also helps keep food safe.
2. Freeze foods in portion sizes you'll need for future meals. For example, if there are two in your family and you each eat a cup of rice for a meal; freeze in two-cup portions.
3. Keep a temperature check in your refrigerator and in your freezer to assure that the food stays at 40° F or lower (refrigerator) and 0° F or lower (freezer).
4. Never re-freeze anything that's been frozen. Even if the food was frozen raw and then cooked, to be extra safe it still shouldn't be re-frozen.
5. Make sure to wrap foods properly or put them in sealed containers before freezing, otherwise the food can get freezer-burn.
6. Refrigerate perishable foods in less than two hours (or one hour in temperatures above 90 F) of being at room temperature. As a general rule, eat perishable foods within two days or freeze them. Perishable foods include meat, poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, dairy products, pasta, rice, cooked vegetables, fresh, peeled and/or cut fruits and vegetables
7. If you are unsure of how long something has been frozen or are a bit wary of something once defrosted, don't take any chances, throw it away.
8. You get out what you put in. Don't freeze old food because you don't want to waste it; the point of freezing is to keep food as its prime. Freeze fresh to retain that quality of food.
9. Label the frozen food so that it’s easier to identify while picking it out for thawing. Use different colour markers, labels and abbreviations easier for you to understand. Also mention the date of freezing on the label.
10. An icy freezer is an inefficient one, so make sure you defrost your freezer if ice builds up. Don't worry about the food; most things will remain frozen in the fridge for a couple of hours while the freezer defrosts.
11. If there has been a power cut or you think the freezer has been turned off at some point, don't open the door. Foods should remain frozen in the freezer for about 24 hours, leaving you time to get to the bottom of the problem.
12. Some dishes can be cooked straight from frozen. When cooking food from frozen, use a lower temperature to start with to thaw, then increase the temperature to cook. Foods include: Soups, stews, casseroles, bakes and potato-topped pies. Thin fish fillets, small fish, sausages, burgers, and seafood if added at the end of a hot dish. Foods that should never be cooked from frozen are raw poultry and large joints of meat.

     Foods which are not freezer friendly:

·       Raw eggs in the shells will expand and crack.

·       Hard-boiled eggs go rubbery.

·       Vegetables with high water content, such as lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts and radishes, go limp and mushy.

·       Soft herbs, like parsley, basil and chives, go brown.

·       Egg-based sauces, such as mayonnaise, will separate and curdle.

·       Plain yogurt, low-fat cream cheese, single cream and cottage cheese go watery.

     Foods great to freeze:

·        Butter and margarine can be frozen for 3 months.

·        Grated cheese can be frozen for up to 4 months and can be used straight from the freezer.

·     Most bread, except crusty varieties such as French bread, will freeze well for up to 3 months.  Sliced bread can be toasted from frozen.

·        Milk will freeze for 1 month. Defrost in the fridge and shake well before using.

·        Raw pastry will freeze for 6 months and takes just 1 hour to thaw.

 Post by Faiz Lahori