Monday Methods – Freezing to Save $
Why freeze? You know that buying more at the grocery store when the price is rock-bottom is the key to saving the most money, whether you’re buying packaged food, already-frozen food or meat and fresh produce. Once you start freezing what you buy, getting that 10 pound pork loin when it’s on sale at .99 cents a pound is going to save you quite a bit by the end of the year and make it easier to plan dinner ahead of time. I have some great tips on making the most of the space you have and making sure nothing goes to waste.
- Freezing Basics: Freeze food at 0 degrees or lower. This will help prevent freezer burn…you don’t want one part of your freezer colder than another.
- Freeze flat: To make the most of the space you have, freeze what you can flat, in freezer bags. Then you can stack them horizontally or vertically. I like to do this with sauces/marinades/soups and recommend, based on experience, that you test out your brand of freezer bag before trying this at home. Yeah, oops! Also, if I’m freezing fruit, I lay it out on a cookie sheet to freeze for an hour or two before I bag them so they don’t stick together.
- Wrap things tightly: Freezer burn is a result of moisture escaping from the bag to a colder part of your freezer. The key is to wrap things as tightly as possible, getting as much air out as you can. My sister-in-law taught me how to push as much air out of the bag as possible, using a straw to suck out almost every last bit at the end. I now have a Food Saver
that does a spectacular job of it for me…and the frozen food lasts longer, too.
- Mark, Date and List: My memory was bad before I had three children and now it’s even worse. It’s imperative that I mark what’s inside the freezer bag and put the date on it so that I use the “oldest” of whatever it is when I take it out of the freezer. It’s also a great idea to make a list of everything you have in there and constantly update it. And train your family to update it, too, when they take something out!
So there you have it…some tips to help you get started. When I buy that 10 pound pork loin at ShopRite this week maybe I’ll take some pictures and show you how I do it!
In the meantime, for more information, you can check out The National Center for Home Food Preservation’s website.
And if you’re interested in cooking meals ahead to freeze, I recommend the book Don’t Panic – Dinner’s in the Freezer
Do you freeze meals ahead? I’d love to try out a new recipe and report back in a future post… leave a comment!
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