Defrosting frozen foods
Frozen food can be defrosted in various
ways:
– in the microwave,
– in a regular oven, using the "fan" or
"defrost" setting,
– at room temperature,
– in the refrigerator (as it thaws, the
frozen food will help cool the other
food in the refrigerator),
– in a steam oven.
Flat pieces
of partially thawed meat or
fish can be placed directly into a hot
skillet.
Fruit
can be thawed at room
temperature, either in the packaging or
in a covered bowl.
Most vegetables
can be cooked while
still frozen. You can place them directly
in simmering water or hot oil. Because
of changes in the cell structure, the
cooking time is slightly shorter than for
fresh vegetables.
Never re-freeze partially or
completely defrosted food.
However, once defrosted food has
been thoroughly cooked you may
freeze it again.
Making ice cubes
^
Fill the ice cube tray three quarters
full of water and place it on the
bottom of a freezer drawer.
^
If the ice cube tray freezes to the
floor of the drawer, use a dull object
(e.g. a spoon handle) to loosen it.
^
The ice cubes can be easily
loosened by holding the tray briefly
under running water.
Cooling drinks quickly
To cool drinks quickly, place them in
the refrigerator section, and switch on
the Super Cool function. However, if
you choose to place bottles in the
freezer, make sure that they are not left
in for more than
one hour
, as they
could burst.
Freezing and storing food
34
