CREDIT: FLICKR/CHIPPENZIEDEUTCH
Most of us organize our freezers with the best of intentions: “This time,” we think, “I’m going to keep it clean, well-maintained, labeled, and up-to-date.”
Then life happens. We get a deal on a club pack of chicken thighs and after cooking four for dinner, we chuck the rest in the freezer. We fill a container of tomato sauce too full, and it expands and cracks. We’re in a rush, so we toss a still-hot half-gallon jar of soup in there. We succumb to inefficient air circulation and freezer burn.And it all started out so well.
We’ve all committed such heinous freezer crimes from time to time, but luckily organizational experts and Bon Appétit staffers, test kitchen manager Brad Leone and assistant food editor Claire Saffitz talked us through the basics of freezer organization and maintenance, from wrapping to storing to thawing. For better food and a more efficient machine, don’t make these common freezer mistakes.
1. Freezer Bags Are Amazing!
Well, yes. Freezer bags are amazing—but they’re not all you need. If you toss loose goods directly in a plastic bag, the quality will greatly diminish, and you’ll notice ice crystals on the food almost immediately. Both Leone and Saffitz wrap everything tightly in plastic wrap before packing it in a freezer bag and—this is really important—removing as much air as possible. “A vacuum sealer is really best,” Leone says. He also advises against freezing in glass—it has a tendency to expand and break. Instead, store your food in durable bags or takeout containers. Saffitz points out one great reason to store in bags instead of containers: They take up less space in your freezer if you freeze them flat (not in a squishy lump blob), and they’ll thaw quicker, thanks to the increased surface area. There’s one more important step you have to take before you freeze your food:Label everything clearly with the contents and date. No matter how much you insist you’re going to remember that container is full of marinara, in four months you’ll have forgotten all about it. We guarantee. Use a marker that won’t rub off and tape that won’t lose its adhesive quality in the cold.
Well, yes. Freezer bags are amazing—but they’re not all you need. If you toss loose goods directly in a plastic bag, the quality will greatly diminish, and you’ll notice ice crystals on the food almost immediately. Both Leone and Saffitz wrap everything tightly in plastic wrap before packing it in a freezer bag and—this is really important—removing as much air as possible. “A vacuum sealer is really best,” Leone says. He also advises against freezing in glass—it has a tendency to expand and break. Instead, store your food in durable bags or takeout containers. Saffitz points out one great reason to store in bags instead of containers: They take up less space in your freezer if you freeze them flat (not in a squishy lump blob), and they’ll thaw quicker, thanks to the increased surface area. There’s one more important step you have to take before you freeze your food:Label everything clearly with the contents and date. No matter how much you insist you’re going to remember that container is full of marinara, in four months you’ll have forgotten all about it. We guarantee. Use a marker that won’t rub off and tape that won’t lose its adhesive quality in the cold.
Glass jars: Great for hipster cocktail parties. Not so much for freezers.
2. I Can Deal with This Frozen Brick of Chicken Breasts LaterScore! You got a sweet deal on a family-sized pack of chicken, a jumbo bag of shrimp, or you hit the blueberry jackpot at your CSA. Freezing the portion that you won’t use immediately is a smart move, but doing it right means a little extra leg work. Essentially, your goal in freezing large packages is to make sure they don’t all freeze together in a clump—otherwise, you’re defeating the purpose. For meat, doing it right means taking it out of the original packaging and wrapping each piece individually (remember, in plastic wrap first). If it freezes together, you’ll have to thaw it together, and then you’ll be stuck eating chicken breast for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a week. For fruit or other potentially sticky items that you won’t use all at once, freeze them in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet first, then transfer them to a tightly sealed bag.
3. I Can Skip the Fridge and Go Right for the Deep ChillPhew—you just spent an entire afternoon simmering tomatoes down into a gorgeous pasta sauce. You smell like garlic, you’re hot, and you’ve got a sink full of dishes? Wouldn’t it be nice to pack it all in containers, stick them in the freezer, and forget about them until four Sundays from now, when you’ve got a lasagna craving? Not so fast! Never put hot food in a cold freezer; the appliance will have to work harder to cool it, and the goods already in your freezer will experience an uptick in temperature in the meantime. We call that a lose-lose situation. Let food cool completely before freezing it.
4. Boy, You Can Cram a Lot in This SuckerFor those who want to preserve food but don’t pickle or can, the freezer is a lifesaver. But don’t rely so heavily on it that you cram in more than it can handle, Saffitz advises. There should be ample room for you to navigate the goods (Read: You shouldn’t have to totally unpack it every time you retrieve something) and for air to circulate. If you find yourself constantly stuffing in more than your unit can hold, or if you get hit in the head with a half gallon of ice cream every time you open the door, it might be time to invest in a second freezer. A large chest freezer that lives in a basement or laundry room can change your life—or at least the way you buy food.
5. This Fish Smells Funky But I Don’t Have Time to Cook It, So…According to Leone, food that’s about to hit its expiration date should either be tossed or consumed, not frozen. Because freezing inevitably degrades food’s quality over time, starting out with a questionable product is just asking for trouble: By the time you thaw and unwrap that fish, ground turkey, or milk, it’ll likely be past the point of no return—and you’ll probably wind up tossing it anyway.
6. Fill ‘Er Up!We’ve all been there: You’re packing away the last of that chili, and you’ve got exactly one quart container left. There’s almost too much soup, but it winds up being a perfect fit—filled to the brim! Done and done, right? Ah, if only life were so simple. If you cap that sucker off and stick it in the fridge, it’ll expand as it freezes and will bust through the container. This is an annoyance if it’s plastic and a danger if it’s glass (see tip number one for a shard-free freezer experience). Leave a couple of inches of room at the top of each container, and you’ll eliminate the problem. All out of containers? Eat a bowl of chili.
For the love of kimchi, eat a few servings before you freeze this! (Also, maybe don’t freeze kimchi.)
7. Triple-Frozen Is as Good as Triple-Washed, Right?So you took out a pound of ground beef on Monday. It’s Thursday and you still haven’t cooked it—and you have dinner reservations tonight, plus a weekend getaway planned. You’d like to put it back in the freezer, wouldn’t you? Tough noogies. Thawing and refreezing will seriously degrade the quality and texture of the meat, say Saffitz and Leone, making it “unappealing,” “weird-tasting,” and just plain “bad.”
8. Freezers Are for Meat and Mom’s Cookies, OnlyYou can—and should—be making creative use of your freezer. While ground chuck and chocolate-chip cookies freeze beautifully, they’re not the only things you can store there. “Foods that are high in oil content, like seeds, nut flours, and nuts, should be kept in the freezer,” Saffitz says. She also suggests keeping whole-wheat flours in the deep chill zone, because the wheat germ has more oil than refined white flour.
These’ll keep much longer in the freezer.
9. I Never Remember to Take Out the Meat in Time—Hot Water’ll Do the TrickEek—don’t do this. Not only will thawing a piece of meat in hot water invite bacteria, Leone says, it’ll partially cook the meat around its edges, leaving you with an unappealing gray hue and funky, mealy texture. A better idea? Plan ahead and thaw it slowly in the refrigerator—set it on a paper-towel-lined baking sheet or plate to catch any condensation or drips as it comes to room temperature. If you absolutely must thaw in a hurry (although we really do advocate eating eggs for dinner tonight and having that roast tomorrow), submerge the meat in a bowl of cold running water.
10. No One Will Know I Replaced Half of This Vodka with Water and Put It Back in the Freezer…
source: http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/common-mistakes/article/freezer-maintenance-tips
