Freezing food in the freezer
Unexpected business trip or unplanned trip? Is your refrigerator full of freshly prepared dishes? Turns out you can just freeze a lot of them and eat them when you get back.
What dishes are ready for long-term freezing, says Evgeny Mikhailov, chef of a large Moscow restaurant.
1. Cream soup or broth
Only cream soups and broths made from any meat or fish are ready for freezing. But ordinary soups or borscht, which contain potatoes, will turn into porridge during the process of freezing and defrosting. Both potatoes and cold take away all the moisture, which means that such a soup will lose all its beneficial properties.
Cream soup is the easiest to freeze. But before putting it in the freezer, wait until it cools down and pour it into a disposable container or ziploc bags. Rest assured, you can eat this soup even after a month. The main thing is that you then need to defrost it correctly: not at room temperature, but in the refrigerator at +4...6 ° WITH.
2. Sauce
You can only freeze sauces that do not contain cream. The fact is that at sub-zero temperatures, the fat separates from the protein mass of the cream, and at the end you will get an unpleasant taste of sour milk, and even the consistency will look ugly. You definitely won't want to serve it.
For example, Bolognese sauce can be stored at −18 ° From up to 2-3 months.
3. Salted fish
Salted raw fish prepared at home can be easily frozen if done correctly. Be sure to pour it generously with any vegetable oil. The oil closes the pores and prevents moisture from freezing out. This means that you will then receive almost fresh and juicy fish. The fish can lie like this for up to six months.
4. Chicken roll and jerky.
Of the meat products, only chicken roll and various kinds of dried products are frozen: basturma, dry sausages. It is better to immediately wrap the chicken roll in cling film and put it in the freezer. Then you can eat it after 2-3 weeks.
Regular fried meat (chicken, pork, beef) will simply fall apart after freezing. Not only do you get a dry product after frying, but after freezing the last moisture that connected the fabric fibers will leave it.
5. Flour products.
Layered cakes, strudels, Apple pie(“pie”) can easily tolerate sub-zero temperatures due to the fact that they contain dry dough. This means that the properties and taste of the product will remain the same. It is better to wrap them in several layers of plastic bag and put them in the freezer only when cooled. Strudel can remain like this for up to 2 months, pie and puff pastries - up to a month.
By the way, you can safely freeze the ice cream cake several times. But under no circumstances should you leave sponge and cream cakes in the freezer.
6. Pancakes
If you think that the pancakes need freezing, then immediately after removing them from the pan, coat them liberally butter. This will protect them from becoming brittle after storage. freezer.
If you are going to freeze pancakes with berry or fruit filling, then add a natural thickener: starch. Then, after thawing, you will not feel that the taste and external properties of the sweet pancake have changed. Pancakes can be stored for up to 2 weeks.
7. Cheese
Never try to leave sliced cheese in the freezer. It will fall apart and become tasteless.
If you understand that the cheese remains and there will be no opportunity to eat it, then it is best to grate it and put it in a plastic bag. You can then use this cheese for dressing julienne, pasta, etc. The cheese can be stored frozen for up to a month or two.
8. Kefir
“You can safely put a pack of kefir in the freezer and even store it there for up to a month. Frozen kefir should be placed on cheesecloth and allowed to drain. After it drains, you will get... sour cream. Eat it calmly for another 5-7 days,” says the chef.
“It is strictly forbidden to freeze mashed potatoes, any kind of salads, cutlets, beef stroganoff, goulash. When frozen, they will fall apart, and the salad will turn into inedible porridge,” says Evgeny Mikhailov. - In general, foods containing moisture should not be frozen. When frozen, moisture evaporates much faster than when dried. This means that the product will lose all its properties and taste; you will throw it away after defrosting.”
Many products are convenient to put in the freezer for long-term storage, but there are some that are very harmed by frost. Freezing can cause many problems, from destroying the texture and flavor of a food to reducing its health benefits. Some foods cannot be placed in the freezer even for short term. Below is a list of foods for which frost should be prohibited.
1. Vegetables with high water content
Many vegetables can be safely frozen without fear of harming them or yourself. But you should avoid freezing vegetables with a lot of water. When you defrost them, they run the risk of turning into a soft, shapeless mass with altered flavor. Therefore, onions, radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower and other vegetables with high water content should never be frozen.
2. Dairy products
Dairy products also made the list. Everything - from soft cheeses and yogurt to milk and cottage cheese - can only be stored in the refrigerator. Liquid foods will curdle when defrosted, and soft foods (such as cheese) will change their texture in an unpleasant way. Only hard types of cheese can be placed in the freezer for a short time; they will hardly change when defrosted.
3. Fruit
Fruits can be frozen only if you plan to blend them in a blender for cocktails or smoothies after defrosting. Otherwise, don't expect frozen fruit to deteriorate by changing texture after being in the freezer.
4 eggs
Raw or cooked, eggs are in any case on the list of foods prohibited from freezing. Fresh eggs in the freezer they will simply crack, and when boiled, when thawed, the whites will turn into something more like rubber. If freezing is unavoidable, divide into raw eggs whites and yolks and freeze them in different containers.
5. Lettuce
Cabbage, lettuce and any green leafy lettuce should also not be placed in the freezer if you want to keep their texture intact after defrosting. The leaves will not only wither quickly, but will also lose a lot of flavor.
6. Fried food
Fried foods - from potatoes to chicken - become just a wet mass after thawing. However, this can still be fixed - they can be heated on the stove or in the oven. But the initial taste of such products will still be lost.
7. Sauces
Do not freeze sauces and mayonnaise. As a rule, when defrosted, they curl up, which makes them completely useless. Sauces containing flour or cornstarch are especially sensitive to freezing, but not best result you get by freezing egg white cream or frosting.
8. Carbonated drinks
Soda should not be frozen, remembering that liquids expand when they solidify. Carbon dioxide, which is responsible for the bubbles, will go away after freezing, and the taste of the defrosted drink can change greatly.
9. Thawed food
Freezing food that has already been thawed is a big health risk. Repeated freezing promotes the growth of bacteria, which can cause food poisoning. Therefore, if you have already defrosted the product, try to cook it anyway.
