Freezing Food Safely – Here's What to Keep in Mind

Why Freeze? (A Case for Frozen Foods)

Okay, let’s start at the beginning… By freezing food, you can keep it longer than the expiration date on the packaging specifies, whether it’s a “best before” or “use by” date. So if you realize you won’t be able to use up a certain product before the expiration date, freezing it is an excellent way to minimize your food waste. Plus, it’s just super convenient to make an extra serving of some of your favorite dishes and freeze them. That way, when life gets too busy to cook from scratch, you’ll always have a heartwarming and healthy meal on hand. I also always keep a small selection of frozen vegetables on hand. They always come in handy when you “don’t have anything in the house to cook,” such as when you return from vacation , for example, or when you’ve put off grocery shopping for a little too long. With a few vegetables in the freezer, you have a fresh pantry that you can gratefully turn to when chaos takes over your meal planning. 

8 Rules of Thumb for Storage Life

There are some things you can freeze and others you can't. Freezing anything extends its shelf life for a certain amount of time. How long you can keep something depends on the product.

For each product group, this is the guideline for how long to store the item in the freezer:

• Vegetables: 1 year *
• Fruit: 1 year
• Meat: usually 6 months
• This depends heavily on the type of meat, so it's best to look it up yourself for the specific meat you want to freeze—for example, cooked meat: 3 months 
• Lean fish (e.g., cod): 6 months 
• Fatty fish (e.g., salmon): 3 months
• Bread: 1 month
• Legumes (e.g., chickpeas, beans): 3 months
• Homemade meals/leftovers: 3 months**

What should you NEVER freeze?

Nothing is impossible to freeze, but some foods are no longer safe to eat after thawing. By saving yourself the trouble of freezing them, you’ll free up space in your freezer for items that will freeze well and avoid the risk of food poisoning. So the list below is definitely worth reviewing very carefully. 

Dangerous if frozen:

• Food that you've already thawed  

Not recommended (due to loss of texture):

• Fruits and vegetables that contain a lot of water(such as cucumbers and tomatoes)
• Dairy products (start to curdle)
• You can freeze hard cheeses; grated cheese works too
• Rawpotatoes(contain too much water)
• Friedfoods (no longer stay crispy)
• Emulsions such assalad dressings or mayonnaise (separate)
• Hard-boiledeggs(the egg yolk will expand)
• You can freeze raw eggs (beaten or with the egg whites and yolks separated)

Freezing Food the Right Way

The way you freeze products is crucial to ensuring their safety and quality. 

* You should blanch vegetables first. This involves placing them in boiling water for a few seconds to a few minutes (depending on the type) and then immediately cooling them in ice water. Blanching deactivates the enzymes responsible for changes in the vegetables’ flavor, color, and texture. This helps the vegetables stay fresh longer and prevents any loss of flavor or color.

**For homemade meals that you want to freeze in portions for later, it’s especially important to let them cool completely—and as quickly as possible . Placing your pot in a bowl of cold water or on a rack so air can circulate underneath are ways to speed up the cooling process. Dividing your dish into smaller portions right away will also help it cool faster. The temperature must be lowered as quickly as possible to minimize bacterial growth. Bacteria multiply most rapidly between 60 and 65°C and 7°C. Most bacteria die at temperatures above 60 to 65°C. Below 7°C, they become inactive and therefore do not multiply. Ideally, the temperature inside the food (also known as the core temperature) should drop below 10°C within 2 hours; otherwise, too many bacteria will develop. 

Organizing Your Freezer

Always label your freezer containers and bags with the date you froze the food, what’s inside, and the latest date by which you should eat it. That way, when you open your freezer, you’ll immediately see what you still have and what needs to be eaten first. 

It can also be helpful to designate each drawer in your freezer for a specific category of food. For example, you can put all your leftover meals in one drawer, the frozen fruits and vegetables in the drawer below that, and all your meal prep items (such as next week’s tomato sauce) in the bottom drawer. 

Maintaining Your Freezer

The ideal freezer environment is a constant temperature of -18°C. 

Moisture enters your freezer when you open the door (yes, there are water molecules in the air) and through the food you place inside (condensation). Since the ambient temperature is well below the freezing point of water (0°C), ice forms. This causes the drawers to become stiff and also leads to higher energy consumption. This is because the ice acts as an insulator, forcing the freezer to work harder to release heat and, consequently, consume more energy. A 2-mm layer of ice can increase energy consumption by as much as 10%.^{(1) That’s why} it’s recommended to defrost your freezer once or twice a year. 

Here's how to defrost your freezer:

1. To do this, first empty your freezer. If necessary, you can use cooler bags to temporarily store your food. 
2. To defrost the appliance, turn it off. This will cause the temperature to rise on its own. A bowl of warm water can speed up this process. 
3. You can catch the water using the freezer's drip tray or a bowl that you place under the drain. The drain is a small tube at the bottom of the freezer. Placing a towel inside the freezer can certainly be helpful as well. 
4. Once it's thawed, this is also the perfect time to give your freezer a good cleaning. Warm water mixed with baking soda is a good cleaning solution because it has disinfecting properties. 
5. Of course, it's important to dry your freezer thoroughly afterward so it can start fresh again. 

With a model that features no-frost technology, there’s no need to defrost it. We’ve had our freezer for about a year and a half, and so far we’ve never seen any ice on the freezer walls. That has its advantages 😉 

Sources:

(1) Why does a freezer with a thick layer of ice use more energy? (n.d.). Expert.nl. https://www.expert.nl/advies/waarom-vriezer-ontdooien#

Dutch Nutrition Center. (n.d.). How long does food last in the freezer? https://www.voedingscentrum.nl/nl/service/vraag-en-antwoord/koken-en-bewaren/hoelang-is-eten-houdbaar-in-de-diepvries.aspx

Marijn. (March 15, 2024). How do you defrost a freezer? Coolblue. https://www.coolblue.be/nl/advies/hoe-ontdooi-je-je-diepvriezer.html