Freezing certain foods is a great way of
extending their life. However, not all the food products in your home
are freezer-friendly. In fact, freezing some foods will lead to
counterproductive results and may result in a drastic change in their
taste and texture. Sometimes, the result of freezing some food items is
not just messy, it can also be dangerous if they are consumed.
Generally, foods with higher water content
shouldn’t be kept in the freezer. Many other food products too don’t
turn out well inside that freezing chamber. Take note of this list of
foods that should be kept far away from the freezer.
1. Eggs
A perfectly good hard-boiled egg can be
ruined if you put it in a freezer. The freezing temperature inside could
expand and crack the shells of the whole eggs and thus allow bacteria
to make their way in. Even if the shells somehow remain safe, the yolk
will almost certainly become mushy and won’t mix well with the egg
whites. Furthermore, the whites too tend to become rubbery when inside a
freezer. Icings or sauces made with eggs should also be kept out of the
freezer if you want them to maintain their texture.
You can, of course, store your eggs in the
refrigerator to ensure that they keep a consistent and cool temperature.
However, eggs should not be kept in the refrigerator door.
2. Dairy Products
Almost all dairy products should be kept
away from the freezer. Milk, cream cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream,
and many other dairy products will suffer a texture change if put there.
These products are likely to become crumbly if they were hard or become
crystallized if they were soft. Generally, sour cream separates and
becomes watery inside a freezer while milk, yogurt, cream, and the likes
might thicken and also give off a foul smell.
3. Fried Foods
You had a whole plate of chicken cutlets
left from dinner and your refrigerator is completely crammed. Well, why
not just put them in the freezer, right? You can always microwave them
the next morning. That would be a mistake, though. Fried foods taste
delicious when they are fresh and crispy. Putting them inside a freezer
will take away their crispiness. This happens because thawing makes
previously crunchy foods soggy and watery and really difficult to
reheat.
Homemade French fries, however, are an
exception. You can cook and freeze them and then recook them without
thawing them first. However, how well they freeze is going to depend on
how long they were left out at room temperature. Ideally, freezing your
French fries within 2 hours of being cooked should work well.
4. Soft Herbs
Foods
A leafy green herb can become a blackish-brown ball of mush if kept in
the freezer for too long. The texture of soft herbs like basil,
cilantro, parsley, mint, and tarragon, is bound to transform with such a
dramatic temperature change like this. These fresh herbs become soggy
and limp inside a freezer and won’t be useful as a garnish.
However, if you have absolutely no option other than the freezer to keep
your soft herbs temporarily, there is a way that does work. Just chop
the herbs, cover them with oil, and freeze them in an ice cube tray.
That should keep them safe for a while.
5. Some water-rich fruits and vegetables
Fruits and vegetables with high water content should be a strict no-no
for the freezer. You are almost certain to end up making them into a
limp and mucky mess. That's because when the ice inside them melts upon
defrosting, these fruits and vegetables become quite unsavory. Their
taste and smell are also likely to become worse after thawing and
freezing will also bring down their nutritional value.
Fruits and veggies such as cucumbers, cabbage, lettuce, watermelon,
potatoes, grapes, and apples, have high water content and should be kept
far away from the freezer.
6. Raw Potatoes
Potatoes don’t hold up well in the freezer.
Freezing potatoes separate the starch and the potatoes' water, leading
them to become watery, squashy, and inedible. Also, thawed raw potatoes
tend to become discolored and, in some cases, even turn black.
If you have a bunch of potatoes you have to store for a long time, then
the first thing you should do is partially cook them as they will
require less oven time later. Freeze them in airtight bags for quicker
freezing and defrosting. However, we must repeat here that raw potatoes
don't freeze well and can even turn grainy once thawed.
7. Seasonings
Spices and seasonings like garlic, pepper,
and imitation vanilla will not fare well in the freezer. Unlike what
many believe, freezing does not extend the shelf life of spices and
instead causes their taste and flavor to change. Also, storing small
amounts of spices in the freezer will trap humidity once it’s opened. In
fact, leading food experts say that spices like curry develop a musty
off-flavor when frozen. Now, that doesn’t sound appetizing at all, does
it?
8. Cooked Pasta
While fresh pasta can be kept in the
freezer before cooking, freezing fully cooked pasta will lead them to
become mushy and limp. They are more likely to resemble a sloppy bowl of
noodles with an odd warmed-over taste.
That being said, with pasta that has been cooked up to al dente, meaning
when it's still firm when bitten, you will get better results with
freezing. Since the texture is still hard, it will hold up well inside
the freezer. Cooked pasta that is already soft will almost certainly
disintegrate the moment you reheat it after freezing.
9. Carbonated Drinks
Cooling a carbonated can in the freezer
might sound like a cool experiment but it would be a big mistake. When
you leave a bottle of soda in the freezer for a long time, it can
explode and leave a sticky mess inside. The thing is, that when the
water in the soda freezes, it attempts to push the carbon dioxide out.
Carbonated water expands at the rate of about nine percent when it
freezes. However, sealed, pressurized containers do not allow for their
expansion and hence they explode. Thus, it is better if you keep those
drinks in your refrigerator instead.
10. Jelly
Freezing a jar of jelly won’t help you
extend its life at all. The jelly’s texture will not be the same once
it’s been frozen and its consistency is likely to be softer and more
watery than before. The National Center for Home Food Preservation at
the University of Georgia explains that jelly may become so watery on
being frozen that it "may soak bread" when it's defrosted. Now, that
won’t really be useful, would it?