— Joyce Thigpen

Um, well, you know, I was just reminded, uh, a few short minutes ago that perhaps the best category of plant-based food that freezes well would be popsicles. But, um, that's probably not exactly what you're wondering, Joyce. Um, so, uh, regarding other sort of savory preparations that you might see on the dinner table, um, let me, uh, begin by talking about freezing, you know, and, and thawing that cycle, uh, more generally, regardless of, of what the food item is. Um, you know, keep in mind that most things freeze pretty well. And, uh, generally if an item is, um, on one hand higher in moisture content, IE watery like a soup, uh, it will freeze pretty well and come out the other end, meaning after it's thawed, uh, you know, fairly stable, uh, these are water-based products I'm thinking of at this point. And then, uh, at the other, uh, uh, side of that, that, uh, spectrum would be very dry items, um, which can, uh, go through that freeze thaw cycle and come out, um, fairly, uh, nicely, but with, um, a little bit softer texture. Okay? And so, uh, this is where, um, you know, freezing affects texture, generally speaking. Um, so regardless of what the food item is, okay, again, most things freeze pretty well, but do expect some changes. Okay? Um, I'm gonna preface my next, uh, comments or thoughts by saying that when you buy frozen foods at the store, okay, whether it's a hungry man TV, dinner, or whether it's, um, blueberries, um, from the frozen aisle, those things go through a flash freeze cycle where they are frozen in a matter of seconds, in a very, very cold, uh, environment. And, uh, in the case of, uh, fruits and, and vegetables, uh, they are frozen individually. In other words, they're, they're laid out on a, on a conveyor belt that'll run through this freezing equipment. And, and we call that, um, individually quick frozen product or IQF product. Um, now at home, most of us, uh, don't have access to this ultra cold, ultra fast freezing equipment. Um, we've got our, our typical household freezers, which take a little bit longer. And, uh, so what happens is water expands, it disrupts the, uh, uh, the, the cell membranes, and, and, uh, in other words, it, it tears them. Uh, and therefore, when things thaw, the texture gets a little slack, a little bit soft. And so that's the, the most, um, common result of freezing a lot of food items. Okay? Now, with that in mind, you know, understand that, um, once things are thawed, uh, if you are using them in a moist environment like making a soup or a stew or a, a casserole, then all is well, um, you, you're, you're probably gonna notice very little, um, by the time the food hits the table, okay? Uh, but if you, uh, have in mind that you want to saute or otherwise apply a dry heat cooking method, uh, to these items, then you may notice, um, less control over the texture, okay? So, in other words, the texture may be softer, uh, than you had in mind, softer than you desire, and there's really no way to recover, okay? That's just the nature of pushing food through the freeze thaw cycle. Okay? Um, now the, uh, you know, other thing to keep in mind is that there are some items like, uh, um, you know, let's say sauces, uh, that have some thick base to it, uh, whether it's, um, heavy cream, uh, or half and half, or it could be, um, uh, a nut puree. Um, these things can separate, uh, upon thawing, uh, in which case, usually they can be reincorporated enough, um, to, uh, to, to get through the cooking process at hand at that point. Okay? And so, and this is actually gonna be true of, of other sauces as well, like a tomato sauce or, uh, or some of the puree that you might have. Um, it is, um, very possible that, uh, some separation of the water components from the solids may occur. And again, usually reincorporation, you know, either, uh, with a spoon or with a whisk with, uh, bring those two components together, uh, in, in a more stable puree form, uh, to get us through, uh, the cooking process. Okay? And, uh, you know, beyond that, Joyce, it's gonna take some, uh, some practice, uh, on your part to freeze the things that you want to freeze, that you, that you think you might wanna store in the freezer, okay? And just see how it turns out, all right? If it's gonna be to your satisfaction. Um, you know, keep in mind also that when we put things in the freezer that, uh, the best practice is to label and date items. Um, I, I must say that, uh, on occasion, um, I, I will still just, uh, hastily put something in the freezer without a label thinking. Uh, of course, I will recognize this, you know, two or three months from now. Um, and I don't, and, uh, so things get, um, kind of looked over or maybe, um, covered up by other things. And as time passes, I'm just sometimes guessing, uh, what these things are as I finally pull it outta the freezer into the fridge to thaw over the, over the next day, or two or three whatever's necessary, uh, and then, um, try to figure out what it is and decide, uh, what to make at that point. But anyway, um, best practice label and date your food items. And, uh, anything in the freezer, uh, will certainly extend the shelf life. But understand that quality deterioration also begins pretty quickly. So, uh, you know, things have a shelf life in the freezer, and, uh, it's not that the item is gonna spoil per se, uh, in the freezer, but the, uh, the eating quality will decline. And, uh, so, you know, for example, uh, at the extreme, you know, we'll experience freezer burn, which is, uh, a drying of the surface. Uh, fundamentally, um, one of the things that happens in a freezer and the refrigerator as well, uh, is that moisture is extracted. And, uh, so things will tend to dry on the surface. So whether it's, uh, a vegetable, uh, item or a meat, um, you can get what's, what we call freezer burn, which is drying, and and there's no reversing that effect. Uh, you can, uh, trim it off, or you can just, uh, cut it smaller and, and put it in a stew and, and hope, uh, you don't notice it too much. But, um, uh, try to, in other words, try to use your frozen products, um, you know, within, say, three or four months, um, will they last longer? Sure, they will, but the quality will be declining along the way, okay? And so, set your own standard and then go forth with your freezer program. Thank you.