It is a major factor when deciding what to freeze or not to freeze. Luckily, almost everything can be frozen. This is going to be a very short article. A blanket remark of things that don't freeze well are dairy items. That won't be a problem with my recipes because I do not use any dairy.
Items to not freeze:
- Potatoes often become mealy. An exception is mashed potatoes. They freeze beautifully. When I do soups or stews I parboil the potatoes right before dinner and put them in the defrosted recipe when heating for the meal.
- Raw produce with high water content such as cabbage, celery, cucumber, eggplant, endive, fennel, leafy greens, lettuce, parsley, peppers, radishes, ripe tomoatoes, summer squash, turnips, watermelons, zucchini.
- Many herbs and spices change their flavor when frozen. I will tell which herb or spice to add later in each of my recipes.
Now for the dairy:
- You can freeze cheese but it will crumble when you try to slice it. Chopping it up in your food processor would be great.
- Custards tend to seperate when frozen weather alone, in pies or in cakes.
- Meringues.
- No milk or cream.
- Eggs are very specific to when and how you can freeze and then reuse. So I leave those alone.
- No mayonaise, salad dressing or sour cream.
Stuffed Potatoes on the top tile being pre-frozen before placing in containers or freezer bags. A perfect example of a way that potatoes can be frozen.
Click on any of the links below for the nitty griity of freezing:
- How Do You Freeze ...
- Containers for Freezing Food
- To Freeze or Not to Freeze (this is the page you are on)
- Freezer Storage Time
- Preparing Food for the Freezer
- Blanching Vegetables
- Stocking the Freezer
- Food Freezing Tips