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    Freeze and How to Freeze


    Source of Recipe


    David

    List of Ingredients




    What To Freeze and How to Freeze It from David

    Recipe






    **Baked Goods* - In general, the lower the moisture level in your baked
    goods, the more successfully they will freeze. Well wrapped bread will keep
    for about five months in a freezer. You can also freeze bread dough for a
    month or two before baking. The same goes for pizza or other yeast doughs.
    If you know you are making yeast dough to freeze, add a little extra yeast
    to your recipe.

    Unbaked pie crusts freeze well as do unbaked fruit and meat filled pies, so
    you might want to stock up and get ahead when making these. Add a little
    extra thickening agent to fruit pies destined for the freezer.

    Unfrosted cakes will keep for months -- again well wrapped is the key. You
    can freeze a butter cream frosted cake as well, although other types of
    icing tend to separate, especially those made with egg whites and/or brown
    sugar.

    In all cases, cool baked goods completely before freezing or they will end
    up soggy.

    *Prepared Foods* - Soups, stews, many sauces (spaghetti sauce comes
    immediately to mind), unbaked pies (see baked goods), casseroles, lasagna
    etc. freeze well. Freezing may affect some spices, so it's a good idea to
    check and re-season, if necessary, when cooking previously frozen food. As
    always, wrap and cover well before freezing.

    *Eggs* - Many people don't know you can freeze eggs. You can store whole
    eggs in plastic containers (cracked open and with the whites and yolks
    stirred together) or store egg whites and yolks separately. Raw egg yolks
    will need to be broken and stirred with either 1/4 teaspoon salt or 3/4
    teaspoon sugar for each 1/2 cup of egg yolks or else they will turn to a
    "gummy" consistency. Cooked egg yolks, on the other hand, freeze
    beautifully. The reverse is true of egg whites: raw are just fine (freeze in
    ice cube trays, one per cube), but cooked egg whites will change texture so
    much they will not be at all appealing.

    *Vegetables* - Most vegetables will need to be blanched before freezing
    (putting the cut veggies in a pot of boiling water for about 1-2 minutes).
    After blanching, plunge the vegetables into cold water to stop the cooking
    process. Wrap and freeze when completely cool. Vegetables will keep in the
    freezer for about six months. The blanching step will help preserve the
    veggie's texture, otherwise expect mushy waterlogged veggies upon thawing.

    *Fruits* - While frozen fruits do retain their flavor, be aware that the
    texture of many frozen fruits will become softer --think of frozen
    strawberries as opposed to fresh. Add some sugar (to fruit that will be
    served uncooked after freezing) or simple syrup (for fruits that will be
    cooked after being thawed) as this helps to retain the fruit's texture when
    freezing. Fruit will keep in your freezer for about a year.
    *Meat* - Trim any excess fat from meat before freezing, as the amount of
    time meat will stay fresh in a freezer directly correlates to the amount of
    fat in it. Less fat equals longer freezer times. Also, the more saturated
    the fat (for instance beef has much higher saturated fat than fish) the
    longer it will keep). Wrap meat well. If you're going to use the meat within
    a week you can get away with freezing it in the Styrofoam, plastic wrapped
    grocery tray it came in. Any more than that, re-wrap it to prevent freezer
    burn. Beef and lamb chops, steaks and roasts safely keep for about a year.
    The exception to this rule comes if the meat is ground, as in hamburger, in
    which case plan to use it within about 4 months. Pork will last about six to
    eight months and sausage can go for about three months.

    *Poultry* - It's a good idea to remove poultry innards before freezing
    (although they can be frozen together). Never stuff and freeze raw poultry,
    as you risk salmonella contamination. Whole chicken and turkeys will keep
    for about a year. Chicken and turkey parts, ground poultry, as well as whole
    duck and goose will last about six months.

    *Fish* - Scale and clean fish before freezing (this step is probably done
    for you if you got your fish at a grocery store). As with meat, the higher
    the fat content in your fish, the shorter the time it will keep well in the
    freezer. Oily fish will keep for about three months and leaner fish will
    keep about six.

    *Dairy Products* - The higher the fat content in dairy products, the better
    they freeze. Milk products that are under 40% butterfat will separate, but
    heavy cream does well. You can freeze butter with no texture changes, but
    remember, fat can go rancid even in a freezer, so never keep it for more
    than two months.

    *Cheese* - Freezing does change the consistency of most cheeses, making it
    more mealy and crumbly, although the flavor remains intact. If you plan to
    grate or melt your cheese, this textural change won't matter much. If you
    plan to slice your cheese, it's best not to freeze it. Softer cheeses such
    as cream or cottage cheese do not freeze well at all, although surprisingly,
    most cheesecakes will do fine in the freezer. Blue cheese, Roquefort and
    gorgonzola are usually served crumbled so they freeze well and should keep
    for about six months. A little of these strong cheeses goes a long way, so
    they're handy to have in the freezer for quick "flavor pick ups" to add to
    recipes. Well wrapped firm cheeses such as cheddar, gouda, Swiss etc.,
    should keep for about six months in your freezer. Hard cheeses like Parmesan
    and romano will keep for about a year.

    If you have a large block of cheese (why does the Albert Brooks movie *
    Mother* come to mind?), cut it into manageable chunks, before freezing in
    order to cut down on thawing time.

    I like to freeze bags of shredded mozzarella so that I can remove the amount
    I like at a moment's notice. Shredded cheddar or other firm cheeses are also
    handy, and they are a lot cheaper to buy in bulk. "Mother" was right about
    that, Albert, although I only keep this cheese for use in cooking.
    Otherwise, fresh is always better.

    *Sauces* - Tomato sauces and the like do very well in the freezer.
    Mayonnaise and mayonnaise based sauces, however, will separate. Sauces (or
    even custards) thickened with flour or cornstarch don't freeze well, but
    those thickened with arrowroot or tapioca do.

    *Herbs* - Don't throw away leftover fresh herbs. Wrap them in Ziplock® bags
    and freeze them. Be sure to blanch leafier herbs like basil. Sturdier herbs
    like rosemary freeze exceedingly well.
    *What Not To Freeze*
    Some foods just don't do well in the freezer. Vegetables with high moisture
    contents like lettuces, celery and cucumbers will thaw limper than a rag
    doll. Some dairy products like cream cheese or cottage cheese, cream, milk,
    mayonnaise, custards, cream fillings or meringues will not freeze well
    because they will separate or curdle. Ditto for food made with gelatin.
    Fried foods will likely turn soggy or rancid when frozen.

    *Thawing Food*
    The safest method of thawing food is slowly, in your refrigerator. For this
    method allow about 8 hours per pound of meat and about 4 hours per pound of
    poultry, and about 6 hours per pound of fruit or vegetables.

    You can speed up the process by about 1/8 the time by submerging the food
    (still wrapped) in a sink full of COLD water. You can also use the defrost
    feature on your microwave oven.
    *Never* allow meat or eggs to defrost on the counter top. This is an
    invitation for bacteria to grow and can result in food poisoning. Baked
    goods and most fruits, on the other hand, can thaw at room temperature. With
    the exception of baked goods, most food should not be re-frozen (and even
    baked goods will become drier with repeated freezings).

    source is The Happy Cooker

 

 

 


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