Can I freeze Parmesan?

Question

I am thinking about buying a larger amount of Parmesan and freeze it for later use. Is this possible? How long can I keep it for? How is the taste/texture affected?

Asked by Sven

Answer

Yes, you can freeze parmesan cheese. Even without freezing, Parmesan is very durable since the low water and high salt content prevents mould from growing. The younger varieties may be more prone to mould growth (having a higher water content), but I've kept ripe Parmesan (30-36 months) for at least a year in the fridge without problems (and it would probably have stayed good much longer). Just remember to keep it e.g. wrapped in paper and not in a sealed plastic container to prevent a buildup of condensed water.

Answered by Tor-Einar Jarnbjo

Check more discussion of this question.

Vermouth for use in Drinks - can I freeze it?

Question

I have a well stocked bar at home so from time to time I mix some drinks. Many popular drinks list Vermouth (e.g. Noilly Prat) as an ingredient. Basically, Vermouth can be compared to a special kind of wine as it also produced from wine. This is where the trouble starts: As soon as you open a bottle Vermouth for the first time, you have to store it in a fridge and after 2-3 weeks have to throw the bottle away because you can't use it anymore. So to really empty the bottle, you have to drink a lot.

This is a common problem for many people and there are many ideas for solutions (spraying some protective gas into the bottle, filling many smaller bottles, sucking the air out of the bottle, writing to companies and asking for miniature bottles...) but none of them really works. Now I just had another idea: Can I just fill an ice cube form with Vermouth and put it in the freezer and then just take out the amount I need? Or will it loose it's flavor due to the freezing process?

Asked by Sven

Answer

Water freezes at 0° C (or 32° F), but ethanol freezes at -114° C, so you can guess your vermouth with freeze somewhere in between those two temperatures.

Noilly Prat is 18% ABV, or 15% alcohol by weight, which means it would freeze at around -6° C to -7° C, or 19-21° F. Your freezer may or may not be tuned to be that cold, but if not, you should be able to crank it a bit and get your Noilly Prat just frozen.

That said, I would not really recommend leaving an ice cube tray full of vermouth hanging out in your freezer. You may notice that old ice tastes funny. Even though you may not notice your freezer smelling, that's partly because the cold blocks smells. Just because you don't notice them doesn't mean the odors aren't there to ruin your Noilly Prat. I would recommend leaving them for a day until just frozen (covered if you like), and then moving them to a ziplock for long term storage.

Answered by Ray

Check more discussion of this question.

To refreeze or to refrigerate?

Question

Due to my busy schedule, I've started preparing all my meals on Sunday and cooking one a day for the rest of the week. It's generally defrosted chicken or meat.

Is it better for me to refreeze the meals (without cooking and with new liquid introduced) or to keep it in the refrigerator?

Asked by chama

Answer

TLDR; If you defrosted the chicken in the fridge, go ahead and refreeze it. If you thawed it on the counter, cook it, then freeze it.

I was always taught: DO NOT REFREEZE uncooked meat!

But, I did a search and found this somewhat contradictory statement from a reliable source:

"Refreezing Once food is thawed in the refrigerator, it is safe to refreeze it without cooking, although there may be a loss of quality due to the moisture lost through thawing. After cooking raw foods which were previously frozen, it is safe to freeze the cooked foods. If previously cooked foods are thawed in the refrigerator, you may refreeze the unused portion. Freeze leftovers within 3-4 days. Do not refreeze any foods left outside the refrigerator longer than 2 hours; 1 hour in temperatures above 90 °F.

If you purchase previously frozen meat, poultry or fish at a retail store, you can refreeze if it has been handled properly."

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Focus_On_Freezing/index.asp

There's also this: How long will uncooked chicken keep in the fridge?

Which says 1-2 days for raw chicken in the fridge.

Answered by Chris Cudmore

Check more discussion of this question.

Is blanch freezing vegetables required for short term storage?

Question

I need some vegetables to last for about a month until I've juiced them all.

Blanch freezing many vegetables sees them last for periods 6 months and longer, but it's a bit of a hassle.

Would just ziplocking them in the freezer direct give me a month? I'm talking carrots, celery, spinach, zucchini. I'm sucking air out with a dustbuster which is nowhere near a vacuum sealer but hopefully better than not doing it.

Would putting the celery and spinach in a bowl of (sugared) water keep them going?

Asked by jontyc

Answer

Blanching is done to halt enzymatic action that would start to destroy the plant cells. You can freeze without blanching and the veggies will still be edible even after 6 months but their quality will decline faster.

If you are planning on juicing those veggies within a month then you are going to be doing a lot more damage than the freezer will and I don't think you would see much benefit from blanching. The spinach and celery might stay a little greener when it thaws- the carrots and zucchini would probably not be effected at all.

As for the sugar water. Are you planning on freezing them in the water? I don't think that would do much but dilute their juices when the ice crystals rip them apart. Of course you wouldn't be able to keep spinach in a bowl of water for a month- that would be more like a swamp than food.

Answered by Sobachatina

Check more discussion of this question.

Why does sauce go watery after freezing?

Question

If I freeze a sauce, particularly something with mince in it, when defrosted it produces excess water.

The sauce before frozen is nicely thickened.

I think it might be because the proteins in the meat are damaged in some way by the ice crystals so that they are unable to retain as much water.

EDIT The sauce I'm referring to is bolonaise and the only thickening agent I used is a bit of tomatoe puree.

Asked by rgvcorley

Answer

Sauces separate when frozen for several reasons.

• If it contains vegetables, the plant cells rupture when the water in them freezes. This means the sauce gets watery and the taste changes as the contents of the cells escape.
• With emulsions, the oil/fat microdroplets clump together when they freeze. When you thaw the sauce, the emulsion is wrecked, giving a runny consistency. You can defeat this by re-emulsifying as you thaw the sauce. See How can I prevent bacon mayonnaise from splitting when above fridge temperature?
• Due to colligative properties, areas of less concentrated solution will freeze first, and more concentrated solution freeze last. As the solution gradually freezes, this has the effect of concentrating dissolved thickening agents in the last regions to freeze. When the solution thaws, the thickener isn't as evenly mixed.

Answered by BobMcGee

Check more discussion of this question.

Why did my sauce get lumpy after being frozen?

Question

Two months ago, I made a fish sauce (roux + milk + fish stock + lemon juice + cheese + mushrooms). I made way too much, so I decided to put a good amount (0.5 l / about 2 cups) in the freezer.

I wanted to use it this week, so I got it out of the freezer, and I put it in a sauce pan on a low heat, when it was still frozen. However, the result after it was fully heated, was not so good: it contained lumps (but not roux-lumps) so not at all the desired consistency.

Why/how did the lumps got there? Was it because I didn't properly defrost the sauce? Or was it a consequence of the freezing itself? What can I do to avoid this the next time?

There were no lumps when I made it.

Asked by Mien

Answer

Assuming your roux is flour based, the original recipe mixture was able to be a sauce because the proteins in the flour formed gluten and created that lovely thickness we enjoy (your seasonings sound like a nice combo). The water from the other ingredients are trapped in the gluten. Unfortunately, when you freeze it, the water molecules form sharp shapes like knives and cut your gluten strands. This isn't a noticeble problem until your defrost it.

It doesn't matter how quickly or slowing you defrost. The damage was done when it was frozen.

To work around this issue, you have to freeze it faster! Professional establishments can super freeze things super fast. Freezing faster will make smaller knife-shaped ice crystals and that reduces the damage.

TIPS:

• freeze in smaller portions and shallower depth on a pre-frozen metal cookie sheet.

• Defrost and strain the sauce. Make a new roux and add the defrosted & strained sauce. The flavor comes from the frozen sauce and the new roux recreates the gluten.

Answered by MADCookie

Check more discussion of this question.

Can I freeze stir-fry vegetables?

Question

I have been buying pre-cut and prepped stir-fry veggies at Trader Joe's and I was wondering if I could freeze my own bags of veggies. Would there be any issues with cutting up stir-fry veggies and freezing them in a conventional home freezer? Are there any veggies that do not freeze well to stay away from? Are there some that work especially well?

Asked by anton2g

Answer

You will have the best results if you prep by cutting and blanching prior to freezing. This should ensure that moisture content in the veggies does less damage over time in the freezer and improve color duration. I find it helpful to freeze vegetables separately rather than as mixes as you can always grab from multiple bags, but you can't unmix mixed vegetables without more work.

The majority of vegetables for stir-fry (e.g. broccoli, peas, etc) will freeze well enough, the ones in your freezer aisle obviously freeze a bit better than others. If a vegetable has a high water content (i.e. lettuce, which I hope you aren't stir-frying with) that is more integral to its structure than the cellulose it is likelier to burst cell walls in freezing; these vegetables are better to avoid.

Answered by mfg

Check more discussion of this question.

What can I do with frozen eggs?

Question

Although a previous question asks if raw eggs can be frozen, my eggs froze, in the shell, because the chicken coop into which they were delivered was very cold last week.

I thawed the eggs, and they seem fine, except that the yolks are solid / gelatinous. This means that scrambled eggs are out, at least as I know them.

What else can be done with these eggs; this will probably happen again?

Asked by David

Answer

The best I can offer you comes from Functionality of Proteins in Food:

The gelation of egg yolk can be partially reversed by heating after thawing. This treatment improves the functional properties of proteins. The stiffness of the gels obtained after frozen storage can be reduced by more than 50% and become pourable at 21° C by heating up to 45° C for 1 h.

Eggs don't actually start to set until you hit 63° C, so if I had previously-frozen eggs, I would heat them as the above paragraph suggests. Just be very careful not to use too much heat.

You won't get perfect eggs, but they'll be edible.

Answered by Aaronut

Check more discussion of this question.

Can I freeze soup in a pot?

Question

Can I freeze soup in a pot (I believe it's made of stainless steel)? Are there any health risks? Is there any risk of damage to the pot?

Asked by clueless

Answer

The possible risks I can think of are (1) the large thermal mass may mean that the soup cools off too slowly, leading to spoilage in the middle, and (2) freezer burn on the top of the soup, because there's no truly effective way to seal out air from a pot. In practice, (1) is unlikely unless you're talking about a 25-gallon pot or something, in which case it wouldn't fit in an ordinary freezer anyway. (2) on the other hand will be a problem, unless you're only freezing the soup for a short period.

The only risk to the pot is that it may not quite fit in the freezer comfortably, so as people take things out and put things in, they may shove the pot about and maybe break a handle or something.

Answered by Marti

Check more discussion of this question.

How do I freeze and defrost lemons?

Question

Assuming that once defrosted, I'd most likely use them for their juice (but not exclusively; I occasionally use the peel for zest, whole slices for cooking with fish/poultry or preparing vegetables in brine).
Is this even possible?

Answer

After a quick Google search, I found chowhound topic that deals with this exact matter. They'll grate well and it's handy when (just semi-defrost them) you need some grated zest as you can just pull out a bag from the freezer and sprinlkle them into your recipe. They'll juice but you need to defrost them which I'm told is best done by 'zapping' them in the microwave for 30 seconds. Apparently you get more juice after they've been frozen as it bursts the cell walls releasing more juice.

Hope this helps!

Check more discussion of this question.

Should you freeze pastry lukewarm? If so, why?

Question

I have a book about baking in general. In the chapter 'Preserving pastry in the freezer' is the following sentence (I translated it for practical reasons):

Pastry should be frozen as fresh as possible, don't let it cool completely and put it in the freezer lukewarm (at 35°C = 95°F).

There is no information why you shouldn't let it cool completely. It's the first time I've heard this (and it's a pretty famous and often used book here; it could be wrong though).

While I was searching on this site whether the question was already asked, I've found this question. The accepted answer claims the opposite.

So, I want to know if the claim in my book is correct and why or why not.

Answer

I think it's because freezing tend to dry things out. At lukewarm temperature, it's still 'steaming' a bit, which means evaporating liquid, so losing moist. If you can stop the drying out process at that point, the pastry won't be as dry as when you let it cool completely. Of course, a too high temperature can do harm to already frozen things, or would cause condensation in the package, so that there would be ice formed.

This could be the reason, and therefore, the statement can be true.

Check more discussion of this question.

How can I get frozen egg whites out of the ice tray?

Question

I read in Can raw eggs be frozen? that you can freeze eeg whites and use them later.

I saw this suggestion about using an ice tray to make frozen egg white cubes (which makes it easier later on when you want to use a few eeg whites out of a frozen batch).

My problem is, the frozen cubes won't come out of the ice tray! They seem to expand or for some reason stick to the tray very hard. I needed to melt them by running the back of the tray under hot water to get them out.

Obviously I can't use any oil or anything like that in the tray to prevent sticking.
Any suggestions?

Answer

So to sum up, so far, we have:

• use a silicon tray, there should be no problems there.
• put the tray in warm water for a short while and they would let go.

Check more discussion of this question.

Can you preserve canned kidney beans so that they still have their shape?

Question

I buy kidney beans in a can, but the amount is always too big. Normally, I throw away the leftover beans, thinking that freezing them will turn them into mush (thinking the water will expand and make the membrane tear). Is there a way to avoid this? Or another way to preserve them longer than a few days (preferably a few months)?

Note: I haven't actually tried this, so if they hold their shape nicely after freezing, please inform me.

Answer

Beans freeze marvelously. I put mine in freezer bags and lay them flat so they freeze quickly and are easier to thaw.

They are very sturdy little nuggets of joy and hold up well to canning or freezing without getting mushy.

Different beans behave differently. Pintos soften quickly and don't have much of a skin. Black beans keep their shape and skin a lot longer. Kidney beans are in the middle- if you boil them too long they will mash but they are a lot sturdier than pintos.

Check more discussion of this question.

If you freeze and later melt egg whites would they still be suitable to whip

Question

I read all the very useful answers to this question
Can raw eggs be frozen?

But my question is a bit different:

When making anything that needs whipped egg whites, the condition (cleanness/pusity) of utensile and the egg whites is essential. I wanted to know if I freeze egg whites would I be able to melt and whip them later?

Answer

Yes, quite well -- I have personally made successful angel food cakes with frozen whites -- but if volume matters, they will not quite reach the maximal height of fresh whites (say, loss of 5-10%), and achieving peaks will take a little longer whipping time than normal.

Check more discussion of this question.

Meaning of do not thaw for frozen food

Question

Today I bought frozen food for the first time and the brand is Mc Coin.

I read the instructions, which have the following instructions;

Do Not Thaw and cook from frozen

I am unsure how to parse this. Can someone please tell me what the company is telling me in the instructions, and how I am to cook it?

• Should I put my opened packet into freezer ?
• Should I cook it directly from the packet ?

Answer

Your question is slightly confusing but I'll try to answer your question.

As far as I can tell McCoin brand is bags of frozen vegetables (correct me if I am wrong). If it says do not thaw and to cook from frozen, it just means you do not need to thaw it before you cook it.

Thawing is the act of unfreezing something. This can be accomplished by leaving something out at room temperature to naturally thaw.

So if you have frozen corn and want to put it in chili or soup, just throw the frozen corn directly in without thawing it.

Check more discussion of this question.

How to get rid of the smell from the fridge?

Question

Storing various meals and products in fridge (or freezer) can result in mixing different flavours, which isn't that great. What are your best practises to avoid the smell?

Answer

Baking soda seems to work well for me, but the best thing is to get rid of old food that is causing the smell, and seal strong-smelling foods in airtight containers.

Check more discussion of this question.

How to thaw soup without noodles going mushy

Question

I made a great vegetable soup in which I also put noodles and beans. Fresh, it was perfect. I froze most of it in small containers to thaw as I needed them. The problem is that when I thaw them, the noodles seem to get overcooked (they were "just-right") when the batch was fresh. I thaw the soup in a pot on the stove. I don't cook it exceptionally high, just hot enough to melt and warm the soup. Is there a better way to do it, so that the noodles (and to a lesser extent, the beans) won't get mushy when cooking to thaw?

Answer

Pasta will get softer and mushier with every heating and cooling cycle. Try a grain or rice instead.

Check more discussion of this question.

Would freezing affect the flavour of mint tea?

Question

I have a recipe that calls for a large pot of strong mint tea. I don't have time to make the recipe these days, but I'd like to make the tea before the spearmint in the garden dies off so I can finish this later when I have time. My plan was to harvest the remaining mint (I was going to include the stems as well since by now I've already used many leaves - but would stems affect the flavour in a negative way?), brew a pot, then put it in a container and freeze it, and then thaw when necessary. Would freezing affect the flavour?

Answer

Some of the volatile flavors will be diminished, but I've managed to make fairly good drinks with the help of mint that I kept frozen. In my experience, freezer burn starts to become visible after two or three months, and starts to harm flavor probably around 4-6 months.

I'm not sure preparing the drink will work really well, but if you just defrost the drink in the refrigerator, it probably won't be terrible. Active thawing with heat will probably cause some harm. Many infusions and teas become a bit cloudy and lose color after bottling or freezing, which is why most bottled teas use an enzyme (not usually a listed ingredient) designed to mitigate that.

Check more discussion of this question.

Can I re-freeze fruit?

Question

I bought about 1.2kg of frozen raspberries with the intention of using them yesterday, but it turns out I won't need them for another couple of weeks. I had let them thaw but have put them in the fridge since I realised my mistake.

Am I able to refreeze the berries or should I find some immediate use for them?

What are the risks / consequences if I do refreeze?

Answer

Basically, you can refreeze the raspberries.
When a fruit or veg. is frozen, the water inside the plant cell expands, and bursts the cell wall, which is why there is so much 'juice' when you thaw. If you refreeze, you can be sure that the raspberries will freeze into a giant block. If you are using them to make a sauce or a jam, this is not significant. That being said, if you are using frozen raspberries in the first place, you are obviously not looking for a perfectly intact raspberry, you are using them for some other purpose. Therefor, refreezing is no big deal. I recently answered another question about freezing and refreezing, and how it is basically a myth that it renders the refrozen product inedible. Any time you freeze you know that you are not going to get 'exactly' the same product when you thaw it, and the same goes with refreezing, there is always a 'slight' degredation of the product with each successive freeze (do you like my liberal usage of quotes?) You won't poison yourself or anything like that, you should have no worries.

That being said, what are you doing with the berries? Certainly a refrozen raspberry should be no worse that a raspberry frozen once.

Check more discussion of this question.

Can you freeze jalapenos?

Question

It's getting colder outside and I have a lot of jalapenos in my garden. I like eating them fresh (not cooked) on homemade tacos and omelets, etc.

If I freeze them and thaw them out later in the winter, will they still be as spicy and crunchy, or does the freezing and thawing take some flavor away from them?

Answer

I have a whole freezer full of jalapenos - so yes, you definitely can.

They definitely retain their heat just fine.

They keep their texture better if you do 2 things:

• Use a vacuum sealer and take out all the air - to reduce freezer burn. Because of this, I recommend you freeze them in batches.

• Blanche them for 2-3 minutes in boiling water and then drop them in freezing water. From what I've read, this destroys a particular enzyme that helps not break the pepper down further. I've done this and not done this - and doing it definitely helps on the texture.

They should be good for a little over a year in a vacuum sealed bag - as far as the texture goes. They should never go bad otherwise.

Cos and Sobachatina - bring up another good point: freezing fast and effectively. You can try AB's method that Cos points out, but I do what Sobachatina does. Freeze on a single layer on a tray in the freezer. They freeze quicker and better than dumping them in a bag.

Check more discussion of this question.