Frequently Asked Questions... with Answers!
Q: Can I freeze green beans or other vegetables?
Yes, especially fresh green beans will turn out well. Canned vegetables may
turn out a little soggy because of the extra moisture. It is best when freezing
fresh vegetables to blanch them. That means boil them for 1 minute and then
add them to a bowl of ice water. Then drain on a paper towel or dish towel. This
helps them stay fresh and retain their color. It is great to freeze vegetables in the summertime when fresh vegetables are in abundance.
Q: Can I freeze homemade bread dough?
Yes! Freezing bread dough is a great way to have a fresh loaf of bread or make dinner with a recipe such as rolls or breadsticks. If you make your own dough, let rise the first time. After that punch the dough down and separate into portions you’d like to use. Place in a Ziploc bag and freeze. When you are ready to use the dough take it out of the freezer overnight and use in your recipe the next day.
Q: Can I freeze meals to cook in the Crockpot later?
Yes. Using crock pot and freezing meals ahead of time is really makes it simple to prepare dinner. Soups are especially great for preparing, freezing, and cooking in the Crockpot.
Q: Can you freeze chunk cheese?
Yes, however cheese frozen in a block will crumble easily and you won’t be able to cut it in slices. You can cut a block of cheese in slices or shred before freezing, though. When freezing sliced cheese. I place wax paper between layers of cheese for easy separation when unthawed, then place in a Ziploc bag. When freezing shredded cheese I freeze by 2 cups. Most recipes will tell you how much cheese to use by the cup. This makes it easy to unthaw and add pre-measured amounts.
Q: Can you freeze cooked spaghetti and sauce?
Sauces is great frozen and reheated. It is one of the most versatile freezer recipes because it has so many uses and freezes well. If you want to cook spaghetti or pasta and then freeze it, it won’t turn out the same consistency because frozen noodles don’t taste as good as fresh. If you mix noodles in a sauce such spaghetti or alfredo it will work well. Having said that, fresh pasta noodles freeze well and you can make a larch batch of homemade ravioli or pasta noodles and flash freeze them.
Q: What does it mean to flash freeze?
Flash freeze is when you quickly freeze something individually without it becoming totally frozen. Often time you place the food on a cookie sheet separated until the food is partially frozen. Then you place them in a bag. This makes it easy to pull out one of two frozen items because they don’t stick together.
Q: Can I freeze homemade candy?
Homemade candy freezes well. Especially around Christmas time when many homes are busy baking you can do a little at a time and freeze little by little. Cookies are also easy to freeze.
Q: What doesn’t freeze well?
Mayonnaise, sour cream, cooked potatoes (although you can work around that), pasta noodles in soups.
Q: How can you freeze potatoes?
You can freeze twice baked potatoes or mashed potatoes, just keep in mind they will have more moisture from being frozen so bring from the freezer directly to the over. Or for mashed potatoes heat up in a saucepan where the extra moisture can evaporate. Soups that have potatoes in them don’t freeze well, so leave those out of any recipe you might be using. How to make your own Homemade Frozen Hashbrowns recipe to come.
Q: How can you freeze fresh fruits to use during wintertime?
Berries, sliced peaches, sliced apples and other fresh fruits can be flash frozen and then placed in Ziploc baggies for easy meals, snacks and treats. These are especially great for fruit smoothies. Watermelon and melons are about the only fruit that won’t freeze well. If you don’t eat your bananas before they turn brown you can easily place them in the freezer. Leave them in the peel or cut them into smaller pieces and place in a Ziploc bag. These can be used for smoothies, added to pancake mix or banana bread. If left in the peel take out of the freezer the night before. Another fun idea is to freeze fruit whole such as grapes or peaches. Then eat them slightly unthawed for a cold treat.
