9 foods that should never go in the freezer
Freezing food is the best way to keep good food and drink from spoiling, including raw food beefexcess herbs or wine that you couldn’t finish.
Unfortunately, not all of your groceries are freezer-friendly. Some foods simply cannot withstand these sub-zero temperatures and must be preserved in other ways, such as pickling, vacuum sealing, or simply eaten before they start to turn.
To prevent a mass purge of expensive groceries it would be wise to learn which foods don’t belong there in the first place. Below, we’ve rounded up eight common foods you should never freeze.
1. Milk and cream
Keep dairy products out of the freezer or they will separate and curdle.
Most of them dairy products products cannot be frozen and will become inedible if they are. Milk, cream, yogurt, and sour cream tend to separate when frozen. Once they do, there’s no going back to their previous state, and the thawed result will be grainy, watery, or even choppy. Nut milk, on the other hand, can be frozen more successfully.
Ice cream is a notable exception to the dairy rule, as its high sugar content lowers the freezing point and keeps the product soft and delicious.
2. Potatoes
Potatoes don’t even need to be refrigerated, never mind frozen.
America’s favorite carb turns mushy and grainy when thawed, a physical state that’s not suitable for use in anything from mashed potatoes to French fries. This is because the water is released from the tuber’s starch, resulting in a clog-inducing texture that even scavenging creatures like raccoons can’t stomach. Freezing cooked or partially cooked potatoes (usually parboiled) is fine because much of the water content is extracted during the cooking process. Packaged potato products from the freezer section of your local grocery store are treated with chemicals, preservatives, or other specialized preparation methods to ensure flavor and texture are preserved when frozen.
3. Cheese
There are ways to store all types of cheese that will keep them fresh for longer, but the freezer is not one of them.
In the frozen state, annoying ice crystals form cheesewhich completely changes its flavor and texture profile. This applies mostly to soft and moldy cheeses, although some hard varieties such as cheddar and jack can withstand the constant blast of cold air if they are first grated and placed flat in a plastic storage bag.
Read more: Store cheese properly and you’ll extend its life by days, even weeks. Here’s how
4. Fried foods
Unfortunately, this leftover chicken cannot be frozen for later.
The best part of fried food is, of course, its crispy breading. When placed in the freezer, this dough or crumb absorbs moisture from the appliance and causes the food to become soggy. Also, fried food is full of – you guessed it – oil that doesn’t freeze completely and can go bad before the meat or vegetables it was cooked in. This can lead to off-tasting meals, but also a nasty and potentially dangerous bout of food poisoning.
5. Eggs
Eggs have a fairly long shelf life in the refrigerator, so you shouldn’t freeze them.
If you like your scrambled eggs rubbery, place them in the freezer before cooking. This is due to a process called “gelation“where the yolk’s protein molecules stick together and make the liquid firmer. Egg contents also expand when frozen, causing whole eggs to crack and leak. Avoiding eggs in the freezer means you should also avoid egg-based seasonings. eggs, like mayonnaise, which clumps and does not spread.
6. Fruits and vegetables suitable for salad
Leftover salad ingredients such as avocados, lettuce and cucumbers should never be frozen.
If it is a fruit or a vegetable and it can go into a typical salad, it won’t last in the freezer. This includes all foods with a high water content such as lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and celery. The beloved avocado will also not do well in extremely cold temperatures. As it thaws, it will begin to brown immediately. No one wants to work their way through brown guacamole.
7. Whole citrus
It’s best with excess citrus fruit to juice the fruit and freeze the juice for recipes and cocktails later.
Some firm fruits like berries and mangoes do well in the freezer, but citrus fruits won’t hold their shape as well. Whole citrus fruit will become floury after thawing. If you have an abundance of lemons, limes, or oranges, your best bet is yes juice them and freeze the juice for later.
8. Boiled pasta and rice
Leftover cooked rice and pasta can be safely frozen, but they will lose much of their structure and strength when reheated.
You certainly do can freeze cooked pasta and rice, but that doesn’t mean you must. The water content causes the cells in the noodles and grains to burst, resulting in a pasty residue that can’t be salvaged even with the tastiest sauces.
The pasta will almost certainly come out of the freezer in rough shape. Rice is a little more durable, but consider vacuum sealing it to keep the moisture out before you put it in the freezer for canning.
9. Bottled or canned beverages
We’ve all tried to quickly chill a beer or soda in the freezer before.
Who among us hasn’t tried to cheat the weather by chilling a cool can or bottle of beer in the freezer, only to forget about it and return to find a frozen, bubbling disaster? If you are going to use the freezer to chill canned or bottled beverages, it would be wise to set a timer for 10 minutes so they don’t freeze and explode.
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