This happens often in our house. We take the chicken out of the freezer and only use half. Or we melt some leftovers. Muffins And eat only one or two. We usually just return them to the freezer, but I’m never convinced that’s the best idea.
Refreezing many foods is fine, but their quality and taste can suffer, says Kavya Ratnakumar, Ph.D., senior scientist. Balchem Human Nutrition and Health and Chairperson of Institute of Food Technologists Product Development Division. Whether you can pop the food in and out of the freezer depends on what it is. Here’s a look at foods that freeze well time and time again—and some that don’t.
Bread and baked goods
breadFor example, going in and out of the freezer does well. “Breads and baked goods are low in water, and their airy texture prevents significant damage from ice crystals,” says Ratnakumar. “Repeated freezing tends to dry out these foods a bit but doesn’t compromise safety.” From a scientific point of view, she explains that the gluten in bread helps preserve its quality, while the fat in pastries helps keep them moist.
Soups and sauces
Soups and broths Those with a high water and fat content can be repeatedly frozen and thawed without losing flavor and quality, says Ratnakumar. “As long as they don’t have bases thick with dairy or starch, which can separate,” she says. Although some foods dry out because they lose moisture as they freeze and thaw, liquids don’t have this problem, so their texture and flavor don’t change much.
Fruits and vegetables
The frozen fruits and vegetables you buy at the supermarket are prepared by quick freezing at very low temperatures. Scientifically speaking, this causes tiny ice crystals to form, which protect cell walls.
It’s a little different when you freeze fruits and vegetables in your freezer. “Coagulant at home introduces larger crystals that can rupture the cell structure, but the coagulant remains safe,” says Ratnakumar. When you repeatedly freeze produce, it causes the food to turn brown when thawed as those cells break down. Blanch vegetables before freezing to prevent browning.
Meat and poultry
As long as you thaw the meat properly in the refrigerator — not sitting on the counter or in the sink — it’s fine. frozen This again. But since some of the moisture is lost during the melting process, it may not be at a high quality when you remelt it and then prepare it. It may be dry and a little hard, but it is still safe to eat.
If you thaw some meat and decide not to eat it right away, you can consider cooking it and then freezing it. Ratna Kumar says cooked meat freezes better than raw meat.
Foods You Should Avoid Freezing
Some foods don’t taste good if they are moved in and out of the freezer and refrigerator. Try to avoid thawing and freezing these foods more than once, advises Ratna Kumar:
- Raw Seafood: Refrigerating can change its texture, making it softer.
- eggs: Melting and Reframing It can change the texture of the egg and make it watery.
- More water production: Fruits and vegetables like lettuce and cucumbers will lose water and change texture.
- Casseroles and Creamy Soups: Anything with too much moisture or milk can separate when it is thawed, frozen and re-thawed.
- Dairy-heavy foods: Similarly, foods with cheese or heavy cream can separate and curdle when frozen repeatedly. Food can also develop a runny or watery texture.
Tips for successfully freezing and thawing food
- It may be tempting to speed things up by keeping frozen food on the counter, but always thaw food in the refrigerator. Letting it sit at room temperature can encourage bacteria to grow.
- Freeze food. Partsso you don’t have so much extra that you have to refreeze it. Be sure to use it. Airtight containers—or better yet, vacuum sealing—to prevent freezer burn from exposure to air.
- Blanch the vegetables. Boil them very briefly before freezing them. This helps preserve color, flavor, and texture, and makes them more resilient to freezing, says Ratnakumar.
- When possible, cook frozen foods without thawing them. soup, casserolesand stews, for example, don’t need to be thawed first. Skipping the thawing step helps preserve flavor and texture.