Living like an Ant in a Grasshopper world

Frugal Food: How Long Will Food Keep in the Freezer?

July 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

This is post #3 in the Frugal Food: Freezer series. Be sure to check out post #1 “Frugal Food: Foods You Can’t Freeze” and post #2 “Frugal Foods: How to Package Food for the Freezer“.

Frozen vegetables

While storing food longer than the times listed in the guide below won’t affect food safety it will affect taste, nutrients and texture of the foods so it’s recommended that you label all foods in your freezer with the name of the item and the date it was placed into the freezer.

I personally prefer and upright style freezer as it’s easier to organize and find things and there’s less chance that items will get buried at the bottom of the freezer never to been seen for years. Remember, it’s not frugal to freeze food if you leave it in there so long that’s inedible!

Fruits and Vegetables 1 year
Butter, salted 1 year
Butter, unsalted 3 months
Cheese 3months
Milk up to 6 weeks
Margarine 6 months
Egg, whites 3 months
Egg, yolks mixed with 1/2tsp salt per yolk 3 months
Fish, uncooked 2 months
Shellfish 2 to 4 months
Beef, uncooked, roast 6 to 12 months
Beef, uncooked, steak 6 to 12 months
Beef, uncooked, ground 3 months
Lamb, uncooked 6 to 9 months
Pork, uncooked, roast or chops 3 to 6 months
Poultry, uncooked, pieces 6 months
Poultry, uncooked, whole 1 year
Beans, Lentils or Rice, cooked 3 to 6 months
Casseroles 3 months
Cooked meats 2 months
Soups and Stews 4 months
Breads, yeast, baked or unbaked 8 months
Cakes, Cookies, Sweet Breads, Muffins 4 months
Pastry Crust, unbaked 2 months
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Frugal Food: How to Package Food for the Freezer

July 16, 2009 By 1 Comment

This is post #2 in the Frugal Food: Freezer series. Be sure to check out post #1 “Frugal Food: Foods You Can’t Freeze“.

Plastic freezer containers
Wrapping and packaging foods for the freezer can seem intimidating at the beginning. Should you use butcher paper? Zippered freezer bags, or plastic storage containers? Which packaging should I use for which foods? How much food can I freeze at once?

First a few quick freezing tips:

  • Make sure the freezer is set at 0F or -18C or lower.
  • If you plan to freeze a lot of food at the same time turn the thermometre of the freezer to it’s coldest setting for the day before.
  • Don’t try to freeze to much at once. Try to freeze no more than 3lbs (1.5kg) of food per cubic-foot capacity of your freezer within a 24 hour period.
  • Freeze in usable quantities. If you have a household of 2 people it doesn’t make sense to freeze a container with enough to feed 8 people. Think about how you’ll use things before you freeze them and package accordingly.
  • Make sure you use only vaporproof/moistureproof packaging that is designed for use in the freezer. Packaging should be able to withstand freezing and thawing without breaking or cracking. If you choose glass containers make sure they are freezer-proof.
  • Square container take up less space and stack better than round containers.

There are two types of packaging for freezing foods: rigid (best for foods like soups, stews, casseroles, etc.) and flexible (best for firmer foods like fruits, vegetables, meats, etc.). Either type should be vaporproof, leakproof, durable and able to withstand freezing temperatures.

Packaging meat & fish for the freezer: While you can freeze meat and fish in their grocery store wrappings for short term freezing (up to 1 month) meat and fish are best wrapped in butcher paper to freeze. I probably should take a bunch of photos of the process of wrapping meat but I’m not one to reinvent the wheel if I don’t have to LOL. Here’s a great tutorial on wrapping meat for the freezer with nice illustrations.

Next we’ll talk about how long foods can be kept in the freezer before they start losing flavour, nutritional value and texture.

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Frugal Food: Foods You Can't Freeze

July 15, 2009 By 2 Comments

Freezer filled with foodOver the next few weeks Frugal Family Life will be doing a series on using your freezer to store food and save money.

I figured I’d start with a post on what not to freeze. For many years I was pretty much afraid to freeze anything that wasn’t actually bought in the frozen food aisle of the grocery store because I wasn’t sure what was safe to freeze and what wasn’t.

Over the years I’ve learned that there’s really not much you can’t freeze and I can honestly say that my upright freezer is the best investment I’ve ever made. It’s paid for itself several times over in savings over the years enabling me to take advantage of sales, freeze fresh produce (some that I’d grown myself) and allowed me to batch cook meals that could be reheated quickly on busy nights. I’d give up a lot before I’d give up my freezer!

So here’s a list of what you can’t freeze and why.

  • Cooked egg whites – they become rubbery and just unappealing. (Good news though. Uncooked egg whites freeze well!)
  • Mayonnaise – it separates when it thaws.
  • Sour Cream – it separates and becomes watery. (You can still use it if it’s well stirred into a recipe though. It won’t hurt you.)
  • Potatoes – they go dark and can be mushy. (I have seen mashed potato and scalloped potato recipes turn out fine after freezing though. Again – it’s not that it’s unsafe, more that it’s unappetizing.)
  • Crisp fruits and vegetables such as melon, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, etc. – they get really soggy and limp and not appetizing at all.

That’s it. Not all foods freeze and thaw with great results but pretty much anything you can think of can be frozen. Now it’s just a matter of defrosting your freezer, taking out the shrunken ice cubes and the freezer burned fish your Uncle Todd caught on that fishing trip 4 summers ago and start using that freezer to save money and plan great meals!

Next we’ll talk about how to wrap foods to keep them safe from freezer burn and odors.

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