Guide to freezing stocks, stews, soups, vegetables, meat, poultry & fish

Guide & tips to freezing stocks, sauces and stews

Stocks, stews, sauces and soups can be frozen up to 4 months! Liquid-based dishes are the most straight forward to freeze. You need to make sure the containers are not overfilled as they expand when frozen and all liquids must have cooled down completely before putting in the freezer.

Freezing in tubs

Use only suitable food approved containers with a tight fitting lid to stop any messy spillages.

Line a plastic container with a freezer bag, pour the food into the bag leaving a space of 2.5cm at the top (for food expansion). Cover it tightly and freeze as quickly as possible. Once the food is frozen you can remove it from the container. This leaves the food in a square shape which is easy to store. Alternatively you can just use containers.

Freezing Stock

Frozen stock is very useful in the kitchen, but it can take up a lot of room in the freezer. You can save space by concentrating the stock before freezing it.

To use, reconstitute it to its full volume by adding water.

To concentrate the stock, put the degreased stock in a clean pan and bring it to the boil. Bubble it down to about 25% of its original volume. Pour the stock into plastic containers leaving a 2.5cm gap at the top. You can also freeze stock in ice cube trays! It’s a great method because you can simply take out what you need when you need it! You may need to brush off a layer of ice built up on the cubes but after washing that off your ready to go!

Guide to freezing vegetables

Vegetables can be frozen up to 6 months! Most of them must be cooked or part-cooked by blanching before freezing to reduce the activity of enzymes that would affect nutritional value and quality.

Below is a chart for the time needed to blanch different vegetables. For blanching in steam add 2-4 minutes. Test regularly to avoid overcooking.

VegetablePreparation Blanching Time

Asparagus Stalk ends removed 2-4 minutes

Broad Beans Shelled 2-3 minutes

Broccoli Woody stalks removed 3-5 minutes

Brussels Sprouts Trimmed at the base 3-5 minutes

Caluliflower Broken into florets 3-5 minutes

French Beans Topped and tailed 2-3 minutes

Runner Beans Strings removed, sliced 2-3 minutes

Sweetcorn Whole ears, husked 4-5 minutes

To blanch in water

Wash and prepare the vegetables, cut them into bite sized pieces. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil at, have a large bowl of iced water ready.

Put the vegetables in the boiling water, bring back to the boil and cook as shown in the table above. The vegetables should be hot all the way through, slightly tender but not fully cooked.

Lift out of with a slotted spoon and plunge into the ices water.

Dry thoroughly on kitchen paper, pack into containers and freeze.

To blanch in steam

This is ideal for most vegetables as some may become water logged if you use a pan of water. To steam simply wash and prepare the vegetables, steam the veg for the amount of time shown in the above table. Plunge into iced water, dry and pack into containers to freeze.

Guide to freezing meat, poultry and fish

The most crucial point in freezing these items is that you keep all the air out of the freezer bags to avoid ‘freezer burn’.

Freezing in bags

To freeze in a plastic freezer bag; put the food in the bag, keeping it as flat as possible. Squeeze all the air out so that the food snugly fits around the meat. Tie the bag securely and freeze as quickly as possible.

Tips: divide individual pieces of food such as burgers or steaks with a wax sheet. Keep flat items such as fish and fillets as flat as possible.

Tray freezing

Pieces of food can be frozen separately, then bagged together so you can use one piece at a time.....Put the pieces on a baking tray, not touching each other. Freeze until solid. Quickly transfer to a freezer bag, squeeze out the air and seal. Return to the freezer.

Maximum Freezing Times:

Meat

Mince 3 months

Bacon 1 month

Sausages 1 month

Steak 6 months

Chops 4 months

Joints, lean 10 months

Joints, fatty 4 months

Offal 3 months

Cooked meat 3 months

Poultry