What's your best freezer "secret"

[Cratchit]

Probably everyone already knows this but ... mine is that you can freeze whole chillis. Red ones retain the heat better than green ones, but both work. It also means you can buy those little packets in the supermarket, which are often cut price down our way, and not waste any... Sometimes I defrost them in the microwave too. Ohmagawd I'm so 21st Century, or tight and desperate ...

Baileys!!!!! tis farking larvely in frozen cubes

Baileys ice cubes -HEAVEN

NoblesseOblige I freeze rice. There is a food poisoning issue with rice so you do need to cool it and get it into freezer ASAP. I just rinse it in a sieve under cold tap.

I've never tried this myself as I don't do ironing but my mum used to freeze my dad's shirts. If she didn't fancy an ironing marathon after she'd washed them and while they were still a bit damp she'd stick them in there so they didn't become bone ry and harder to iron. Then she'd iron them from frozen as they were needed... Also good if you do struggle to fill your freeze as a full freezer is much more energy efficient than a half empty one.

hmmm...i have got leftover rice frozen but it wouldve just knocked around in a dish for an hour or so before i froze it...how likely am i to die if i reheat it?

Very unlikely I'd say. I freeze my leftovers in small portions for DS so am a bit fussier but if you get it in now I'm sure it'll be fine.

I reheat it from frozen in microwave.

How do yoou eat the ice cubes - lick them??

Love the idea of freezing herbs. How much water and how do you defrost?

Im on about baileys ice cubes BTW

I like to freeze juice and yogurts into popsicles and when the children are feverish or teething or won't eat...they have never refused a popsicle.

Have you tried freezing fresh mint and a little sugar water into cubes? Or a bit of vanilla or chocolate flavoring (just a drop or less per cube) or flavored cream for your coffee or tea? I like that!

i use baileys ice cubes instead of normal ones and pour baileys over the top so it doesn't get watered down when they melt.

Fab idea!! I love that tip .. I have a botttle of baileys I'm gonna try that with!

does anyone know whether you can freeze soft cheeses.
bought some gorgeous stuff from France. loads of it but DH now on antibiotics for 6 weeks whereby he has to avoid dairy

Egg whites in ice cube trays from recipes that only require yolks.

Lemon and lime slices so you always have fruit for drinks.

wine - when there's a bit left in the bottle and you don't fancy finishing it off - rare I know , freeze it and add it to casseroles/bolognaise etc

parmesan cheese - lasts forever, easy to grate

Half bottles of water for school, top them up with cold water on the morning, water stays cool all day. (We do live in Cyprus though where cold water is a must!!)

i freeze:
potatoe cakes (economy packs from super market) Take a couple out at a time.

Big economy packs of crumpets, again, take out as i need them.

bread

apple/orange juice cartons

milk

bread rolls

pizza bases

homemade batches of tomy sauce for pasta

all left over meals like Corned beef hash, shepherds pie, spag bol.

I save those plastic cartons that you get from chinees takaways as they are a perfect one meal size.
We eat left overs from the freezer once a week.

Fruity bread loaves, take slices out as i need.

always always make double batches of mash spuds and freeze half.

always always make double spag bol, chille, tomy sauces and freeze half.

we have been blackberrying and i have stewed and frozen a huge batch of these as ds loves them in his readybreck for brecky before school.Also good in crumbles.

Got 7lbs of fallen cooking apples from my sis, have stewed and frozen these in pots for crumbles over winter.

I have a huge American freezer type thing and it is fab and always full just because it makes life so much easier when i am working, to jsut dip in and out of it.

we freeze smoothies but never juice. it always lasts a long time for us.

FeelingLucky - i have frozen cheesecake topping in the past (the kind you make with philadelphia) - it defrosted fine - maybe freezing soft cheese will be ok?

Fresh coriander freezes well.

Chop it roughly first, place in a tub and use a bit at a time.

raw pastry
biscuit dough
filling for tacos
odds and ends of baked beans/tinned toms/meatballs.
soup

btw basil and coriander grow like billyo in the garden...a few plants will do you for the year

Thanks NoblesseOblige, but DH has vetoed my decision to freeze as he is adamant you can't.

According to The A-Z of Home Freezing (pub 1970!) all hard cheese freeze well as do camembert, roquefort, stilton, mozarella and port salut though it says blue cheeses may crumble when thawed.

Cream cheese doesn't unless it's been mixed with cream which explains why cheesecake's OK.

If you're pg and worried about eating cured fish / meats like parma ham or smoked salmon, putting them in the freezer for 48 hours kills the bugs. So say the obstetricians here (in Spain) who know how seriously the Spanish take their serrano ham and chorizo eating.

at freezing killing bugs...thought freezing just stopped bugs multiplying and you had to cook 'em to kill 'em. Thats from my vague recollection of microbiology a million years ago though, could be totally wrong.
Have to say though its a nice idea...am currently preggers and desperate for smoked salmon...YUM!

Oh have to add...brilliant thread...wish I could add to it but I'm just not original enough...will pinch loads of ideas though!