6 Tips for Safely Freezing Your Homemade Foods
Freeze Your Homemade Foods
I enjoy lining up freezer-safe containers on my kitchen countertops, filling them with my homemade foods, labeling them, and arranging them on freezer shelves. There’s huge satisfaction in this simple act because later, when I open the freezer door, I see the fruits of my labor and know I will have delicious, healthy food any time I want. Here are some tips from my kitchen to yours for safely freezing homemade foods.
1 - Have Freezing Supplies at Hand
Have a supply of freezer-safe containers, plastic bags, aluminum foil, and plastic wrap on hand as well as permanent markers and Scotch tape. Keep these supplies conveniently located so that you don’t have to go hunting for them.
2 - Freeze Foods Soon after They've Been Cooked
Freeze cooked foods after they’ve cooled down a bit either on the countertop or in the refrigerator. The same day is best, the next day is next-best. Don’t wait three or four days after cooking to move foods to the freezer. If you do, much of the flavor and nutrition will be lost.
3 - Choose the Right Containers for the Right Foods
Any food which is liquid or partially liquid, such as a soup or stew, or is soft and can be mashed down into a container, such as mashed potatoes or mashed rutabaga, can be stored safely in rigid freezer containers.
But if you are freezing solid foods such as blanched vegetables, you are best off using a plastic bag.
Breads and cakes do best with a tight wrap of aluminum foil which you then place in a sealable plastic bag.
Selecting the right container or wrap will assure the longest freezer life possible for your homemade foods.
Vacuum Food Sealers To Protect Your Frozen Homemade Foods
 | Amazon Price: $9.97 List Price: $19.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $64.99 List Price: $99.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $48.53 List Price: $59.99 |
 | Amazon Price: Too low to display List Price: $99.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $39.98 List Price: $99.99 |
4 - Remove Air from the Freezer-safe Packages
Trapped air is the death of frozen foods. It is the primary cause of freezer burn.
For plastic bags, either suck the air out with your mouth or invest in a vacuum food sealing machine that does that for you.
For rigid containers, fill them to a point where, when you press down on the lid, there’s little space between the food and the lid. This is an art. Food expands as it freezes, so the freezing food may pop the lid or not. Experience will guide you here. If in doubt, under-fill a rigid container and then press plastic wrap onto the surface of the food, expelling air as you go. Seal with the cover and freeze.
5 - Label the Containers
Be sure to label your frozen homemade foods with the contents and the date you put them in the freezer.
I think we’ve all rummaged through mystery packages in our freezers, wondering what was inside them and when they were frozen because they weren’t labeled.
Use a permanent marker to label the packages with the date and contents. Write directly on plastic bags, but for freezer-safe containers, which you will probably want to use again, stick a length of Scotch tape to the top or side of the container and enter the date and contents on the tape. When it’s time to empty the container for a meal, the tape will come off easily and you can use the container again without there being writing you can’t remove.
6 - Inventory Your Homemade Frozen Foods
Once a week or so, take an inventory of what’s in your freezer. Look at the package labels for contents and date frozen, and make a plan to use the oldest foods first. All frozen foods have a point-of-no-return, where they just aren’t good anymore. You can follow these general guidelines for the life span of frozen foods, courtesy of Ohio State University.
Rigid Freezer Containers for Sale Online
 | Amazon Price: $14.44 List Price: $19.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $4.38 List Price: $3.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $2.98 List Price: $6.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $19.97 List Price: $23.99 |
Homemade Foods from Sally’s Kitchen that Freeze Well
When you’re in the mood for trying something new, take a look at these recipes. All are made to serve 6 to 10 people.
If you have a small family or are cooking only for yourself, make the entire recipe anyway, eat what you want on the spot, and then freeze the rest for convenient, quick meals.
Comments
Thanks, Patricia Rae, for reading and commenting. When we make good food, we need to preserve it safely so that we can enjoy it later.
Great advice! I'm usually pretty good about labelling my frozen foods, but I still find mystery foods in the freezer from time to time. I'm very jealous of the level of organization of the freezer pictured - I'm sure I'll never achieve that but at least it gives me something to strive for!
Lol. I love doing this too. I like knowing that there's a healthy, balanced meal in the freezer, already prepared.
ST, if my freezer looked anything like the one in the picture I would be one happy cat! :D
You got it, jtrader! Thanks for reading and commenting.
Isn't that freezer gorgeously packed, FP? Something that raises the bar for me. One day I'll have to write the story of the 10-year old frozen spring chicken. You'll like the story, it's got a cat in it. :)
I like to refrigerate my food as I have leftovers - I could follow this procedure though with what I need to refrigerate.
CollB, I love to cook for a crowd, even though I live alone. It's an old habit not worth breaking, because I freeze what I don't eat and always have something good and tasty to whip out of the freezer for a quick meal. Homemade cooked food is always good in the refrigerator for up to three days, but if I know I can't get through that amount of food in three days, into the freezer the leftovers go. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
chirls, I totally understand. I do keep up with the freezer and follow my own advice, mostly, but every now and again a visitor intervenes and kindly places something in there to be kept, then something gets knocked to the back or the bottom, or I'm in a hurry and just throw something in there without a label, and Voila!, a mystery package eventually appears. Thanks so much for your comment! I think we are all freezer-challenged, at least to some degree.
Yes I agree with you. I cook my own soup, burgers, meat dishes and freeze them all. It is healthy and so much handier to take out of the freezer when needed
viking, amen to that!
This makes so much sense. Unfortunately, I am not one to freeze much of anything, mostly because whatever I've made gets eaten within 2-3 days lol. Of course, I do not live alone, so I have lots of help with that. This is, of course, good to remember when a very large meal is made. I could take a few portions and freeze it before anyone can eat it all in one or two sittings :) Then, when someone says, there's nothing to eat, voila! well, open the freezer! One question, does a scotch tape label lend itself to readability? I'm thinking marker doesn't write well on it.
Sally, get tips. Yhey all make sense. It's great to be able to eat homemade food without having to cook all the time. It would be wonderful to be able to open your freezer and pull out a delicious homemade meal after a long day at work.
Trish, a permanent marker like a Sharpee writes well on anything.
I like your strategy for removing some of the food to the freezer before it's served!
KKG, something I do often is freeze an entire single-portion dinner in one container, for example, roasted chicken, mashed rutabaga, and broccoli. To help prevent freezer burn, I cover the surface of the food with plastic wrap, as close to the food surface as I can get it, and then seal with a lid. Pop one of those babies into the microwave one cold winter's night! Thanks for the good words!
Thank you Sally's Trove for the tips. I will be checking out the recipe hubs too. Especially,the beef stew, sounds delicious.
Great hub!
We have a vacuum sealer, and it will even re-seal commercial plastic fozen food bags, so if you don't use up all the veggies or fries, they won't be escaping!
I'd like to add this tip: if you don't have a vacuum sealer, instead of trying to just use your mouth to vacuum seal plastic bags, it's much easier (and more sanitary) to insert a drinking straw into one corner of the bag, but not touching the contents. Press the zipper seal shut to where it is tight against the straw, and suck the air out. In one motion as you pull out the straw (while maintaining suction), slide the zip closure the rest of the way shut. Presto! Vacuum-sealed bag on the cheap!
A well comprehensive, information hub.
@trish1048--
I've actually found that scotch tape does not stay stuck well in the freezer. I either write directly on the bags, or use freezer tape. It resembles masking tape, but is designed for use in the freezer, and can (usually!) be found in the same aisle with all the food storage supplies.
One more tip: write on the bags BEFORE you fill them. If you're bagging cold items, they will almost immediately start to form condensation on the outside, and no marker will write on a wet surface.
MsLizzy, thanks for that tip about the straw and the ziplock bag. One of the reasons I don't use ziplock bags for freezing foods is that it's hard to get the air out. I'll definitely try this. Straws are on my grocery list.
H,h, thanks for your good words!
Jennifer, glad you find these freezer tips useful.
Good hub. I learned a few things about freezing foods. I especially liked the tip from dzymslizzy about using a straw to take out the air.. Thanks.
I like that straw tip, too, d.william. Glad you found this Hub useful!
thanks for the tips
Great tips! I just took out of the freezer a container of what I thought was chili and bought some chips and sour cream. I opened up the container--it was spaghetti sauce.
SUSIE, you are so welcome!
Deni, your comment cracked me up. You have lots of company. I've been there many times, too. So how did those chips, sour cream, and spaghetti sauce taste? :)
Thanks for the tips! I particularly appreciated tip #4. Never really thought about the type of container as a factor to consider!! Thank you for another useful hub!!
Glad you find these tips useful, gypsumgirl. Tip 4 I learned from an enormously talented friend when I spent time on her dairy farm helping her can and freeze. She had a large family to feed, and nothing went to waste. We spent many afternoons sucking air out of plastic freezer bags (not the zip & lock kind), laughing ourselves silly. If you haven't already, take a look at DzyMsLizzy's first comment above for how to take air out of a zip & lock bag with a straw. Thanks so much for reading and commenting.
Sally these are excellent tips that I will most certainly put to use.
Fay, thank you so much for reading and commenting.
I love this - it's great to be prepared ahead of time. I freeze a lot of food and assemble the meal later. Thanks!
Bethany, good for you! It makes a day so much easier if you can just take something from the freezer for dinner.
Thank you so much for these great tips on freezing Sally. This hub is a great help.
Carrie, thanks for the good words. I'm glad you found these tips helpful.
Thanks for this well thought out hub. Your tips are so practical. Rated up and useful.
You are welcome, tki. Thanks so much for the up and useful ratings!
A most interesting and informative hub. I do most of what you mention here, however, such as labeling, well, I never have stuck to that, but I know I need to. I like the caption under the photo in regards to "mystery packages"..as I am pretty familiar with them, lol! A very well stocked and organized freezer you have full of frozen foods that you will certainly enjoy! Voted up!
Dale, I know exactly what you mean. I don't always label things as I should, and every now and again I look at a mystery package. It doesn't happen too often.
These days, I've got visuals in my mind, like the blue-topped containers hold the dog juice, or the red-topped containers hold soup for humans. We adjust. TY for the thoughtful comment. :)
I'm glad this popped up, since I missed it the first time around. Thanks for the great tips. I really don't use my freezer to full advantage, but I'm going to try to do better. (Note to self: buy straws.)
LOL Rochelle...I'll just continue to suck the air out mouth to bag. But I do like the idea of straws. Whatever works! TY for one of your always awesome comments. :)
Patricia Rae 16 months ago
These are some very good tips. Food safety nowadays is so important. Thanks Sally's Trove for some great tips.