Freezing food presents an opportunity to save food from the trash and time in meal prep. As we’ve learned from culinary professionals, a little planning ahead and knowing which ingredients freeze easily can make for some quick and easy meals. Here, professional chefs Lisa Marley and Ben Ebbrell share their top tips for getting the most from your freezer. With tips on how to store, label, and defrost, they’re the experts in safe food storage.
A wide variety of foods freeze especially well, making them good choices for preserving food for the long haul. Do note that this dessert can be made very simply by serving frozen cooked apples with Greek yogurt. Together, these ingredients provide a deliciously healthy and convenient option! Doing some planning ahead of time can help make sure freezing food is the most efficient and highest-quality option possible, Marley adds.
Effective Freezing Techniques
Marley and Ebbrell stress a few key techniques that best keep food’s flavor and texture intact through freezing. Our first suggestion — quality, liquid proof, zip slider bags — for stews, casseroles, and soups. After cooling these entrees, it is important to place these bags flat, squeezing out as much air as possible before freezing.
“A brilliant hack is to fill quality liquid-proof zip slider bags with stews, casseroles, curries, soups and the like … when they are cooled, lay them flat and squeeze out all excess air. They then lay to freeze and stack well; it also helps it to defrost quicker due to a larger surface area.” – Ben Ebbrell
Beyond these nuggets, Marley recommends mixing fruits with yogurt and freezing them in ice cube trays. This process packs healthy, generally available ingredients into convenient smoothie packs that are ready to blend up at a moment’s notice.
“You can even blend fruits and yoghurt and freeze them in cubes, and have smoothie packs ready to go,” – Lisa Marley
To this, Ebbrell adds that lots of other flavour-packed ingredients such as homemade curry pastes or pestos can be frozen in a similar way. These pungent little flavor bombs can work wonders to bring dishes to life when they’re falling flat.
Smart Labelling Solutions
Responsive labelling is the key to effective freezer management. It makes it easier to plan how what’s stored is used, and when. Inexpensive freezer labels—even the sticky kind—are available in packs of 250 for £3 from Dunelm. You can buy reusable erasable freezer labels such as these which cost £1.50 for 70 labels.
For anyone looking for a quick, flexible solution, chalk marker pens written on bags or storage bins provide an easy alternative. This makes it simple to refresh the content when things are different.
Ebbrell says breaking down larger amounts into smaller pieces can help with both labelling and consumption as well. Recipes usually go by the 100g measure, so if you’re starting with 500g of minced beef, make five 100g balls.
Defrosting Safely
According to Marley, the best practice for defrosting food is to move it into the refrigerator. So do this at least a day before you actually need it! This technique helps keep food out of the danger zone as it thaws.
“For quicker options, seal the food in a watertight bag and submerge it in cold water, changing the water every 30 minutes. If you are in a hurry, use the microwave’s defrost setting, but make sure to cook the food immediately afterward,” – Lisa Marley
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) recommends that meat should be eaten within two to three months of freezing. All other items including baked goods, fruits and vegetables can be stored up to 4 months in the freezer.
Moreover, it is important to recognize that many foods do not freeze well. Whole raw eggs still in their shells, cream, fried food, and watermelon don’t tend to fare well when frozen. Handling these perishable items with care will help them last longer!
Ebbrell cautions that freezing is a wonderful way to save food. Either way, most fruits, particularly those with high water content, like strawberries or peaches, are prone to mushiness once thawed. Though ingredients such as ginger, garlic, and chilies can be used directly from frozen by grating them in.
“The challenge is they go mushy. Some fruits, tomatoes and soft-stoned fruit, for instance, and aromatic ingredients like ginger, garlic and chillies are brilliantly frozen and can be quickly prepared by grating them while still frozen, so you only take what you need for a dish.” – Ben Ebbrell