What is freezer burn and is your food still safe to eat?. We’ve all had that dried out chicken breast or frosty, icicle covered whatever pulled from the freezer but is your food still safe to eat?
The good news is yes! There are some ways to avoid it.
What I do to save food in my freezer
What I do is:
- All of my bread products go straight into the freezer from the day I purchase them and they are as fresh as the day I bought them.
- Any bulk vegetables I buy are popped into the freezer, eg broccoli.
- Unused herbs are put into ice cube trays to be popped into a dish as is.
- Any dairy products nearing their expiry date are frozen in usable quantities ready to pop into a cake if it’s yoghurt or frozen grated cheese put straight into the dish while I’m cooking it.
- I cook double rice or pasta and freeze the second portion for another night’s meal.
I want to share how to keep your food in better condition in the freezer for longer.
What is freezer burn?
I see a lot of people complaining because don’t want to put their bread in the freezer, for example, because it ‘tastes funny’ or if something has been in the freezer for a while, it gets freezer burn and it might lose it’s taste or look a bit ‘funny’.
Freezer burn happens when frozen food loses moisture and oxygen takes it’s place. This results in drier, tougher, and often discoloured food.
There’s nothing wrong actually wrong with the food but it might just be drier, have dry patches on it or has lost a bit of it’s flavour. It’s still definitely okay to eat.
Be sure to always check the temperature inside your fridge and freezer so it is running optimally to avoid your food spoiling.
The best ways to avoid freezer burn
To avoid freezer burn, here are a few tips:
- Consider other ways to preserve food, eg pickling vegetables, canning, or drying, eg fruits like peaches, apricots etc.
- Package food properly to reduce oxygen exposure. Wrap meat, chicken, or seafood in freezer paper or plastic wrap, then in foil, and then in a freezer bag. Take out as much of the air between the product and the wrapping.
- Remove as much air as possible from the packaging of frozen fruits and vegetables, and use small containers to minimize any empty space when freezing leftovers. You can also place freezer paper or plastic wrap over the top of ice cream before putting the lid back on.
- By keeping the temperature in your freezer constant, that is try and keep it closed as much as possible, will help reduce ice crystals forming when foods start to thaw. Try to only open it when necessary. (Hard to do with kids I know!)
- The best way to avoid freezer burn is to use your frozen food faster. Only buy what you expect to use within the next 2 to 4 months, and when packaging food for the freezer, mark it with the date so that you can use the oldest products first.
- Remove meat from supermarket packaging and repackage to remove as much air from between the food and the packaging.
- Keep your freezer organised to be able to see foods clearly and what needs using up. I highly recommend only buying what you need to make the meals your family enjoys eating and not stockpiling.
Conclusion
So prevention is definitely better than cure as far as freezer burn goes. It’s perfectly safe to eat food that has freezer burn and it might just ‘look’ a bit different compared to before it went into the freezer.
My best advice is to store it correctly before you freeze it. If you’re not sure if a food can be frozen, check out which foods can last longer when frozen.
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