Rising grocery prices make freezing meals an apparent money-saver. Uncooked meat, further herbs, even leftover wine — into the freezer they go. However here is the catch: not all the pieces survives the deep freeze. Some meals require particular preparation first, and others will emerge as disappointing, inedible variations of themselves.
A latest CNET survey discovered that the typical grownup wastes about $1,500 in spoiled groceries per yr, however the freezer cannot bail you out of each
Earlier than you waste cash on groceries that flip to mush, study which 11 frequent meals ought to by no means see the within of your freezer.
1. Milk and cream
Hold your dairy out of the freezer or it is going to separate and curdle.
Most dairy merchandise cannot be frozen and can turn out to be inedible if they’re. Milk, cream, yogurt and bitter cream are inclined to separate when frozen. As soon as they do, there isn’t any returning them to their former state and the thawed consequence can be grainy, watery and even curdled. Nut milk, alternatively, might be frozen extra efficiently.
Ice cream is a identified exception to the dairy rule as a result of its excessive sugar content material lowers the freezing level and retains the product mushy and palatable.
2. Potatoes
Potatoes should not even be refrigerated, by no means thoughts frozen.
America’s favourite carb turns mushy and grainy when thawed, a bodily state that’s no bueno to be used in something from mashed potatoes to french fries. It is because the water separates from the tuber’s starch, leading to a gag-inducing texture that not even trash-foraging critters like raccoons can abdomen. Freezing cooked or partially cooked potatoes (sometimes parboiled) is OK, as a lot of the water is extracted throughout cooking. Bagged potato merchandise from the freezer part of your native grocery retailer are handled with chemical substances, preservatives or different specialised preparation strategies to make sure taste and texture are preserved when frozen.
3. Cheese
There are methods to retailer all varieties of cheese that can hold them recent for longer, however the freezer is not one among them.
Pesky ice crystals kind in frozen cheese, which utterly adjustments its taste and texture profile. This primarily applies to mushy and moldy cheeses, although some exhausting varieties similar to cheddar and jack can stand up to the constant blast of chilly air if grated first and laid flat in a plastic storage bag.
Learn extra: Retailer Cheese Correctly and You will Lengthen Its Life by Days, Even Weeks. Here is How
4. Fried meals
Unfortunetly, that leftover buddy hen cannot be frozen for later.
The very best a part of fried meals is, after all, its crunchy breading. When positioned in a freezer, this batter or crumb absorbs the equipment’s moisture and makes the meals soggy. Moreover, fried meals is chock-full of — you guessed it — oil, which does not freeze utterly and may spoil earlier than the meat or vegetable it has been cooked into. This could result in foul-tasting meals and a probably harmful bout of meals poisoning.
5. Eggs
Eggs have a fairly lengthy shelf life within the fridge so that you should not must freeze them.
If you would like rubbery scrambled eggs, go forward and stick them within the freezer earlier than preparation. This is because of a course of referred to as “gelation,” the place the yolk’s protein molecules clump and make the liquid more durable. Egg content material additionally expands when frozen, which causes complete eggs to crack and leak. Avoiding eggs within the freezer means stopping egg-based condiments, similar to mayonnaise, which will get lumpy and unspreadable.
6. Delicate salad greens
The lighter in colour the salad inexperienced, the much less possible it’s to outlive being frozen.
Whereas some greens together with kale, spinach and collard greens deal with the freezer positive, extra delicate and water-dense varieties will collapse. Hold blended and mesclun greens, romaine and iceburg within the vegetable crisper and away from the freezer.
7. Water-dense greens
Tomatoes, cucumbers and different water-dense greens do not make good candidates for freezing.
If it is a fruit or vegetable and may go right into a typical salad, it will not maintain up within the freezer. This contains produce with excessive water content material similar to tomatoes, cucumbers and celery.
8. Avocado
Frozen avocado cannot be revived to make use of in salads or for guacamole, although it may be dropped right into a wholesome smoothie or shake.
The beloved avocado may also not fare nicely in extraordinarily low temperatures. Because it thaws, it is going to instantly start to brown. No one desires to dip their approach by way of brown guacamole. When you cannot revive frozen avocado to unfold over toast or make dip for taco evening, you should use it as an ingredient in smoothies.
9. Entire citrus
The best choice with an extra of citrus is to juice the fruit and freeze the juice for recipes and cocktails later.
Some dense fruits, similar to berries and mango, do nicely within the freezer, however citrus will not maintain kind so nicely. Entire citrus fruit will turn out to be mealy after thawing. If in case you have an abundance of lemons, limes or oranges, your finest guess is to juice them and freeze the juice for later.
10. Cooked pasta and rice
Leftover cooked rice and pasta might be frozen safely however will lose a lot of its construction and toothsomeness upon reheating.
You may freeze cooked pasta and rice, however that does not imply you must. The water content material causes the cells in noodles and grains to burst, leading to pasty, gloopy leftovers that may’t be salvaged with even essentially the most scrumptious sauces.
Pasta is sort of definitely going to emerge from the freezer in tough form. Rice is a bit more sturdy however contemplate vacuum-sealing it to maintain moisture out earlier than popping it within the freezer for preservation.
11. Bottled or canned drinks
We have all tried to quick-chill a beer or soda within the freezer.
Who hasn’t tried to cheat time by chilling a lukewarm beer can or bottle within the freezer, solely to overlook about it and return to discover a frozen, effervescent catastrophe? In the event you use the freezer to sit back canned or bottled drinks, you would be smart to set a timer for 10 minutes so they do not freeze stable and explode.
