Freezer Tips

Tips from Justine Pattison and Susi Richards, plus some from other sources not recorded.

Flat Freezing: Label a plastic freezer bag with food type, number of portions, freezing and best-before dates. Pour sauce, stew or soup into the bag, flatten it on a baking tray and freeze.

The frozen bags can be stacked, are quicker to thaw and you can snap off the amount you need. (JP)

Use an empty fruit juice carton as a holder for a plastic bag. Fill the bag with fruit or puree or vegetables. Then freeze. Once frozen, remove carton and re-use. (Source not noted).

Freeze meat in strips: Whole chicken breasts, thick steaks and large chops take time to defrost, so cut chicken, beef and pork into 1.5cm strips. Toss in some sunflower oil and seasoning, then open freeze in a single layer on a foil-lined baking tray, cover with cling film and place tray in the freezer. Once frozen solid, peel away the cling film (it comes off easily) and transfer them to a rigid container or airtight freezer bag and use within a month for stir-fries, pasta dishes, curries, wraps and salads. (JP)

Freezing fish: Cut very fresh raw fish into thin fillets or small chunks. Interleave with easy-leave sheets (Justine uses packs of 300 sheets, lakeland.co.uk) between each fillet to stop them sticking together (baking parchment can also be used). Pack into two freezer bags, one inside the other, to prevent fishy smells in your freezer. Once frozen, use the amount you need and cook in minutes in a hot pan with a splash of olive oil, or stir it into a soup or sauce and simmer until cooked through. (JP)

Stock cubes: Use silicone ice-cube trays to freeze citrus juices, pesto, tomato paste or wine in small cubes that can be stored in an airtight freezer bag and dropped into your cooking as needed (SR).

Soups, stocks and sauces: Larger quantities of liquids can be frozen in a silicone muffin tray to produce handy small portion sizes. Once frozen, pop them out of their flexible trays and into an airtight bag for storage. Defrost and reheat in a microwave or saucepan as needed within six months. (SR)

Line containers: Line ovenproof pie dishes and casseroles with aluminium foil before cooking a cottage pie or pasta bake for the freezer. Once food is frozen, you can lift it out in one piece, wrap it in more foil, then seal it in a plastic bag. When needed simply drop the block of food back in the dish to defrost and cook through. (JP)

Avocados: Remove skin and stone, then mash with one tablespoon of lemon juice per avocado and freeze for up to two months. Use in guacamole, dressings and spreads. (JP)

Bananas: Peel, slice into chunks, freeze uncovered on a baking tray, then store in a bag. Defrost and use in cakes or whizz in a sturdy blender, still frozen, to make instant banana ‘ice cream’ or smoothies. (JP) ## Use within 3 months. (Good Housekeeping magazine)

Onions: Chop and freeze in bags, then add to dish straight from freezer. Keeps for up to 6 months. (Good Housekeeping magazine)

Butter and margarine: Can be frozen for three months. (JP)

Cheese: With the exception of low- fat, cream and cottage cheese (which, because of their fat-to- water ratios, tend to go watery once thawed), most cheeses freeze well. Hard cheeses can go a bit crumbly when defrosted, so grate them before freezing for best results. Soft cheeses such as camembert and brie should be frozen at their ideal ripeness and defrosted in the fridge overnight. (JP)

Citrus slices and grapes: Lemon, lime and orange slices and grapes freeze well and make perfect ‘ice cubes’ for alcoholic drinks, as they don’t dilute as they defrost.(JP)

Cream: Single cream with its high water content tends to split when it’s defrosted. Double cream does better; although it doesn’t whip well when defrosted and is quite grainy, it’s fine to use in sauces if you freeze small amounts in ice-cube trays. Store in a well-sealed bag as the flavour can easily be tainted by other foods. (JP)

Eggs: Raw eggs in their shells will expand and crack if frozen. Instead, beat lightly and add a pinch of salt (savoury dishes) or sugar (sweet dishes) per egg, which will help to stop the egg splitting once defrosted. Store in muffin trays or in batches in freezer bags, stored flat. Eggs will keep well for a month. Egg yolks tend to go rubbery if frozen separately, but whites freeze well and can be used for meringues, etc. (JP) ## Thaw in a covered bowl overnight in the fridge. Can be frozen for up to 12 months (Good Housekeeping magazine)

Milk: Skimmed and semi-skimmed milk will freeze well for a month. Full-fat, unless homogenised, will probably split. Never freeze in a glass bottle, as the liquid will expand and could crack the glass. Defrost frozen milk in the fridge overnight and shake well before using. (JP) ## Use within six months. (Good Housekeeping magazine)

Bread: Most bread, except crusty varieties such as French bread, will freeze for up to three months (crusty bread tends to lose its crunch after a month in the freezer). Sliced bread can be toasted straight from frozen. (JP)

Herbs: Finely chop soft herbs such as mint and parsley and place in ice-cube trays, top up with water or a little olive oil and freeze. Woody herbs such as rosemary can be frozen whole in plastic food bags. Use from frozen. (JP)

Pesto: Freeze fresh pesto in freezer bags laid flat so yu can break off the amount you need, or spoon into ice cube trays (each cube is about 1 tablespoon). Keeps for about 6 months. (Good Housekeeping magazine)

Nuts: Will keep in a zip-seal bag in the freezer for up to six months. (JP)

Wine: Leftover red and white wine can be kept frozen but is best for cooking rather than drinking, as freezing can cause potassium tartrate crystals to form in the wine. While harmless these ‘wine diamonds’ don’t look great in a glass. Never store wine in the freezer in a glass bottle, as it will probably shatter. Because of its alcohol content, wine will not freeze completely but remain a little soft, so make sure that the container is sealed properly. (JP) ## Use within 6 months. (Good Housekeeping magazine)

Potatoes: Baked potatoes, roast, mash and gratin will freeze well for up to four months. You can reheat the roasted and baked potatoes from frozen. Roasted will need to be roasted in a little oil to get them crispy again but can be placed in the oven direct from the freezer. Defrost mash and gratin in the fridge before reheating. (JP)

• Use freezer contents regularly as freezing can affect the taste and texture of food.
• Freezing can damage food that hasn’t been wrapped correctly, alter the taste of some herbs and spices over time, and some foods can split or go mushy when they’re defrosted.
• The longer a food is frozen for, the more likely it is to degrade. For best results, only freeze foods that are in top condition. 
• Wrap carefully, squeezing out any excess air before freezing to prevent deterioration and transference of smells from other foods.
• To preserve texture, freeze everything as quickly as possible, using the fast-freeze button or fast-freeze compartment, and thaw slowly, preferably in the fridge.
• Label things clearly with the date a food was frozen and when it should be used by.

Justine Pattison’s book Freeze: 120 Recipes and Fantastic New Ways To Use Your Freezer and Make Life Just That Bit Easier, £15.19, amazon.co.uk

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3118935/Who-knew-freeze-avocados-wine-cheese-eggs-revolutionary-ways-use-freezer-ll-mean-never-waste-food-again.html#ixzz3cley0284

Further information in Good Housekeeping, June 2016.

Freezing Herbs & Spices

• Fresh root ginger - can be frozen. Useful if you have bought a piece bigger than you need and won't be using it again soon.
• Freeze chillies and then grate them frozen over spicy dishes.

Avoid Wasting Food

In the UK we throw away the equivalent of six meals a week, that's £470 a year (2014 figures). So here are some tips on how to cut this figure down.

20% of binned food is fruit and vegetables

• Store in the fridge. Fruit lasts up to two weeks longer in the fridge than in a bowl.
• Apart from bananas and pineapples which deteriorate in the cold - keep them in a cupboard.
• Bag it. If veg comes in a bag, like carrots and peppers, keep it bagged. You'll keep more air away from the product, so it stays fresher for longer (even once you've opened the bag, it's better to keep the remaining veg in there and fold over the top). A shrink-wrapped cucumber lasts around three times longer kept in the plastic.
• Apart from lettuce. Lengthen its lifeby putting it in a bowl of water in the fridge as soon as you get home, then top up every couple of days.

Yes, you can freeze ....

• Milk. Freeze as soon as possible, then thaw in the fridge as needed. You can freeze for up to six weeks. Write on the defrost date to keep an eye on freshness.
• Yoghurt. Freeze before the use-by date and you can eat it frozen or let it defrost in the fridge (in which case eat that day). can be frozen for one or two months.
• Eggs. Break eggs into an air-tight container (don't try to freeze in the shell - they'll explode) and beat a little with a fork. Keep for up to three months. Thaw in the fridge and use within three days.
• Potatoes. Raw potatoes go black if you freeze them, but boil for five minutes (peeled or unpeeled) and they're fine to pop in the freezer. You can cook them from frozen too. Freeze for up to six months.

Know portion maths - these sums equal one-person portions

•  Rice - quarter of a mug of dried rice 
• Peas - three heaped tablespoons
• Spghetti - make an 'O' with your index finger and thumb. Slide your finger to the base of the thumb, then fill the hole with spaghetti.

Don't fall for

• Suoermarket 'three for £3' offers sound good except you are rarely saving. Look at the small print and the items often cost £1 individually. If you are tempted, stick to the 'cupboard items only' rule - multi-buys on things you don't need to store in the fridge.

Glamour magazine, April 2014