Freezer containers (merged threads)

maman

Please point me in the right direction if this has been covered elsewhere:

I'm about to make some HM soup and all my plastic 'take-away' boxes are already in the freezer filled with chilli. I noticed at a function I went to that the soup had been frozen in cup size portions. I'm guessing this was in plastic/polystyrene cups.

Anyone use cups to freeze soup? If so what do you do for lids? Any other (cheap) ideas I can use?

Olliebeak

How about plastic milk bottles (make sure you leave some space at the top of the soup for 'freezer expansion')? Margarine tubs with the lids on - this is the one that use the most - 1kg for 2-3 portions/500g for 1-2 portions).

raphanius

i use vitalite tubs, we get through loads of these and they have a really good flexible lid. the plastic doesn't crack and they stack well even though they are round. i find they are perfect for 2 portions of soup, chilli, curry etc.

EagerLearner

Anyone got ideas on how to label my containers (I use the cheap take-away ones). But magic tape slips off... and I don't want permanent marker on each tub...

Maybe I should also get some zip plastic bags for soups, as I think those often come with a white area that can be written on (plus would take up little room for soups in those bags compared to containers).

crnflke

I use masking tape to label the containers in the freezer, it doesn't come off and provided you use biro not ink it's still readable after some time too, one roll lasts ages! :j

Reverbe

I recently bought some tiny food saver Tupperware style boxes from Woolies as they seemed the ideal size to freeze one portion of things and popped some soup in one last week and put it in the freezer. As my flatmate wants to use his freezer to store Xmas party type items he wants me to clear space so I decided to have one of my portions of soup for lunch today.

I notice that the box lid which seemed to fit just fine before placing in the freezer was loose on one of them and had almost come off on the other. I left plenty of space at the top of the container for expansion tho I have never frozen anything HM before. Is this an issue with how I am freezing it and prepping for freezing or is it the box I used? If so how can I remedy this so that I can still use the boxes to freeze in ie like can I secure the lids with some additional help as I do not want to have wasted the 6 boxes I bought.:(

Thanks x

mummysaver

Sorry can't give a definitive answer, if you left plenty of room for expansion with soup - like ice it gets bigger! - then it must be the container? I use lots of diff types of container and usually find the lids stay on fine, I do use old marg tubs and find that the lids can come loose on some of these, I just stack them more carefully! Perhaps you could use strong elastic bands to help the lids stay put - ask your postie if they have any spare!

Reverbe

Thanks I was thinking of lassy bands myself but didnt know if they were suitable for use in a freezer.Maybe they are just of a cheaper quality but I am loathe to waste them obviously as freezing stuff is why I got them in the first place. I don't have enough room/use for them just in fridge.

Tiggergirl

I'd try laggy bands on the boxes you already have.

I swear by clip-lock type boxes in the freezer tbh. they can be quite expensive though unless you shop around. Morrisons regularly have offers on them, and our local pound shop sells a set of 2 (600ml and 350ml) for a quid (obviously).

Primrose

I've found in the past if the item you're freezing is 100% liquid, rather than a mixture of liquid & solid meat & vegetables, it's best to leave a minimum of one inch headspace for expansion. However, the storage of these empty containers has become a space issue for me recently. I now tend to use the Lakeland Ziplock soup and sauce storage bags or the "squeeze it closed" bags as they can be washed, dried and stored flat when not in use. However, for the future, maybe it would help to store the boxes inside plastic bags, although once the contents are frozen there should be a spillage problem and you could thaw them out on a plate to catch any spills from over expansion.