By April Reese
University of Georgia
When you think of holiday food and your freezer, don’t think
just
of leftovers. Think of “planned-overs,” too.
Planning ahead can make good use of your freezer and your time,
says Elizabeth Andress, director of the National Center for Home
Food Preservation hosted by the University of Georgia College of
Family and Consumer Sciences.
“There are many advantages of freezing prepared foods,” Andress
said.
Cooking ahead and freezing the
prepared foods enables you to:
- Prepare food at your convenience.
- Use the oven more efficiently by baking more than one dish
at
a time. - Save time by doubling or tripling recipes and freezing the
extra planned-overs. - Save small portions, if you cook for one or two.
Be safe
If you cook ahead and freeze the prepared foods, though,
remember
that even fully cooked foods can grow bacteria if you don’t care
for them properly after you cook them.
“Cool cooked foods quickly for safety and freshness,” Andress
said. “Keeping foods at room temperature for several hours
before
freezing increases chances of spoilage and foodborne
illness.”
To cool hot food faster, put it in a pan or sink of ice water.
This is especially important, she said, when preparing large
amounts of food. Change the ice water often or run cold water
around the pan. When the food is cool, package and freeze it
immediately.
What’s your bag?
A recent NCHFP survey found that nearly everyone (94.4 percent)
prefers to freeze foods in plastic freezer bags. You don’t have
to use plastic bags, though. There are many choices.
“Packaging materials must be moisture-vapor-resistant, durable
and leakproof,” Andress said. “Bags shouldn’t become brittle and
crack at low temperatures. They should be resistant to oils,
grease or water. Packaging should protect foods from absorption
of off-flavors or odors. They should be easy to seal, too, and
easy to write on.”
Good freezing materials include rigid containers made of
aluminum, glass, plastic or stainless steel. Bags and sheets of
moisture-vapor-resistant wraps and laminated papers made
specifically for freezing are good choices, too.
“Package foods in the amounts you want to use at one time,”
Andress said. “Once food is thawed, it spoils more quickly than
fresh foods. Be sure to label each package with contents and
date.”
Troublesome foods
Some foods don’t freeze well.
“Milk sauces sometimes curdle and separate when frozen,” Andress
said. “Stirring while reheating helps keep the product smooth.
Using waxy rice flour or waxy corn flour as the thickener also
helps to fix the problem.”
Gravy also tends to separate and curdle when thawed, she
said.
“It’s better to freeze broth and make gravy just before
serving,”
she said. “Or use waxy rice flour or waxy corn flour as the
thickener.”
Cooked, creamed vegetables tend to lose flavor fast when frozen.
Don’t put them in the freezer unless you’ll use them within
three
weeks. Vegetables packed in sauce tend to retain their flavor
longer.
Cook your vegetables, cool them quickly and then add sauce.
Package them in freezer containers, leaving space to allow for
expansion.
Lettuce, other greens, cucumbers, radishes and celery lose
crispness and become soggy when you thaw them. Raw potatoes
don’t
freeze well, either.
Slice the turkey
Freezing whole, cooked turkeys isn’t considered safe.
“As with any food, the time needed for freezing to take place in
the center of the item is the critical factor,” Andress said.
“Trying to freeze a large mass like a whole cooked and stuffed
turkey can keep the center warm enough for the hours it takes
some bacteria to multiply to harmful levels.”
Slice the turkey off the bone and package it in usable amounts,
she said. Freeze stuffing separately, so it freezes quickly,
too.
One last disappointment: don’t save your holiday chocolate
covered cherries in the freezer. Expansion during freezing
causes
them to break open.
(April Reese is a writer for the National Center for Home
Food
Preservation with the University of Georgia College of Family
and
Consumer Sciences.)
