Guest Post by Kent Allen
Freezing foods for later use is a time honored tradition in frugal families. You know, you boil up the carcass of the Thanksgiving turkey and make a wonderful broth that you freeze for later use. Or you freeze several packs of chicken that you just bought at the store for next week’s recurring chicken meal. While freezing many foods is standard in many households, not all foods are best frozen. You most likely don’t want to freeze the following foods.
Sour Cream
We use sour cream quite regularly in our house as either a topping for baked potatoes or in dip recipes. If you have tried freezing sour cream then you will know that if you plan on using it as a topping, the freezing and thawing process usually leads to a watery and somewhat separated mixture. It does not work well. If you are using it in something like a dip mix you may better luck since the texture might not be as important, but I don’t feel it even works well for mixtures. I find it best to buy and use sour cream by the expiration date, skip the freezing for later use.
Fruit Jelly
I know some people who freeze jelly for later use. I’ve tried it. My personal preference is to not freeze. Once thawed, fruit jelly gets really watery. You can surely stir and mix it up, but I find that even after stirring well, you end up with a watery jelly that just soaks the bread. I also find that every time you plan to use the thawed jelly again it seems to retain this watery texture. I don’t freeze jelly, period.
Fried Foods
Have you ever tried to freeze fried chicken for later? Yuck! I’ve found that the only fried food that has any chance of tasting crispy when thawed and cooked is french fries. And I don’t even think french fries do that well. Part of the allure of fried foods to many people is the crispiness. Fried foods that are thawed and re-heated almost always taste soggy. When I crave that crispy fried taste, the last thing I want is a soggy piece of fried chicken.
Cooked Pasta
There is usually no left over pasta in our house when it is cooked. Occasionally when I was growing up there would be left over pasta (typically macaroni) that my mom would freeze for another meal. Reheated pasta almost always tastes mushy. Usually it has that warmed over taste that just kinds of turns my stomach, not a flavor anyone wants to taste or remember.
Salad Vegetables
I would think this is common sense. I’m not talking about freshly frozen peas or green beans. I mean don’t freeze your salad vegetables like cabbage, lettuce, cucumbers, or radishes. While thawed peas can add to the taste of a salad, frozen radishes and cukes and the like just end up mushy. Mushy salad is an appetite killer!
Of course there are many more items that just don’t freeze and thaw well (mayo, gelatin, many spices). I just find the items I listed above as particularly offensive to my palate when thawed and cooked or served. I unfortunately experienced these while growing up in a frugal household.
Kent Allen is a food fan who grew up in a household that stressed eating all the food on the plate. He has maintained foodclassics.com for nearly a decade.
