Freezing fresh foods
The golden rule s
Use quality food and handle it as little as possible. Freeze food in small
quantities, it freezes faster, takes less time to thaw and enables you to eat
it in the quantity you need.
Freezing fresh foods
First, estimate the amount of food you will be freezing.
Turn the thermostat dial to the maximum setting which makes your
freezer colder (approx -28°C), it will therefore freeze quicker and keep in
the goodness. However you should use it sparingly to conserve energy.
Remember to reset the thermostat dial to the Normal setting when you
have finished freezing fresh foods.
TO FREEZE
A loaf of bread
A small casserole
Not required.
Up to 2lb/900gm 2 hrs. before placing food in freezer and 4 hrs. after
placing food in freezer.
Maximum of
6.6lb/3kg
24 hrs. before placing food in freezer and 24 hrs. after
placing food in freezer.
What not to freeze
Bananas, pomegranates, pears, carbonated liquids as they can explode or
anything in a glass container, as these may crack.
NOTE
: Do not store inflammable gases or liquids in the freezer.
To thaw
1.
Cover food loosely.
2 .
Thaw at room temperature. Don’t forget that thawing in a warm area
encourages the growth of bacteria.
3.
Always make sure there are no ice crystals in the food before cooking,
particularly with meat. These crystals indicate that the food is not
fully thawed. They result in lower temperatures when cooking.
Lower cooking temperatures may not destroy dangerous bacteria.
4.
Cook food as soon as possible after thawing.
5. Dr
ain off and throw away any liquid lost during thawing.
Oven thawing
Many microwaves and ovens have thaw settings. To avoid bacterial build
up, only use these if you intend to cook the food immediately afterwards.
Safety tips
â
Never re-freeze anything that has thawed out unless you cook it
again, to kill off harmful bacteria.
â
Never re-freeze thawed shellfish.
Useful tip
â
Re-seal packs properly after removing items. This prevents drying or
‘freezer burn’ and a build up of frost on any remaining food.
Label everything
â
Many foods look the same when frozen, so careful labelling will help
avoid forgetting what an item is. Storage times being exceeded could
cause food poisoning.
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You can buy special freezer tape for use in low temperatures.
This tape is available in white, so you can use it to write the items
contents on. You can buy special freezer labels and pens. Labels come
in different colours which can help you use your Freezer effectively.
For instance you could colour code meat red and vegetables green.
Using a different colour label for each quarter of the year will help
you rotate your frozen food more efficiently.
â
Write the contents and date. If you are really organised add the
weight and notes on cooking such as ‘thaw first’, or ‘cook from
frozen’ and keep a separate ‘log-book’ of what is in each drawer.
This will save opening the door and searching around unnecessarily.
5
USING YOUR FRIDGE F REE ZER
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Butter
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Cheese
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