Freezers are an incredibly useful invention of humanity. With their help, you can maximize the shelf life of food, make food supplies for future use, always have under hand a portion of delicious ice cream and save food that was bought or cooked too much from spoilage lot. While the freezer helps make life easier and many people use it regularly, there are a number of common mistakes that almost everyone makes. Simple tips will help you preserve all the useful elements and beauty of the products.
1. These products cannot be placed in the freezer.
Some products lose not only their appearance, but also their basic quality characteristics, so there is no point in freezing them. For example, you shouldn't freeze food that contains cream: yogurt, sour cream, milkshakes. After defrosting, you can find that the fat and liquid have separated, so eating the food will be at least unpleasant. Greens after freezing lose their appearance and taste. Fruits and vegetables with a high water content acquire a soft texture after thawing. It is strongly not recommended to freeze raw eggs and canned food. When raw eggs are placed in the freezer, the liquid in them expands, hardens and cracks in the shell. And canned food can even become harmful to your health when frozen.
2. Too many products
A fully filled freezer will prevent air from circulating throughout the refrigerator, shortening the life of the refrigerator. It is also difficult to find something you need in densely packed food shelves. When the search is prolonged, the freezer stays open for a longer time, so it heats up quickly, which wastes more energy and the refrigerator works harder.
3. An important nuance
Placing hot or warm food in the freezer may cause other foods to partially thaw and affect their quality. First, you need to cool containers or bags with food for freezing in cold water, then put them in the refrigerator, and only then send them to the freezer.
Important information from Novate.ru: When freezing cooked food or fresh food, it is important to pay attention to the period in which to freeze. Refrigerate perishable food for two hours. If you do this later, then there is a high risk that bacteria will appear and spread in them, which subsequently lead to unpleasant diseases.
4. Correct packaging
There are a wide variety of containers, each type serving a specific purpose. Before storing food in a container, you need to make sure that it is suitable for freezing. Use dishes that can retain moisture in the food. Sturdy plastic packaging is ideal for hard foods such as cold cuts, bread, and the like. Thin plastic containers are well suited for short-term storage. For a longer one - glass jars. However, so that they do not crack, they must be pre-cooled in the refrigerator.
5. Portion freezing
More often than not, we want to freeze food faster and not waste time separating them. However, food that is frozen in large quantities will take a long time to thaw and will most likely lose a good part of its beneficial properties. It is best to break up the food into portions that will be used immediately. The meat should be packed in separate bags so that it does not stick together. It is recommended to first freeze fruits and vegetables on a baking sheet in one layer, and then pack them in airtight bags.
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6. Shelf life of frozen food
It is important not only to freeze food correctly, but also to record the date of this operation. This is necessary then to trace the expiration date of the food and to eat only fresh, safe food. Frozen vegetables remain healthy for about a year, with the exception of green beans, which should be eaten within eight months. The butter can also be stored for a year without problems, but milk should be drunk within three months. Fruit is another product that can be stored for a year if the sealed packaging is not broken, otherwise it should be eaten no later than eight months later.
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Bacon, sausage, ham, and hot dogs can keep in the freezer for about 1 to 2 months. After freezing, finished meat retains its useful properties for 4 to 12 months. Raw chicken and other poultry are stored for 8-12 months, cooked - only a couple of months. Lean fish can stay in the freezer for up to 6 months, while more nutritious fish can be kept in the freezer for just a couple of months.
7. Re-freezing: is it possible or not?
There is still a desperate debate about whether defrosted food can be re-frozen. According to scientific research, re-freezing is allowed if the food has been properly defrosted in the refrigerator beforehand. However, most chefs and nutritionists believe that this is not only bad for the taste of food, but also for its health safety: when food is thawed and heated, bacteria appear in it, which after that are no longer cold destroyed. Frozen foods also lose their attractive appearance as they become softer and more watery. And if you repeat the freezing procedure twice, then you will definitely not achieve beauty.
The most capricious product for freezing is a tomato. there is a few rules on how to properly freeze a vegetable for the winter so that it does not lose its vitamins.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/061119/52320/