Freezing Food
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Occasionally, freezing food is preferable to canning or dehydrating it. Freezing food is another great way to preserve it.
- Strawberries are great in jam or jelly, but they are more appetizing frozen rather than canned.
- Frozen cherries right out of the freezer on a hot summer day make a great cooling snack.
- If you end up with more food than you’ll be able to can in a reasonable time, freezing vegetables and freezing fruit is a great way to take care of that excess quickly.
Freezing Food Article and Direction List
Freezing Fruit
How to Freeze Apples
Freezing Apples for Apple Pie
Freezing Raspberries
Freezing Bananas
Freezing Cherries
How to Freeze Strawberries
Freezing Rhubarb
Freezing Tomatoes
Freezing Vegetables
How to Freeze Carrots
Freezing Corn
Freezing Green Beans
Freezing Onion
How to Freeze Peas
Freezing Peppers
Freezing Spinach
Freezing Zucchini
Freezing Parsnips
Freezing Herbs
Freezing Herbs
Freezer Food FAQs
Can you freeze food? Does food have to be warm for freezing?
I feel it is better to allow it to cool off before putting it in the freezer. It can be a little warm but not piping hot. The heat will affect the temperature of the freeze in general. But do not allow the food to sit out for an extended period in a warm state. It needs to either be hot or cooled off soon.
What are the Disadvantages of Freezing Food?
Fresh food is always the best bet. But we all know that sometimes, you just need to preserve it for later. Freezing food probably does the least amount of damage compared to other preservation techniques. Quality is something that may be affected.
Freezing affects the textures of some foods more than others. Lettuce, for example, just doesn’t hold up to freezing. (It doesn’t can well either.) Spinach, however, does great. Much depends on the food type. Milk can be frozen, but it separates. If you mix it well after thawing, you can drink it…but the flavor is affected. Might be best used in baking or cooking. Cheese does not freeze well in a block. It crumbles. But I often freeze shredded cheese for convenience.
The NCHFP mentions the following vegetables do not freeze well, unless they’re used in, say, freezer pickles or similiar recipes:
- Cabbage
- Celery
- Watercress
- Cucumbers
- Endive
- Lettuce
- Parsley
- Radishes
What is Freezer Burn?
Freezer burn happens when frozen food dries out. It will look brown and dried. It is not dangerous, just not as high quality. If possible, you can cut off small portions of freezer burn and still use your food. Sometimes, if the freezer burn is severe, the food is not worth trying to save.
How do you prevent freezer burn?
Wrapping is important when freezing food. Using the correct type of packaging will maintain quality and prevent freezer burn. Look for freezer bags, not storage bags. And the more you can keep air away from the food (wrap tightly), the less freezer burn you’ll find.
Should you can frozen foods?
The answer to this it depends. Some will can well some will not.
For instance many vegetables will be of poor quality, (think soft and soggy). I talk about canning vegetables (fruit too) from the freezer in this video.
But frozen meat can easily be thawed and canned. I prefer to do a hot pack. You can read more about that here… I talk about canning meat from the freezer in this video here…
Freezing food first and then canning it later is actually a great strategy for some foods. Tomatoes in partcular come in mind. If you’ve got a glut of tomatoes and don’t have time to can it now, pop them in the freezer and can them later. One caveat is that you’ll need to do a sauce type recipe. Like tomato sauce, juice or even spaghetti sauce. I talk more about freezing tomatoes here.
