Freezing is a very gentle method of preserving food for a long time. The appearance, taste and even the content of vitamins and nutrients hardly change as a result of cold sleep. However, it is important that you proceed correctly when freezing.
How do I freeze food correctly?
Proper freezing of food is achieved through careful preparation, blanching vegetables, using suitable freezer containers and bags, pre-freezing fruit and vegetables, and labeling the frozen food. This preserves the taste, vitamins and nutrients.
Preparing food
Freeze only food that is in good condition. Fruit and vegetables must be washed thoroughly in advance, cleaned carefully and cut into bite-sized pieces.
Blanching vegetables
Blanching inactivates the cell's own enzymes and also kills germs adhering to the food. Therefore, all vegetables, with the exception of asparagus, should be blanched briefly before freezing:
- Prepare the vegetables as directed.
- Boil water in a large pot.
- Put in the vegetables, they should be completely covered by the liquid.
- Blanch for two to four minutes.
- Then cool with ice cold water.
To ensure that light-colored vegetables such as cauliflower retain their beautiful white color, add a few squeezes of lemon juice to the cooking water. Do not season the blanched vegetables as the flavor of herbs may be lost or intensified.
Packaging
Freezer containers and bags must meet certain conditions, otherwise quality loss can occur due to freezer burn. Special plastic containers are easy to clean and can be reused again and again. This avoids unnecessary waste.
Yoghurt and curd pots or the packaging in which the vegetables are sold in the supermarket do not meet these requirements and are unsuitable for freezing.
Also note these tips:
- For liquid dishes, leave a border at least three centimeters high. These expand when they freeze. This could cause the lid to be lifted off.
- Fill solid foods as high as possible. The less air there is in the container, the lower the quality losses.
- Use bags, squeeze out the air well and close the bag with a clip.
- Fruit and [oil link u=freeze vegetables]Pre-freeze vegetables that you want to freeze [/link] on a tray for three to four hours. Place the pieces on the plate so that they are not touching each other. This means the food doesn't freeze together. Then refill and freeze again.
- Label the frozen food clearly with a waterproof pen. In addition to the date and contents, also write the quantity on the packaging. This helps to keep track.
Tip
The maximum storage period for vegetables is six to twelve months. You should use frozen fruit after eight to twelve months. Meat and fish last between three and twelve months in cold sleep.