What foods can/can't you freeze?

Laneyboo

i once bought 3 large packs of fresh stir fry veg when they were reduced in price and thought there would be nothing wrong with freezing 2 of the packs and cooking from frozen.. definetly wouldnt recommend it though, think it had something to do with the beansprouts having so much water in but yeuch not a good experience!

Mr_Proctalgia

In a past life I used to work in a food factory and a lot of stuff is refrozen - The trick is to firstly realise the hows and whys of what is involved. Firstly you can in fact refreeze anything provided that certain conditions are met.

It has not been kept for very long in a warm state or has been cooked, that refreezing is not in fact dangerous but that it will denature the product as the ice crystals break down the cells and lastly that you freeze things as quickly as possible, this keeps the ice crystals small and helps the product to retain appearance and mouth feel.

I generally put a metal tray or skillet into the freezer up to a day beforehand and lay stuff out on it in a single layer, if this is done with stuff that has come from the fridge it will freeze in a few moments and I have never had a failure yet. Personally I have no worried about partially defrosting anything, taking what I need and refreezing it, this goes for meat, fish anything, the trick is to try to get it so that it still has ice in it but is slicable that way you are not totally reforming the crystals again.

For obvious reasons manufacturers have to be cautious but unless you are a total wally it is in fact hard to poison yourself nowadays, to my mind the only dangerous bit it that you do not know anything of the products previous storage conditions, therefore as previously stated if you are either making from fresh or altering the state of something you should be OK - For all the other things use your eyes and nose.....and as I recently discovered, meat with freezer burn will miraculously repair itself if used in a slow cooker LOL.

ocemeer

Can you freeze creme fraiche, if not what do I do with it. OH bought it i dont eat dairy products so ideas would be gratefully received if i can't freeze it as it is, happy to coko and freeze the result

claude2006

Hi hope you lot can help...Im always worried about freezing meats etc, I made chilli last last night with the frozen mince from asda (the one where you dont have to defrost), and had loads left over, so i threw it out. Could i have froze my chilli and had it again, or cant you do that with that type of mince. Im always scared of what cooked meats i can freeze, eg chicken etc. I waste loads of food and i am already on a tight budget any suggestions please

foreverskint

As long as you have changed it's 'state', ie raw food was cooked, you can freeze it.

claude2006

Thanks forever skint, is that for any kind of meat ie sunday roast meat etc

dannahaz

Yes, but some things taste better than others when defrosted and reheated.

Casseroley/bolognaisey/chilli-y things are very well behaved, and will taste as good as they did originally.

Personally I'm not sure that roast meat frozen and defrosted would taste as good as it did originaly, I would guess the texture would be a bit mushy. However, you could easily make it into something (shepherds pie filling, chicken pie filling, that sort of thing) and the results would be fine.

I;m very happy to be corrected about my guess from those with experience...?

Hazel

donna_dynamo

HI the best way to freeze cooked meat i.e sunday meat of roast beef is to make gravy and then freeze it in the gravy. This also makes the meat tender when you reheat. I do this for my family regular and it makes a great mid week roast.

CoD_2

foreverskint wrote:

As long as you have changed it's 'state', ie raw food was cooked, you can freeze it.

exactly this, you can't for instance defrost a chicken, go ooh i don't fancy it tonight and refreeze, but you can defrost it, cook it, then freeze the leftovers. leftovers from that would be fab then put into casseroles or soups or pies. roast meat would be fine too but obviously if you'd done a med rare steak, frozen half, then defrosted and recooked it won't be med rare anymore.

i buy meat once a month and freeze it all, actually most is sold from the farm in frozen portions, frequently refreeze bits once cooked (eg spag bol) and haven't poisoned anyone yet! :rotfl:

claude2006

Hi thanks for your replys I feel better now, I like the idea of freezing the meat in with the gravy that sounds nice, and the fact i can put the meat in pies and stuff cool thanks guys. Once the meat has been cooked and then frozen again ..i dont have to defrost again do i?. Lol sorry this defrosting buisness confuses me, but then again it doesnt take much. Thanks again