Freezing Food

[ShoppGirl 4,752]

So I am day 6 into soft food and I am very quickly remembering how much food I wasted with my sleeve since my hubby eats like a bird too and it’s just us. I am going to try freezing stuff this time. I made Turkey meatballs and lean beef chili and froze them already but I’m wondering if I can freeze the Turkey Taco filling I made last night. I assume the Guacamole and Pico I will just have to make less next time but I would like to at least freeze the meat if I can. Is there a trick to it or will the freezer ziplocks work?

[SpartanMaker 767]

Ziplocks should be fine for that. I've done it before no problem. I'm sure you know this, but get as much air out as possible and it will last longer.

[ShoppGirl 4,752]

32 minutes ago, SpartanMaker said:

Ziplocks should be fine for that. I've done it before no problem. I'm sure you know this, but get as much air out as possible and it will last longer.

Actually I didn’t. I’m totally new to freezing prepared food. Thanks for the tip.

[Arabesque 7,200]

I ziplock everything: Soup, casseroles, home made pies, meatballs, steak, chicken, pork, lamb, etc. with gravies or sauces or without. Just don’t reheat in the ziplock bags - they don’t do well in heat! I find vegetables cooked in a dish (like Soups, casseroles,…) freeze well but by themselves they can get mushy. So your taco filling should be fine except I don’t think you can freeze guacamole either. Much like custard, cream, yoghurt I think it may go lumpy or split.

[ShoppGirl 4,752]

14 minutes ago, Arabesque said:

I ziplock everything: Soup, casseroles, home made pies, meatballs, steak, chicken, pork, lamb, etc. with gravies or sauces or without. Just don’t reheat in the ziplock bags - they don’t do well in heat! I find vegetables cooked in a dish (like Soups, casseroles,…) freeze well but by themselves they can get mushy. So your taco filling should be fine except I don’t think you can freeze guacamole either. Much like custard, cream, yoghurt I think it may go lumpy or split.

Thanks for that. How long do things usually keep without preservatives? The meatball recipe said one month For them but I wasn’t sure so I just wrote the current date as opposed to the expiration date. How can you tell if they are not good? Is there a smell or something when it defrosts if it’s no longer good?

[SpartanMaker 767]

17 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

Thanks for that. How long do things usually keep without preservatives? The meatball recipe said one month For them but I wasn’t sure so I just wrote the current date as opposed to the expiration date. How can you tell if they are not good? Is there a smell or something when it defrosts if it’s no longer good?

You don't really have to worry about food safety if the food is frozen at 0°F (-18°C?) or lower. It technically can keep indefinitely. The problem is the quality will degrade over time and this is made worse if there is air in contact with the food.

From my experience, freezer burn is the biggest problem. After a while in the freezer things will start to dehydrate and oxidize if exposed to air. That's why you want to get rid of as much air as possible. You'll know if it's freezer burned when it gets kind of a grey or white surface to any parts exposed to air. This will cause an off flavor that's not particularly pleasant.

This may be happen in a few months, or much, much longer if stored properly. I once tried to grind up a ~5 year old roast that I "rescued" from the bottom of my freezer. I knew it was freezer burned, but I was hoping that if I made chili from if, the strong flavors of the spices would mask the freezer burned taste. It didn't. ☹️ 0/10, wouldn't recommend.

[ShoppGirl 4,752]

13 minutes ago, SpartanMaker said:

You don't really have to worry about food safety if the food is frozen at 0°F (-18°C?) or lower. It technically can keep indefinitely. The problem is the quality will degrade over time and this is made worse if there is air in contact with the food.

From my experience, freezer burn is the biggest problem. After a while in the freezer things will start to dehydrate and oxidize if exposed to air. That's why you want to get rid of as much air as possible. You'll know if it's freezer burned when it gets kind of a grey or white surface to any parts exposed to air. This will cause an off flavor that's not particularly pleasant.

This may be happen in a few months, or much, much longer if stored properly. I once tried to grind up a ~5 year old roast that I "rescued" from the bottom of my freezer. I knew it was freezer burned, but I was hoping that if I made chili from if, the strong flavors of the spices would mask the freezer burned taste. It didn't. ☹️ 0/10, wouldn't recommend.

Thanks 😊

[Arabesque 7,200]

I sometimes date the bag as to when I made it but generally up to 6 or so months. I found some lamb cutlets (raw) in the depths of the freezer that were about two years old (I think from memory). I made Soup with them. Tasted fine, just ensure the food is room temp when you freeze otherwise you’ll get ice build up. This degrades the food most & more quickly I feel. I did a clean out last week and threw out some egg muffins that were a good 16 months old and some mystery meat I’d cooked but didn’t label. As @SpartanMaker said - the mystery meat just looked grey and unappetising.

oh, sometimes double bagging helps with freezer burn. Zip lock the individual portions of a certain food and then bag them together in a larger plastic bag (I sometimes do this and recycle my fruit & vegetable bags).

Edited September 10 by Arabesque