Cooked foods we can safely keep in the freezer
In western world, about one-third of the our food ends up in the trash every year. That’s about 1.3 billion tons of food being thrown away. This ‘habit’ of ours has a huge impact on the environment and our finances. But a very useful tool to fight this problem is freezing.
Many people don’t know for sure what we can freeze and what not. Many of the foods we cook can be kept in the freezer for a certain period of time. It is important to remember, however, that the freezing process does not completely remove the bacteria, so do not keep the food out of the fridge for days before getting it into the freezer.
Cooked food that can be stored in the freezer:
– Cooked pasta (2-3 months)
– Cooked meats (2-3 months)
– Sauces (3-4 months)
– Vegetables (2-3 months)
– Low-fat foods such as green beans and peas (2-3 months)
– Raw dough (up to 6 months)
– Cooked food with rice (2-3 months)
– Fish and vegetables (1-2 weeks)
– Sliced bread (up to 3 months)
We can also freeze the following foods:
– Flour (which can be used directly from the freezer)
– Butter
– Grated cheese
– Herbs
– Wine
– Raw eggs
– Nuts
– Peeled banana
It is very important to safely freeze cooked food. So first, we need to let the cooked food cool down. That means that it needs to reach room temperature before storing it in the freezer. Then we need to transfer the portions into airtight containers suitable for freezing. The best choice is glassware. However, you need cookware if you plan to transfer the food directly from the freezer to the oven in the future.
What we also need to remember is not to fill the containers with food, because some materials expand when frozen. For easier use, use labels that will indicate their date of storage.
