The Best Methods for Freezing Foods

Audra Lowe: If you're constantly searching for some time saving but tasty secrets behind cooking and freezing your food, today we’ve got to get some answers. That’s because Dana Jacobi is here. She’s the author of Cook and Freeze 150 Delicious Dishes to Serve Now and Later. She’s got some great tips on freezing and defrosting food so that they’ll come out tasty and look this is good when you put them in there, right Dana. That’s the tough part.

Dana Jacobi: That is the tough part.

Audra Lowe: Yeah.

Dana Jacobi: Because you put something in and when it comes out, it either has that funny taste people describe --

Audra Lowe: Or its consistency --

Dana Jacobi: Or it’s got ice cold freezer burn.

Audra Lowe: Now, what I've always heard is that when you have food, especially when it’s hot, that you’re supposed to take it in straight to the freezer. Is that true or false?

Dana Jacobi: No, that’s actually the worst thing you can do because --

Audra Lowe: Well, that’s great.

Dana Jacobi: You get ice crystals and you don’t want that.

Audra Lowe: So, what are we supposed to do?

Dana Jacobi: Well, cool it to room temperature and then refrigerate it then move it in to the freezer.

Audra Lowe: That’s the whole process that it goes through.

Dana Jacobi: Right, it’s a three-step process.

Audra Lowe: And, when you're defrosting, is it the same situation?

Dana Jacobi: Exactly the opposite for the most part. Most things you want to put in the refrigerator until they’re defrosted and then like a casserole, it would be good to let it sit on the counter while you’re oven preheats.

Audra Lowe: Okay.

Dana Jacobi: You don’t want to leave it for germs. You don’t want let it out too long.

Audra Lowe: Is the whole process of you’re like shocking the food and it’s going to have a different consistency, too?

Dana Jacobi: Exactly, if you want -- if it happens gradually, the ice -- the water evaporates instead of giving you those ice crystals that make it watery.

Audra Lowe: Okay.

Dana Jacobi: Now, there’s one exception.

Audra Lowe: Yes.

Dana Jacobi: I'm going to show this here and this for baked goods, those you defrost on the counter, not in the refrigerator, just put them out.

Audra Lowe: Straight out.

Dana Jacobi: Right.

Audra Lowe: Got it. Now, as far as the air is concerned you say that’s the enemy when you’re wrapping things up.

Dana Jacobi: Right, you don’t want to see little things so they are tight as possible. So, what I'm using here is plastic freezer wrap. And freezer wrap is air tight while the plastic wrap is not.

Audra Lowe: There’s a difference between those two, right.

Dana Jacobi: Exactly, if you feel this is a little heavier in weight but more importantly, it’s impermeable.

Audra Lowe: Okay.

Dana Jacobi: And, it clings. Regular freezer wrap loses it cling in the freezer.

Audra Lowe: Okay.

Dana Jacobi: So, you see I've wrapped it three ways. Now, I'm going to do it over and under in plastic. And now, this is the other part. This looks big for a cupcake but you want to be able to fold it down a couple of times.

Audra Lowe: That’s for each one you should do this, right.

Dana Jacobi: Right, for each cup cake, you do this.

Audra Lowe: All right, Dana very quickly before we go, let's -- what if you’ve got soup.

Dana Jacobi: Right.

Audra Lowe: And you want to freeze this so you got a demonstration, right.

Dana Jacobi: This is -- and I like this better than a container, just the Ziploc but freezer weight bag, fold it over so this stays clean. This is a half-gallon milk coil that I cut off.

Audra Lowe: And this is -- well, the shape.

Dana Jacobi: It’s just a prop.

Audra Lowe: Okay, and I’ll hold down that for you.

Dana Jacobi: This is two cups of soup which is a nice amount so you have that goes in nice and clean. Now, this is the important part. And, this is a little baking sheet wax paper because things stick and I'm sealing it and you heard click.

Audra Lowe: Yes, I did.

Dana Jacobi: Leaving one inch here and now you out this down and for any of your viewers who have been to a Tupperware party, they call this burping the bags.

Audra Lowe: Get all the air out.

Dana Jacobi: Right, you want to get out, see how that you're going to dry that one little air bubble and then seal the last part and freeze now. You could stack two or three of this up.

Audra Lowe: Right, right

Dana Jacobi: And, put them in the freezer and then when they’re frozen solid, they’re like little books. You can even line them up in the freezer. I've got 30 packages of soup in my little apartment freezer.

Audra Lowe: I'm putting over at to your house after it. Well, that’s it. We’re eating. Thank you very much Dana.

Dana Jacobi: Thank you.

Audra Lowe: If you want to get other tips for serving those tasty leftovers, you can pick up her book. It’s called Cook and Freeze 150 Delicious Dishes to Serve Now and Later.