Cooking for Your Freezer

What a lovely feeling of security to open the freezer to a selection of your family’s favorite foods. It could be a favorite home cooked dinner in a dish, each ready to heat and serve at the end of a long day or when unexpected guests appear at the door. To arrive at this secure state, double up when preparing recipes, serve one recipe for dinner, freeze the other.

Prepare your meal in a dish according to the recipe except – cook for shorter time than the recipe directs, as cooking will be completed during reheating time. Vegetables, rice, spaghetti, macaroni, and noodles should be slightly under cooked to prevent a too soft texture and warmed over flavor when reheated.

Cool the cooked food quickly to stop cooking action. To hasten the cooling, set the container in a pan of iced water or directly on the ice. Change the water and add ice as needed. Wrap the food immediately for freezing.

When you are using pepper, cloves or garlic, season lightly as these foods may develop strong flavors when frozen.

Use only recommended moisture proof materials made expressly for wrapping foods to be frozen. Exposure to air during freezing causes deterioration and loss of moisture called freezer burn.

Choose freezing containers of taste free, odorless material in the proper size, and be sure they are completely clean. Freezing will not sterilize either container or its contents.

The best containers for freezing food are:

• Casserole or baking dish in which food will be reheated and served
• Heavily waxed paper cartons
• Glass freezer jars
• Plastic or aluminum containers
• Pliable wrappings of moisture proof cellophane, plastic, or aluminum foil and plastic bags

Fill the containers at once with food that has been quickly and completely cooled. Allow ½ to 1 inch air space at the top of a straight container or fill curved containers just to the shoulder to accommodate expansion of the contents during freezing.

Pack food solidly, filling air spaced with gravy, sauce, or broth whenever possible. When using pliable material, wrap tightly, pushing out air pockets.

To hold solid food in stews and soups beneath the level of the liquid, fill the 1 inch air space with crumpled freezer paper. Seal the container with freezer tape if the container does not have an air tight seal. Label each package with the name, quantity of food, and the date, using a permanent marker.

The length of reheating time required varies with the temperature of the food and the size of the dish. Food is ready to serve when it is bubbly hot in the center.