Freezing food is an easy and popular way to keep meals and ingredients fresh for longer. However, some foods don’t freeze well. They can lose their texture, taste, or nutrients when frozen and thawed. This article will teach you about foods you should avoid freezing and why.
7 foods to avoid freezing
1. Leafy greens
Don’t freeze leafy vegetables because their water freezes into tiny ice pieces. These ice pieces break the walls of the leaves. So, when you defrost the greens, they turn mushy and not very tasty to eat. The once crispy and fresh leaves lose their nice texture and become soggy. If you need to keep leafy greens longer, you might want to blanch them first. Blanching means briefly boiling the greens and then putting them in cold water. This process can help preserve their color and nutrients.
2. Dairy products
Certain dairy products don’t freeze well because the fat and water inside them tend to separate when you freeze these items. This separation causes the texture to become grainy or curdled when you thaw them out, making them unappetizing. These dairy products include milk, cheese, and soft cheese.
Although hard cheeses and butter handle freezing better, soft cheeses such as ricotta and cottage cheese should be eaten fresh to ensure the best taste and texture. If you want to preserve dairy products, keeping them in the fridge and using them within their recommended shelf life is better.
3. Eggs in shells
It can be tricky to freeze eggs while still in their shells because the liquid inside expands as it freezes, possibly causing the shell to crack. Even if the shell remains intact, the consistency of the egg whites and yolks can change, becoming thick and gelatinous, which isn’t pleasant to eat. To avoid this issue, you can open the eggs before freezing them and lightly beat them. Next, pour them into an airtight container. This way, the eggs will freeze without any problems, and their texture will stay much better when you use them later.
4. Fried foods
The freezing and thawing process adds moisture to the coating, making it soggy and less tasty. Fried foods, such as French fries and fried chicken, can lose their crispy texture when you freeze them. But if you need to freeze fried foods, you can make them better when you eat them later by reheating them in an oven or air fryer. This method helps to bring back some of their original crispiness, making them more enjoyable to eat.
5. Watery vegetables
Vegetables with high water content don’t freeze well. Like leafy greens, the water inside these vegetables turns into ice crystals when frozen. These ice crystals damage the structure of the vegetables, making them mushy and unappetizing when they thaw. Examples of such vegetables include cucumbers, celery, and radishes. You can pickle or use them in cooked dishes to make these vegetables last longer without freezing. Pickling helps preserve their crunch and flavor while cooking them, masking any changes in texture.
6. Pasta and rice
When you freeze pasta or rice that’s already been cooked, it can end up mushy and not so nice when you thaw it out. This happens because the starches in them suck up water while they’re freezing. That makes them soft and not as good as when they were fresh. But if you need to freeze them, cook them just a bit less than usual before freezing them, and once you want to eat them, warm them up gently. This will also keep some of their firmness and improve their taste. So, don’t freeze them unless you have to, but if you do, be gentle when you reheat them.
7. Certain sauces and gravies
You must know that frozen sauces and gravies made with cornstarch or flour might split apart and get watery. That’s because the thickening agent breaks down when it freezes, causing the sauce or gravy not to stick together and not taste as good. But if you have to freeze sauces, you could try thickening them again after they thaw. Another trick is to use arrowroot or tapioca instead of cornstarch or flour because they hold up better in the freezer.
Know what not to freeze
Freezing food is great for keeping many different foods fresh for a long time. But it’s smart to know which foods you shouldn’t freeze. If you skip freezing these seven foods, your meals will taste better and keep their nice texture.
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