Knowing how to get the best out your freezer helps with meal planning and avoiding food waste.
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Freezing is a great way to store food. It will help you save money by planning ahead. And it will help you to cut the amount of food you waste if you get it in the freezer before it goes off.
If food is properly frozen it will stay safe to eat indefinitely, although after a time the taste and texture may suffer.
Whether you have a chest freezer or upright freezer, the principles of good freezing are the same.
Storage times for frozen foods differs depending on the type of food and type of freezer you have. Freezers have a star rating to let you know how long the food can safely be stored. You should check the star rating, as well as the instructions on packaged frozen food. This will allow you to work out how long you can store the packaged frozen food in your freezer. Also, be aware that freezers should ideally run at -18°C.
Freezer star ratings * Frozen food compartment Runs at - 6° C and should only store food for up to one week ** Frozen food compartment Runs at -12° C and should only store food for up to one month *** Frozen food compartment Runs at -18° C and should only store food for up to three months **** Freezer Runs at -18° C and is suitable for long-term storage (three months or longer)Please note freezer storage times are for quality only. Frozen food will remain safe indefinitely if frozen properly.
Food type
Recommended freezing time frames (if your freezer runs at -18oC)
Some foods simply are not freezer friendly.
Freezing food when hot will raise the temperature of the freezer and could cause other foods to start defrosting. Dividing the food into smaller parts can speed up the cooling process.
If you do not seal your food it can get 'freezer-burn'. This means that water escapes from the food and moves to the coldest part of the freezer ' leaving your food dehydrated. While this affects the quality of the food, it will still be safe to eat.
You don't want to have to defrost a stew big enough to feed eight when you're only feeding a family of three.
If you don't label foods or ingredients clearly, you might not remember what they are, let alone when you froze them. Buy a blue marker for raw foods and a red marker for cooked foods. Always add the date it was frozen.
Do not freeze any foods after their "use-by-date", because they will not be safe to eat.
An icy freezer is an inefficient one, so make sure you defrost your freezer if ice builds up. Don't worry about the food; most things will remain frozen in the fridge for a couple of hours while the freezer defrosts.
Freezing does not kill bacteria. If you are not sure how long something has been frozen or are a bit wary of something once defrosted, don't take any chances.
Just what you wanted! Check out these resourceful tips I worked with Ziploc to create to help you creatively plan ahead for your fall meals and store leftovers. A couple months back a few of the Back-To-School Bonanza bloggers were asking me about preventing freezer burn. One asked how long she could keep items and how to perhaps prevent freezer burn which is her biggest problem with freezing foods. Here are some questions I asked her and advice that I gave. I thought you might be curious too! These are questions that you might want to ask yourself as well.
You are more likely to get freezer burn faster in your refrigerator freezer than a separate freezer. The reason? With frequent opening and shutting of your freezer, it is constantly working to make sure that items stay properly frozen. Your refrigerator freezer is most likely self-defrosting (see explanation in next paragraph). You will also experience more freezer burn in self-defrosting freezers than in a manual defrosting freezer. Why? Self-defrosting freezers (including most refrigerator freezers) tend to dry out the frozen items and cause crystallization because it is constantly removing the humidity from the freezer. They are easier to 'clean' but if you are looking to buy one you might consider a manual model so that you won't experience freezer burn as often.
You do NOT want to skimp on the type of bags and containers that you use. You DO want to use bags that are designed for freezer use. They should be marked FREEZER bags. For me personally, I use tons of Ziploc Brand sontexchina.com/products/freezer-.html" style="color:#C1">Freezer Bags and Plastic Containers for almost all of my freezer needs. They are plenty thick enough and always hold up to the hot/cold contents well. There is nothing WORSE than soup that spills out of the corner of the bag or the top when it is defrosting or freezing! YUCK! I don't have that problem when I use Ziploc products. Always, always, always leave head space though. Head space is the space between the top of the food and the lid. You need to leave 1/2 inch to 1 inch so that the liquids have space to expand when you are freezing them. Some worry that this will leave room for freezer burn. That isn't what causes freezer burn. If you are worried about freezer burn you can put plastic over the food and then place the lid on top.
Putting food in your freezer prior to it cooling to a proper temperature will cause freezer burn. The moisture that collects in the Ziploc Brand Containers when they are sealed with the contents still steaming will turn to ice crystals, which then becomes freezer burn. For these reasons, it is important to flash freeze items, allow them to cool in the refrigerator first, or to cool on a counter (if they won't go bad) before you place them in the freezer container. This is one of the easiest changes you can make to prevent freezer burn.
I am not a huge fan of freezing bread, well, not in its original form. I don't mind freezing my breadcrumbs but something about thawed sliced bread that isn't my gig. One of the reasons is because it does seem to get freezer burn much easier than other items. One way to prevent this is to wrap the bread prior to freezing it. Using freezer paper is very helpful. This is probably my downfall; I just throw it in the freezer and forget about it. Instead, I should wrap it in freezer paper and then place it in a proper Ziploc Brand Freezer Bag so it stays fresh. You might even consider wrapping them two to a package so that you can just take out what you need for sandwiches each day.
The freezer is a fantastic tool but it does not preserve your food forever. There are recommendations for how long to keep foods but my general rule of thumb is 3-6 months. Keeping in mind that the longer it is in the freezer the more likely it is to lose quality. In most cases it will not be harmful to you but it will lose flavor and quality over time and get freezer burn. Okay, I think that is about it for my 'how to prevent freezer burn' advice. Here are a few resources that you might be interested in as well.