Freezing: 9 Facts About Freezing

Freezing, thawing – how do you do it right? The most important facts about frozen food and step-by-step instructions.

You only use the freezer to freeze bread? You forget the salmon package in the back corner of your freezer for months? Empty margarine cups or sandwich paper are your standard packaging for freezing? So, is there anything to be said against it? Read our nine facts about freezing food and then give freezing beginners the cold shoulder.

1. Why frozen food at all?

If you have little time and still want to eat well and stay slim, frozen food is the right choice. Cleaned and sliced frozen vegetables or fruit are practical and contain more vitamins than goods that have been lying around the supermarket for days. But even whole ready meals are now available in good quality and with few calories. Do you like to cook yourself? If you precook and freeze several portions, you will not only save energy but also time.

2. Which foods are better not to freeze?

In fact, you can freeze almost all foods – although very few people do it. Tip: It is best to blanch vegetables beforehand (put them in boiling water for two to four minutes and then rinse with ice-cold water) so that the enzymes are destroyed. This makes the vegetables keep longer.

Among the few foods that are better not frozen are:

• Dairy products: Yoghurt, sour cream and crème fraîche cannot be frozen, they become fluffy after defrosting, in mayonnaise the ingredients separate from each other. Cream is okay, but you should not put it in hot tea or coffee after defrosting, as it will flocculate. And milk can only be frozen if it has been homogenized.
• Fruit/vegetables: it is better not to freeze whole apples and pears and grapes, the same applies to green salads, which collapse when frozen. Radish and radishes are also no longer crisp after defrosting.
• Baked goods: Meringue and macaroons become sticky and chewy from freezing, even butter cream with pudding, sugar glazes, cake glaze and brittle cannot be frozen.
• Ready meals: Liver, jacket and boiled potatoes do not feel comfortable in the freezer, nor do hard-boiled eggs.

3. Why do you have to be particularly careful with highly fatty fish and meat?

The pack of frozen salmon should not be left in the freezer for too long, preferably within three to six months. The reason: Salmon is a very fatty fish. Over time, enzymes destroy the fat and make the fish rancid and musty – even if it is frozen. After a good three months, you should therefore be sure to have used up all very fatty meat and fish that you have already bought frozen. This applies not only to salmon but also to mackerel, tuna and herring.

You have to be even more careful with fresh goods that you deep-freeze yourself. Fresh eel should be eaten after one or two months, and the same applies to fatty meat such as bacon and chops. Lean meat and fish products such as chicken breast or pollack can be frozen for longer.

4. How long can food be frozen in general?

No food should remain frozen for longer than one year. Finished food should be consumed after three months at the latest. In general, raw food can remain frozen longer than cooked food. Observe the best-before date for purchased frozen products. In general, industrially produced foods have a longer shelf life because they are shock-frozen (cooled down extremely quickly). The advantage of fast freezing: fewer ice crystals are formed, so vitamins, minerals and taste are retained longer.

5. What packaging is used for freezing?

Freezer bags and stackable plastic cans with a tightly fitting lid are best. Better not: parchment paper, plastic bags, breakfast bags and bin liners. Empty yoghurt or margarine cups can break, glass can shatter.

6. How do you defrost properly?

It is best to defrost meat and fish in the refrigerator without packaging, as bacteria cannot multiply there. Fruit and baked goods can be defrosted at room temperature. Ready meals such as pizzas and vegetables are usually prepared without defrosting.

During breakfast you think about inviting your girlfriend for coffee in the afternoon? No problem, the cake is defrosted at room temperature after three to six hours. You can also serve fruit salad, berries are also defrosted after six hours maximum. With the chicken for dinner, however, things could get tight. It takes twelve to sixteen hours in the refrigerator to defrost. And the Sunday roast should be taken out of the freezer no later than Saturday morning, or even better Friday evening. A roast takes three hours to defrost per centimetre of height, so you can easily add up to 20 to 30 hours. Tip: If you want it to go quickly, a microwave is a good alternative.

7. Can already defrosted food be refrozen?

Actually, re-freezing is considered a taboo. But if you do it right, there is no reason why it shouldn’t be done. Correct means: Don’t leave the food standing around for two days, but freeze it again immediately at the lowest possible temperature. Then bacteria cannot multiply. Especially meat, dairy products and mushrooms should be heated up properly before re-freezing.

8. My refrigerator has a three-star freezer. Is that as good as a freezer?

Yes and no. You can store food in the three-star freezer for as long as you would in a freezer or chest freezer and it also cools down to at least -18 degrees Celsius. What is not possible is freezing fresh food. To do this, the compartment must be marked with at least four stars.

9. Defrost the fridge – how do you do it right?

Nothing helps: once or twice a year you should defrost the fridge, even if it’s no fun. This is important to keep the temperature constant. At the latest when the layer of ice is thicker than three millimetres, defrosting is necessary so that the appliance can work effectively and save energy. To speed things up: place bowls of hot water in the cupboard or chest. Then clean the appliance with detergent solution, rinse with vinegar water and rub dry well.