GETTING THE BEST FROM YOUR FREEZER

(This How To... is repeated for new visitors to 67goingon50.  Also published as Freezer Matters 17/3/15)

updated 2019

Food waste is a scourge of modern society...

...not just because of the tired but true aphorism about starving children in foreign countries but also because we're so conscious of food costs now. 

Freezers are thus a god-send, saving time, effort, fuel and money. (Reducing Food Bills)  But care must be taken.   

If you are lucky enough to have a freezer -- and it would be wonderful if all low- income families had one, along with cooking lessons -- then be aware of the safety rules.

The following  information is based on the Government's Food Safety/Freezer Safety site and the blog's experience in professional kitchens.

1.  Freezer temperature: should be  -18C
      Freezers are most effective when full and there are recommendations  that empty spaces be filled with crumpled newspaper.  

2.  Safe freezer times:  

Processed meat  1-2 months

Raw Ground meat 3-4 months 

Raw Chops 4-6 months 

Raw Steaks 6-12 months

Raw Roasts 9 months to a year

Cooked meat 2-6 months

 Leftovers: 2 months

(67 aims to use up anything in the freezer, apart from stock bones, within a month.)

3.  Pre-freezing tips

• Preparation:  The product should cool for at least an hour before being refrigerated overnight then frozen.  

• Cooked rice needs careful handling.  Spread cooked rice in a thin layer on a large tray to allow the rice to cool thoroughly.  Squash any lumps of rice to prevent pockets which breed bacterial.  Leave for an hour before refrigerating overnight.  Freeze flat in single or double portions.

• Storage bags should either zip or press shut or be tied tightly with string, rubber band or a length of rolled up cling film.  The most expensive and larger bags can be re-used.  Budget storage bags include common, all-garden sealable sandwich bags.  The lunch club pronounced Morrison's sealable sandwich bags the 'best of the supermarkets' -- packets of 50 are regularly on sale . If the bag has not contained raw meat or fish, or anything with  sauce, it can be washed, dried and re-used.  Clean plastic carrier bags are suitable for large items.

• Storage containers.  Take-away plastic containers from Chinese restaurants and good delis make great containers for stocks and broth.  Plastic storage containers with lockable lids are widely available at reasonable prices in most supermarkets but opt for the ones that don't threaten to break off your fingers when opening them! 67goingon50 recommends the nest of plastic storage boxes sold by Marks & Spencer. Also try Nisbets on the net for storage containers. 

• Labels: 67 can usually remember what's in the freezer but has been caught out. If you freeze a lot at different times, you'll need special labels and pens, found surprisingly cheaply in newsagents.

• Singleton and small icebox freezing. Store in one-portion bags; freeze flatt for easier storage. Store bread in single or double slices; they'll defrost faster when you're starving and haven't planned a meal. 

4.   What else can be frozen?  

• leftover stews takes on a new life as chunky soups
• end of week raw and/or salads vegetables, trimmed of any manky bits, can be frozen in a bag and made into, or enhance, vegetable stock  
• leftover cooked veg, pureed, adds flavour & body to soups & casseroles
• defrosted leftover meat, raw or cooked,  adds a cheap hit of protein to pasta, rice & soups 
• fresh banana chunks, coated in chocolate and frozen, provide a cheap healthy alternative to ice cream 

• see Baking  & Sandwiches below

5.  Defrosting

• Ideally, take the item out of the freezer ­­the night before and place  on the bottom shelf of the fridge on a plate or in a bowl. The food should be defrosted by dinnertime the following day.  Some people use the defrost function in a microwave but 67 has never been able to do so without tummy problems afterwards.

• If you are in a rush to defrost...meat, fish or cooked food.  What restaurants do is fill a thoroughly cleaned sink or container with cold water, drop in the sealed bag and let the cold tap run over it in a slow and steady stream until the item is defrosted. The time will depend on what you are defrosting but could be up to an hour.  For frozen raw fish, some professional kitchens dump the block of frozen fillets into a cleaned sink and turn on the cold water.  The fish usually defrosts in a couple of hours.  This method does not apply to baked goods.

• Bread.  One slice of bread should defrost in 20 minutes.  

6.  Reheating after defrosting :

• Reheat liquids or soupy casseroles at high temperature for at least five minutes to kill bacteria.  Add a little water or stock to maintain volume. Bring to a full rolling boil, then bubble  on medium high heat for 5 minutes.    Before serving, check seasoning as freezing can blunt flavour. 
• With lasagna or other items that may dry out on re-heating, steaming at a high heat for at least 5 minutes or the the boil-in-the-bag technique (again at least five minutes) is effective, as long as the bag will withstand the heat.  
• With cooked meat, reheat at least 5 mins on med high.  Either brown in a small amount of oil till crisp and add to rice for a total 5 mins OR add seasoning, brown in a small amount of oil over high heat for a few mins & turn down heat to med high for 2-3 mins.  

7.  Freeze Once only

     Fresh meat can be frozen once and defrosted; once cooked and  cooled, it can be frozen a second time.  

     Casseroles, stews, soups - can be frozen once but once defrosted will be fine in the fridge up to 2 days

     Baking: whether cooked or in dough form, freeze only once

8. Baking

Cakes

• some freeze well after baking and cooling; wrap three times in cling film; defrost overnight.  Try Beatty's Glorious Chocolate Cake
• icing is better frozen separately from the cake.  Freeze in sealable bags.  Defrost overnight in the fridge.  Check the net for specialist icings like cream cheese, which may need to be whipped again, or Royal icing.
• cake batter should not be frozen (but can be left up to two days in the fridge before baking. Place a layer of clingfilm directly onto the batter to prevent a skin forming)

Cookies

• Baked cookies, once cooled, can be frozen but become a bit softer in the process; usually they'll defrost in an hour.  Place a small square of greaseproof paper in between individual cookies; it will help speed up the defrosting process
• Far better is to form the cookie dough into balls that are frozen on a baking tray then bagged up.  67 favourites include Chocolate Chip Thins, Pfeffernusse
• Similarly, American-style Ice-Box Cookies are a godsend.  The dough is formed into logs - round or square -  frozen and, when needed, sliced (frozen) and baked, with the remainder brought out again when needed.   Try  Chocolate Cinnamon Orange Ice-box Cookies,  Swirly Freezer Biscuits with Sprinkles 

9.  Sandwiches (for getting ahead of schedule!)
     See How to...Prep & Freeze Sandwiches

For those without a freezer..

Cooked food can stay safely in your fridge for up to four days.  For example, if you cook on a Monday, the dish should be consumed on or by Thursday. A good test is the sniff test -- it it smells off before the time is up, bin it!   

TIP: More Useful Information in the Daily Mail's  Who Knew You Could Freeze.....

DISCLAIMER: The author accepts no liability for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. Any information not sourced to a second party is the copyright of the blogger.