Last week, we looked at the advantages of freezing food at home, and this week, we’ll take a look at packing methods for your freezer.
If you like to be organised, it’s a good idea to pack your frozen meals in foil take-away containers, as the cardboard lids can be easily labelled and dated.
Dating your meals is of paramount importance to enable you to work on the Fifo (first in, first out) system.
Another good idea is to use heavy-gauge polythene bags in different colours or Tupperware containers, as this allows for easy identification.
For example, pack all red meat dishes in red containers and fish meals in blue containers.
Any leftover breadcrumbs, croutons or cheese may be frozen in a straight-necked screw-topped glass jar.
Always leave at least two to three centimetres of head-space above the contents to allow for expansion during freezing.
Try to take advantage of supermarket specials on different food items. You could buy butter when it’s on sale, for instance, and wrap the blocks in foil before freezing. Salted butter may be frozen for up to six months, and unsalted butter frozen for up to 12 months.
Hard cheeses freeze best when grated, as they become crumbly when frozen whole. The storage time for hard cheeses is about six months. All other cheeses shouldn’t be frozen for longer than three months.
Double cream or thick cream with more than 40 percent butter fat freezes well for up to three months, while margarine, lard and cooking fats may be frozen for up to five months.
Next week, we’ll look at cooking for your freezer.
