Freezing Food For Beginners

Do you want to preserve food, but canning makes you nervous? Then let’s give the freezer a try. I will walk you through freezing food for beginners. We are talking about produce, meat, eggs, and milk. Farm to freezer baby!

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We’re Gonna Need Another Freezer

Shortly after getting married it became apparent that we would need another freezer. The tiny side by side fridge/freezer combo was clearly not enough. Between freezing leftovers, produce from the garden, and our groceries there wasn’t any room left. In fact, I dreaded opening the freezer because things always fell out. We bought the cheapest deep freeze that we could find. It served us well until about a month before moving. It died completely. But on the up side, at least we didn’t have to move it across the state.

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Freezing Produce For Beginners

Freezing fresh produce is one of my favorite ways to quickly preserve a bunch of things. When everything in the garden is ripe at the same time or when I find a good deal on in season produce, I can freeze it all and worry about canning it or cooking with it later.

Freezing Vegetables for Beginners

Vegetables that you cook tend to freeze well. Corn, peas, tomatoes, broccoli, and carrots will all do well. Leafy vegetables like spinach and lettuce won’t freeze well though.

Start by blanching the produce. That simply means to boil it for a couple of minutes.

Then transfer it into some ice water to cool down. This prevents it from cooking all the way.

Next spread it out on a parchment lined pan and let it flash freeze.

Once it is frozen, you can transfer it to a plastic bag for storage.

Freezing Vegetables for Beginners

Fruits are a bit trickers. Some freeze well all by themselves and others need some extra TLC. Using fresh fruit is key. Bruised or mushy produce will not do well in the freezer.

Berries can be washed, dried, then frozen. This works well on blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.

Melons need to be cut up first, but they can also be frozen without any sugar or syrup. Keep in mind that the texture will be different once thawed. Think about the frozen honeydew, cantaloupe, and watermelon sold in bags at the store.

Fruits that turn brown once sliced require more work. Apples, peaches, and pineapple will do best if packed in syrup or treated with ascorbic acid. It will give you the best color and flavor.

Freezing Dairy For Beginners

For some reason, there seems to be hesitation when it comes to freezing dairy. I’m here to tell you that it’s time to put that milk in the freezer!

Milk can be frozen once the cream is removed. Let it thaw out in the fridge before using it. I tend to use frozen milk for baking, but it’s good to drink too.

Cream can be frozen too, although it may separate once thawed. Don’t let that stop you though. Just whisk it back together.

We buy cheese in bulk. I’ll use the food processor to shred it before freezing it. Frozen cheese doesn’t shred well after it thaws though. It tends to crumble. We also freeze sliced cheese. Make sure to put parchment between the slices for easy separation later.

Cream cheese and butter have permanent places in my freezer. They are perfect after thawing. Stock up and thank me later.

When people think of freezing food for beginners, they often don’t think of dairy. But don’t be intimidated and definitely don’t waste that milk!

Freezing Meat For Beginners

Although meat is probably the number one thing on a list of frozen foods for beginners, I’ve got a couple of tips. Of course it can be frozen raw like it comes from the store or butcher, but that’s not always the best.

I suggest cooking some of your meat before freezing it. This step makes mealtimes easier and quicker. Go ahead and cook up ground beef and leave it unseasoned. Then you can add it to soup, tacos, shepherd’s pie, or chili. I like to keep cooked and shredded chicken in the freezer too. Then it’s quite easy to make chicken enchiladas or chicken tortellini soup. Plus having one big kitchen day saves on dishes and cleaning up

Freezing Eggs for Beginners

Preserving eggs in the freezer isn’t my favorite, but it does work. Sometimes the texture is a bit different and more rubbery afterwards.

You can freeze raw eggs in muffin tins. Just scramble the egg and pour it into the tin. This method works great for baking. If you have chickens you’ll know that egg season and baking season don’t align at all.

Cooked eggs are best if scrambled before freezing. This works in stuffing egg muffins, breakfast sandwiches, or even breakfast burritos. I’ve tried fried eggs and hard boiled eggs, but they just don’t come out as well.