What foods do you freeze?

EssexHebridean

Some great tips on here!

We've got two freezers - the bottom half of the fridge is in use all the time, the second one generally only gets turned on if we bulk-buy meat, which happens occasionally. An earlier poster on the thread reminded me about freezing pesto - something I'd forgotten that I used to do! I used to take the brand new jar, remove the flat tray from the top of the freezer that usually has ice cube trays sitting on it, and line with baking parchment, then take the pesto a spoonful at a time from the jar onto the parchment. once frozen solid you can just tip them off into a bag. Works perfectly! :T

Lemons/limes for G&T's etc are also great - cut them into wedges, freeze on parchment and then again, tip into a bag - and when you add them to the drink they give you an extra ice cube without diluting your booze! :rotfl:

Bread, IIRC, is one of the things that you can safely defrost and refreeze. That is an absolute no-no for a lot of things though. MrEH also freezes coffee beans to keep them fresher and takes them out as needed.

Rice - yes, if handled correctly it is fine. Mash we've never had any issues with - and I do usually use a splash of full-fat milk in mine as well as butter (yes, proper butter, "spread" is not welcome in our house!). Just give it a good beat together with a wooden spoon as you heat it. On the other hand though I'm not a fan of boiled potatoes frozen - they seem to go a bit watery to me on reheating.

Absolutely agree on the frozen beans/pulses, too. I make the "Merguez chickpeas" (not always with chickpeas, frequently with whatever I have to hand on the bean-front) from HFW's recipe, make them i bulk and then once cooled I throw them into a tub and freeze, remembering to return to the tub three or four times during freezing and give it a shake about - means you can just take out what you need each time.

One I've found handy - for something like Bacon that you've just realised is right on its sell-by date but you don;t have the need for immediately, cook it then freeze it - it avoids the risk of it going off as you defrost it.

Julieanna85

I freeze everything!

For example, I freeze chopped tomatoes if I don't use the whole tin; just pop them in an airtight tupperware or even a sealable sandwich bag and put in the freezer. Then you can either defrost in the microwave or take out in the morning to cook with that evening.

The other one that I've started doing that saves me a lot of waste is to buy a pack of fresh chillies, slice them up and freeze them. I lay the slized chillies flat in a sandwich bag so they don't stick together when freezing, and that's it. You don't even need to defrost them to cook! Just chuck them into your cooking ready sliced, or if you want finely chopped chillies, just chop up the frozen slices and add them to your cooking.

Ooh, and bacon, separate the rashers and freeze individually and then just take them out a couple of hours before you need them (or if you forget, you can place the frozen pack in freshly boiled water for a couple of minutes).

System

CAZBEAR wrote: »

Hi, I freeze yogurts and eat as 'ice cream' ( for low fat treats)and I happened to be reading my Dairy book of home cookery last night where it does say you can freeze and defrost yogurt....
I would try it and see what happens with the fromage- frais !!

Thanks, i think i'll try it on myself first. He's too precious to be a guinea pig.

prosaver

i make a big pan of bolognese and put into portions in frezzer bags.
Then if i want chilli take out one and add beans and chilli .
Not sure if i should freeze the spaghetti and do the same?
froze milk and cheese when i went on hols and it was ok.
going to try and do the same with carbonara

anotheruser

While I like freezing some things, I am finding increasingly that my tastes just aren't liking frozen foods.

Bread - even expensive bread, doesn't come out the same.
If it's going to be used for toast, that's different anyway.

I never freeze cheese as I can eat it before it needs freezing.

I always cut enough potatos for what I need. The others stay in the cupboard until I need them again.

Pollycat

anotheruser wrote: »

While I like freezing some things, I am finding increasingly that my tastes just aren't liking frozen foods.

Bread - even expensive bread, doesn't come out the same.
If it's going to be used for toast, that's different anyway.

I never freeze cheese as I can eat it before it needs freezing.

I always cut enough potatos for what I need. The others stay in the cupboard until I need them again.

I think freezing bread - even good quality bread - is fine, at least to my palate.

I freeze cheese if I buy it at a good or reduced price. After all, this is a money-saving website, right?

As for potatoes, I boil, mash & freeze a big pan as it doesn't take that much longer than doing what you need.
And I consider the convenience of having ready made mashed potato in the freezer a bonus.

queengoth

prosaver wrote: »

i make a big pan of bolognese and put into portions in frezzer bags.
Then if i want chilli take out one and add beans and chilli .
Not sure if i should freeze the spaghetti and do the same?
froze milk and cheese when i went on hols and it was ok.
going to try and do the same with carbonara

Hi I freeze spaghetti and pasta and both are fine, I use takeaway plastic containers with a food bag inside to save meal portions. When frozen I pop them out then they will stack in the freezer, this also means they fit in my Tupperware dish that I take to work to be microwaved. I also grate and freeze cheese when it's on offer. Hope this helps.

EssexHebridean

If freezing pasta remember that you need to leave it a little more "al dente" than usual - otherwise when reheating you'll end up with overcooked pasta.

Dclutterchique

Smodlet wrote: »

We freeze sliced bread, too and just prise off the required amount of slices as it keeps far longer this way.

The 'Twist and Shake' method stops the slices from sticking together. I've tried it and it does work. https://wastelesssavemore.sainsburys.co.uk/saving-tips/the-best-dance-routine-since-sliced-bread

Judi wrote: »

Has anyone frozen successfully yogurt or fromage frais? I bought some for my Grandson last week and he didnt eat it. I had him today and he didnt want it. The sell by date will be up by the time i have him again.

I dont mind eating food close to the sell by date myself (or a bit over) but wouldnt dream of giving it to my Grandson and dont want to throw it away.

I've frozen and defrosted yogurt. Sometimes it can go a bit 'grainy' looking when defrosted, but it will still be edible and a good stir will cure that. On the rare off chance that it is still grainy after stirring you just pop some muslin, cheesecloth, coffee filter paper or kitchen roll in a sieve place over a bowl pour in the yogurt and let it strain for a few hours to convert to Greek style yogurt. I haven't tried fromage frais, but I don't see any reason why it wont work.

From the same site as the link above here's a suggestion for frozen yogurt lollies.
https://wastelesssavemore.sainsburys.co.uk/saving-tips/yoghurt-gets-a-mouthwatering-makeover

Dclutterchique

As a follow-up to my previous post the 'twist and shake' does not work. Or to be more exact it only works when some slices are first removed from the bag and the frozen slices are all removed/used in one go, ie none of them is returned (frozen) to the freezer. So if half a loaf is used fresh and the other half frozen and used later it will work. If quarter of a loaf is used fresh the rest frozen and a quarter taken out each time the second quarter will have separate slices but the third and fourth quarters will be stuck together in one big lump! Sorry if I've caused any problems.