Desi families are big on freezing. Food left over from a party? Freeze it. All that meat from ‘bakra eid’? Frozen already. That food you loved at a distant relatives wedding? Chances are it’s already sitting in your freezer. Now the great thing about a freezer is that you can put about anything in it and stay content with the knowledge that your food won’t go bad as long as the electricity is running. I believe it is one of the most underappreciated yet, most used, modern invention. There are however, some things that can end up getting destroyed if frozen. Shocking, right? There are many misconceptions regarding the storage of certain food items. Just like you can’t heat all foods in the microwave, the same way not all things can be frozen. This usually depends on how some food thaw when defrosted. Given below are 10 food Foods You Should Never Freeze.
1. Salad Greens
These lose all crispiness that makes for a good salad. Most salad greens are high in their water content and a cycle of freezing followed by thawing leaves them wilted and soggy. These include vegetables like celery, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers and radishes. They also oxidize and may develop strange aromas, color and flavor.
2. Cooked Pasta
No matter how much you love pasta, nothing can haunt you like the texture of a defrosted mushy bowl of pasta. Baby food has nothing on pasta that has been reheated after a good sit in the freezer.
3. Eggs
I don’t know why anyone would think freezing eggs is a good idea but in case you’re ‘confused’ let me spell it out for you. Do. Not. Freeze. Eggs. The liquid in eggs thaws into disgusting lumps if frozen. You can end up with a very morbid looking egg or worst, a stinky freeze if it ever breaks and leaks.
4. Mayonnaise
This also includes anything with a mayo base, such as dips or salad dressing. Freezing such emulsions cause them to separate and split. Basically you’ll end up with a jar of mayo with water on the surface and everything else on the bottom. Yuck.
5. Milk
When milk thaws it becomes lumpy and develops an acidic flavor. If you’re planning to use it for cooking then this might not be a problem, but if you plan to drink it straight, you might need to go buy another carton. If you are going to freeze it anyway, let it sit in the fridge for at least a day to defrost.
6. Fried Food
I don’t care how amazing the fried chicken taste. If you’re freezing it for later consumption, you sure are just ruining it. Fried food is loved for its crispiness. By freezing and thawing, it becomes soggy and loses its crunchiness.
7. Cheese
Freezing block cheese makes it very crumbly. It becomes harder to shred or slice it later. Softer cheeses become watery and that’s just gross.
8. Potatoes
Spuds are meant to be kept in cool dry places. Freezing raw potatoes causes them to develop crystals and when you thaw these ‘crystallized’ potatoes, they turn mushy. Cooked potatoes on the other hand can turn a bit watery but other than that they retain their flavor.
9. Frosting
Especially egg white based frosting such as meringues should not be kept in the freezer. They will crack and become watery.
10. Yoghurt
Putting yoghurt in the freezer does not make it frozen yoghurt. It makes it yoghurt that is frozen. Yes people, there is a difference. Like most dairy, it will become watery and more acidic. It can be used for cooking but not for direct consumption.
