musty taste in frozen food

Squoozy

Didn't know quite where to put this but am getting desperate.

For some months now we have been noticing a musty, very unpleasant taste in frozen foods, particulalry potato based products or things like bread and frozen yorkshire puddings. Two months ago it got so bad that I insisted we bought a new freezer and we threw everything away and started again, but the problem didn't go away. We bought a Beko freezer because apparently it is the best for maintaining temperature, and the freezer is working well, is clean and sparkly, and is never switched off. We buy food from a supermarket 10 minutes away and put frozen food straight into the freezer in its original packaging.

The food tastes absolutely vile, we just can't eat it. Its like gone off water, and my first thought is that somehow the food is absorbing water.

Can anyone advise me about what might be happening and what I can do about it? I have read a lot on the internet about freezer burn, but I don't think this is the same thing. I am on the verge of getting rid of the freezer altogther because we are constantly throwing food away.

Lorian

Eat some on day of purchase to rule out the shop stock.


Have you checked the temperature with a freezer thermometer?

PLRFD

Very strange one this I can't come up with any ideas.

stephen77

does the food have white dehydrated patches on the outside (freezer burn)?

Nada666

Squoozy wrote: »

We buy food from a supermarket 10 minutes away

As above, this is the factor you should be experimenting and eliminating first before running around buying several new white goods.

Callie22

Are you freezing stuff in the original cardboard packets? I always re-wrap stuff before I freeze it as I find that if I keep stuff in boxes it tends to get a bit of a musty, wet cardboard smell about it.

dlusman

Squoozy wrote: »

, and the freezer is working well, is clean and sparkly, and is never switched off. .

consider getting a max/min thermometer to check this is true

splishsplash

If it's not the freezer, it must be the food.
The problem is unlikely to have transferred from one freezer to the other, so look at the food.
Shop in a different place, buy different brands, use bottled water to cook with for a while, compare stuff cooked fresh with stuff cooked from frozen.
Very odd problem, I've never heard of it before. I hope you manage to sort it, I'd be lost without my freezer.

dlusman

splishsplash wrote: »

The problem is unlikely to have transferred from one freezer to the other,.
.

Not necessarily. The location or environment of a freezer can stop the motor operating properly and defrosting/re-freezing the food

meritaten

Where is the freezer located? in the kitchen or an outside or unheated room like a utility room or garage?

Fen1

Hi. Just a few questions.

1. How long has this been happening?

2. Has the flavour gotten worse over time, or is it suddenly bad?

3. Is it just you that thinks it tastes off, or does everyone you feed think so too?

4. Do the same foods cooked from fresh, straight from the shop, taste odd? Or is it only the food that you have frozen?

5. Do other foods containing wheat and/ or potato taste odd? Do foods containing milk ( probably an ingredient in the foods you have described) taste odd?