Definitely one of the top ten questions I get emailed to me or left in comments on posts is simply:

“Can this dish be frozen?!”

I try not to respond with a snark-ridden reply:

“NOPE!  This food is impervious to ice and freezing.  It will never freeze!”

Of course, all foods will technically freeze, but that doesn’t mean that you should freeze them all.

So I figured I would lay out my freezer philosophy.  What do I freeze and how do I do it?

What To Freeze

Any food will freeze and almost all foods can be frozen successfully assuming you do it correctly.  There’s a few guidelines that I like to use though when I’m considering freezing a food.

No Cans or Eggs – The two foods that you don’t want to freeze under any circumstances is anything canned and eggs in their shells.  When you freeze food they expand and you could end up with exploding cans and/or eggs.

Raw Meat Over Cooked Meat – It freezes fine, but I think it does degrade faster than if you freeze the meat raw.  If I freeze meat that’s cooked, I try to use it within a few months.  Raw meat though can theoretically be frozen for years without issue assuming it’s packaged correctly.

Fresh is Best – I’ve seen people clean out their fridge and freeze all of the almost rotten vegetables thinking that it will extend their shelf life.  Technically it will, but when you thaw the food out, it’ll be gross.  If you’re freezing raw food, try to freeze it as early in its shelf life as possible.

This is why food manufacturers flash freeze vegetables as soon as they are picked.

No Emulsion Sauces – Some sauces freeze beautifully.  Anything stock-based will freeze fine.  Creamy sauces though that are a careful suspension of oil and water don’t freeze well.  Things like mayonnaise and hollandaise are better left in the fridge and then discarded.

No Fresh Greens – I’ve never actually tried this, but I’m pretty sure freezing fresh greens is a bad idea.  They will lose their crunch when you thaw them.  Things like lettuce, arugula, or raw spinach are better left out of the freezer.

Casseroles For the Win – Any baked casserole can almost definitely be frozen with very little quality loss.  Things like lasagna are made to be frozen.  In most cases you can freeze them before or after baking.

Stocks and Soups – Like casseroles, almost any stock or soup can be frozen perfectly.  I like to even freeze these in individual serving sizes so it makes it easy to thaw out just one meal.

Stick to Large Quantities – Personally, I don’t like to bother with one or two servings of a dish.  I’ve tried to freeze a small amount of something and I always forget about it and it ends up lost in the freezer maze.  When I have just a few servings of something, I store it in the fridge and just plan on using it within the week as leftovers.

How to Freeze

I think when most people ask me “Can I freeze it?” they want to know specifically how to freeze it.

If you find yourself freezing a lot of food, I highly recommend getting a vacuum pack sealer which removes all the air from the packaging and creates a really clean seal.  Food that is vacuum-sealed can stay frozen for years with almost no degradation.

I don’t freeze enough these days to warrant one of these guys, but I think if/when Betsy and I have kids, and I start cooking more in bulk, I’ll probably splurge for one.

Have no fear though.  You don’t need one of those fancy things to freeze food effectively.

Here’s the process I use:

1) Cool it Down.  Probably the most important step of freezing food is to cool it down before freezing it.  Under no circumstances should you ever put something that’s still hot, or even warm, in your freezer.  For one, it will heat up your freezer and possibly thaw out items around it which is very unsafe.  Secondly, it will take forever to freeze something that’s hot which could lead to a bacteria breeding ground.

You can either just leave the item at room temperature until it’s cool or, if it’s a liquid, you can submerge the liquid in a large bowl or pot with ice water in it.  The surrounding ice bath will rapidly cool the food.

2) Wrap it Well.  If you’re using plastic bags to freeze in, make sure they are specifically freezer-safe.  I usually go a step further and wrap my items prior to putting them in freezer safe bags.  Normally, I’ll wrap the food in plastic wrap, then in foil, then store them in freezer bags.  The goal is to keep as much air away from the food as possible.

3) Label It! Labeling is very important in the freezer world.  If you don’t label stuff well you’ll end up with rows and rows of random foil blocks.  It’ll be impossible to tell what anything is and you’ll end up not ever using the stuff.  A Sharpie marker is your friend.

4) Freeze it Fast. The faster you can freeze the food, the better off you’ll be.  If you can split up your food into smaller portions, it’ll freeze faster and also thaw faster.

Thaw It

Hopefully, if you’ve frozen something, you’ll eventually thaw the thing and actually eat it.  It’s my hypothesis that a lot of frozen food gets thrown away because it isn’t frozen correctly so the quality degrades far enough that it’s not worth eating.

Assuming you do freeze it correctly though, you’ll want to thaw it.  According to the USDA, there’s only three safe ways to thaw food that’s been frozen:

1) Fridge.  You can move frozen food to the fridge to thaw without worry.  This is the best way to thaw food in my opinion but depending on the size of what you are thawing, it will probably take a day or two to thaw.

2) Cold Water.  You can submerge your food in cold water until it’s thawed.  This will take a few hours most likely.  Don’t put your food in hot water.  That will actually start cooking it as it thaws and could cause bacteria to grow.

3) Microwave.  While I don’t love to thaw food in the microwave, if you do it slowly (low power) and carefully, it can be done with success.

Five Great Freezer Dishes

Here’s a few dishes I’ve posted over the years that are made to freeze:

Breakfast Sandwiches – One of my more popular posts ever actually.  Instructions on how to quickly and easily make and freeze breakfast sandwiches.

Freezer Burrito Pouches – These are maybe better than a full frozen burrito.

Leftover  Bounty – This is what I did with my huge amount of turkey leftovers last year:  Turkey Burritos and Turkey Rice Soup.

Kidney Bean Soup – Most soups freeze perfectly, but this is one that Betsy and I froze and ate for months.  Just as good as on day one!

Your Tips and Dishes

I know there are more than a few Macheesmo readers out there who are freezing experts.  If you have tips for freezing food successfully or dishes that you think work great frozen and re-heated. LEAVE A COMMENT!

Photo by magnetisch.