In Use
Tips for keeping food perfect in the Freezer
Shut the door!
To prevent cold air escaping, try to limit the number of times you open the lid. When returning
from shopping, sort foods to be kept in your Freezer while the lid is closed and only open it to
put food in or take food out.
Freezing fresh foods
Useful tips
Use quality food and handle it as little as possible. Freeze food in small quantities, it freezes
faster, takes less time to thaw and enables you to eat it in the quantity you need.
What not to freeze
Fruit, Fresh Vegetables, Bottled Liquids, and Carbonated Liquids. Bottles and cans must not be
stored in the freezer, as they can burst when the contents freeze.
DO NOT STORE INFLAMMABLE GASES OR LIQUIDS.
Preparations for freezing
• Leave cooked food to cool completely.
• Chill food in a Fridge before freezing if possible.
• Consider how you will want to cook the food before freezing it.
• Don’t freeze food in metal containers if you may want to microwave it straight from the
Freezer.
• Use special freezer bags available from supermarkets, freezer film, polythene bags, plastic
containers, aluminium foil (heavy grade only, if in doubt, double wrap). Don’t use aluminium
foil for acidic foods (such as citrus fruits). Don’t use thin cling film or glass. Don’t use used
food containers (unless cleaned thoroughly first).
• Exclude as much air from the container as possible. You could buy a
special vacuum pump which sucks excessive air out of the packaging.
• Leave a small amount of ‘air space’ when freezing liquids, to allow for
expansion.
• You can use the space in the freezer most efficiently if you freeze liquids
(or solids with liquids, such as stew) in square blocks. This is known
as ‘preforming’. Pour the liquid into a polythene bag which is inside
a square sided container. Freeze it like this, then remove it from the
container and seal the bag.
Label everything
• Many foods look the same when frozen, so careful labelling will help avoid forgetting what
an item is. Storage times being exceeded could cause food poisoning.
• You can buy special freezer tape for use in low temperatures. This tape is available in white,
why not use it to write the items contents on. You can buy special freezer labels and pens.
Labels come in different colours which can help you use your Freezer effectively. For instance
you could colour code meat red and vegetables green. Using a different colour label for each
quarter of the year will help you rotate your frozen food more efficiently.
To Next Page
Loading...
