Freezing Food

[DreamingofEden]

Does anyone know where I can find a good (simple) guide to freezing food please? I want to do a bulk shop and then freeze things in individual portions (so meatballs with veg cut up ready for the sauce).

What do you need to know?

Divide up, wrap anything uncooked (such as chicken breasts, meat balls etc) in cling film then in to either a freezer bag or tupperware (the double wrapping prevents freezer burn) write the date and contents on the bag/ box and then freeze in a proper freezer (i.e. not an ice box) for up to 3 months for meat and 6 months for other stuff. Personally I go longer though.

For the veg ready for sauce, it'd be better if you made the sauce then froze that in batches - ziplock bags work well and store and compact for that. Veggies when fresh and then chopped and frozen tend to lose flavour and go soggy on defrosting.

Thank you! This is exactly what I needed to know :-)

Can i roast veg and then freeze and reheat please?

You can freezer virtually everything...

I use plastic takeaway type boxes, and wrap meat etc in foil. You can also use silicon muffin tins to portion out things, freeze it, them chuck the 'portions' in a bag/box. Remember to label things, or you do have to play freezer roulette sometimes. I just stick Sellotape on lids and write on it with Sharpie.

Yellowed stickers things are great freezer items.

And yes, you can roast and freeze veg. Sometimes the texture isn't quite the same as its be if you made fresh, but it's not a problem. E.g. Roast veg wouldn't be crispy, unless you reheated in the oven to crisp it up.

Yes, roast and freeze, wait for it to cool before putting in the freezer then defrost properly before roasting again to reheat (I usually blast I the microwave to heat through before popping in the oven), though the texture won't be the same.

Most things can be frozen.

If you defrost something raw, then cook it (so for example freeze raw meat, make in to Bolognese) you can then freeze it again.

you do have to play freezer roulette sometimes.

We call it "brown surprise" it is Bolognese? chilli? shepherds pie? Occasionally we get an odd ball and it's curry or stew!

I freeze just about everything.

Yesterday I bought a tray of 10 chicken breasts. I've frozen each individually, but beforehand I cut off each 'flappy bit' and cut them into strips for stirfry's. The dog got the fatty bits cooked in a pan.

Also separated my 2lb of bacon into meal portion sizes.

Thank you, this is all super helpful.

I wanted to buy the Morrison's Meat Tray but I had no idea what to do with it all without freezing. it's mostly beef and pork etc. which I don't eat much of, but would be able to eat it with the help of the freezer and then thought about prepping some vegetables or sauces too.

Can i freeze marinated meat or is that a no go?

Yes you can freeze marinated meat

You can freeze almost anything you can think of, you can freeze milk and grated cheese, baked goods, eggs (crack them into a muffin tin and freeze then pop out and into freezer bags and you have little egg portions).

What you can't freeze- beer in a bottle or can (fine in a sauce etc), salad greens, mayonnaise, meat that's been frozen and thawed already.

With meat that you can freeze it raw, defrost and cook, freeze the cooked meal and reheat to eat.

ie buy fresh mince, freeze, defrost to make bolognaise, freeze sauce in individual servings, reheat and eat.

Using your freezer can be so economical but please don’t take it to the level of my mother.

She will freeze anything.

Her most outrageous in my opinion was a single popadom left over from a takeaway. 1 freaking popadom. I truly think it’s her hobby. Half a packet of open crisps? Freeze them. 2 spoonfuls if gravy? Freeze it. 3 peas left over? FREEZE THE BASTARDS!!!!

Oh, and 1 helpful tip to add - date everything when you freeze and try not to leave it in there longer than 3 months. I’m sure some people will say they eat stuff that’s been in the freezer for much longer - 3 months is just the recommendation.

I often freeze raw meat that is in a marinade , I think it helps the flavour penatrat . If you are making a sauce either with the intention of freezing it right away , ( once cooled ) or a stew / spag bol / curry etc make the sauce thicker than you would do normaly as frezzing things breaks down the cells ( esp in veg ) so sauces tend to go thiner. .
If you have cooked to much veg keep the cooked veg in a box in the freezer when you have enough stick it all in a blender and make some cheap healthy soup.
A similar method can be used with meat bones freeze till you have enough then boil them to make a stock ( then you can add the frozen , blended veg )