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Freezing and storing food
47
Freezing fresh food
Fresh food should be frozen as quickly
as possible so that the nutritional value
of the food, its vitamin content,
appearance and flavour are maintained.
Food which takes a long time to freeze
will lose more water from its cells,
which then shrink. During the defrosting
process, only some of this water is
reabsorbed by the cells. In practice this
means that the food loses more
moisture. You can see this in the large
amount of water that collects around
the food when it defrosts.
If food is frozen quickly, the cells have
less time to lose moisture, so they
shrink less. As there is much less
moisture loss, it is easier for the food to
reabsorb it during defrosting, and very
little water collects around the defrosted
food.
Storing frozen food
Never refreeze partially or fully
defrosted food. Defrosted food may
only be refrozen after it has been
cooked.
When buying frozen food to store in
your freezer, make sure to check:
– that the packaging is not damaged
– the use-by-date and
– the temperature at which the frozen
food is being stored at the store.
The length of time food can be kept
is reduced if it has been stored at a
temperature warmer than -18°C.
Buy frozen food once you have
finished the rest of your shopping,
and wrap it in newspaper or use a
cooler bag or cool box to transport it.
Store it in the freezer compartment as
soon as possible.
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