Freezer storage discussion thread

[Kaido]

I have a thread over in H&F on meal prep. This got me going on the idea of freezer storage, OAMC (once-a-month-cooking), and other frozen ingredient & meal ideas:

https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...venient-bodybuilding-meal-containers.2336038/

I recently picked up an enormous upright deep freezer (~$600 on sale, for 20cf, annual operating cost >$60, or about five bucks a month to run it - pretty economical). This is the one I got:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Frigidai...zer-in-White-ENERGY-STAR-FFFH20F2QW/205556833

Goes down to -20F on the coldest setting (perfect for homemade ice cream!). I have this wireless thermometer ($25) to monitor temps, which also has a handy alarm feature to let you know if you left the door open & things start warming up: (extremely useful if you have kids who forget to shut the door!)

https://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-Refrigerator-Freezer-Wireless-Thermometer/dp/B004QJVU78

The point of this thread is to share information on storing raw ingredients, par-baked, and cooked meals in a freezer. I'll be posting updates randomly as I come across or try cool new stuff. Some additional equipment that I will be touching on includes: Anova sous vide, Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker), FoodSaver (vacuum sealer), etc.

 

[Kaido]

OK so to start out with, Serious Eats has a great article called "The Better, Faster Way to Freeze and Defrost Your Foods":

http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/09/the-best-fastest-way-to-freeze-defrost-food.html

Lesson #1: Shape affects freeze/thaw times. Flat is best & makes storage & sorting really easy.
Lesson #2: Defrosting food on an aluminum pan can help thaw foods up to twice as fast (as compared to a countertop/cutting board).
Lesson #3: If you don't have a vacuum sealer, you can use the Water Displacement method to mimic the vac-seal effect using

I've seen special aluminum defrosting trays before (which is what lead me to the Serious Eats article originally) although I'm not sure if simply adding trenches into an aluminum tray does anything more than a regular aluminum baking tray does: ($14 for this model, not too astronomical!)

https://www.amazon.com/VonShef-Magical-Defrosting-Tray-Electricity/dp/B00EZMZK1I/

Although Kenji links to a quarter sheet that is only $9, which would probably be useful enough to have kicking around for defrosting as well as doing stuff like small batches of cookies:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RYPHRK/

Also, based on the comments of the Serious Eats article, I came across Bella Copper heat diffusers & defroster plates

http://bellacopper.stores.yahoo.net/

They make this claim:

Plus it works fabulously as a Defroster plate, much better than aluminum ones and miles better than wood or plastic cutting boards. Just put the frozen food on a room temperature BellaCopper defroster plate and it defrosts like magic! Two frozen chicken breasts will be ready to cook in 30 - 40 minutes.

The VonShef ridged aluminum model above says 30 to 60 minutes depending on the thickness. Would be interesting to see a shootout between a regular pan, the ridged pan, and a copper pan.

Based on another comment from the Serious Eats article, I learned the great idea of using a sous vide machine as a defrosting:

https://www.reddit.com/r/sousvide/c..._use_sous_vide_setup_to_easily_defrost_foods/

You don't necessarily have to use the heating element either, apparently just the circulator is enough to do the thawing for you in minutes (looks like setting the unit to 32F will disable the heater). The first comment in that thread also has an interesting trick: for freezing food, fill your Anova tub (or other sous vide setup) with water & ice, set the machine to 32F, and put the bagged food in to rapid-chill, then store in the fridge or freezer. Interesting alternative approach to flash-freezing!

 

[Carson Dyle]

I'll bet you never have to run to the store before cooking dinner. So there's that.

My aunt and uncle were NYC dwellers. When I visited their apartment some years ago, I was amazed to find that the fridge was, at most, 1/3 full, and the cupboards had nothing but things like crackers and cereal and spices. They stopped at the neighborhood grocers every day, bought fresh ingredients and were maybe the greatest home chefs I've ever had the pleasure of eating dinner with.

Different strokes.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Just read the Serious Eats article. I use freezer containers for the few things I cook and freeze. Pasta sauce, chili, occasionally soup. Are the freezer bags easily reused?

They look like they stack and store easily enough, but would be more of a pain to fill and use with liquids than a rigid container. Once you've defrosted something, do you keep leftovers in the bag or transfer them to another container for the fridge?

Other than for convenience, I'm not sure there's any real advantage to thawing foods rapidly. I usually just move something from freezer to fridge a couple days before I need them. If the chili isn't thawed yet, the microwave finishes the job. If the chicken isn't thawed, I eat something else.

 

[Kaido]

I'll bet you never have to run to the store before cooking dinner. So there's that.

My aunt and uncle were NYC dwellers. When I visited their apartment some years ago, I was amazed to find that the fridge was, at most, 1/3 full, and the cupboards had nothing but things like crackers and cereal and spices. They stopped at the neighborhood grocers every day, bought fresh ingredients and were maybe the greatest home chefs I've ever had the pleasure of eating dinner with.

Different strokes.

Yeah, that's the idea anyway!

It pretty much depends on what you have access to & what your goals are. It NYC, food is everywhere & endless; restaurants & grocery stores are within walking distance, so you could spend your whole life never having to cook at all, or else always be buying super fresh stuff for your meals due to availability. I have some married friends with the finances available to eat at nice restaurants for every single meal & do (despite having just renovated their home with a beautiful kitchen! sigh.); their monthly bill is $2k to $3k just in eating out expenses. Personally, I can't eat out that much, I need home-cooked meals once in awhile lol.

I have friends who have been to various European countries, like Germany, and they say that there are bakeries & stuff within walking distance of anywhere you stay...so number one, you get delicious fresh food on a daily basis, and number two, despite eating a lot of bread, dairy products, fatty meats, etc., people stay pretty skinny because they simply walk everywhere to get what they need. Pretty smart!

Personally, I have a few goals for my setup:

1. I am interested in food storage, especially after a couple bad storms over the last few years that knocked out access to grocery stores. I definitely don't want to be in the position of not having food at home ever again. So not quite on the prepper side of the fence, but definitely interested in a healthy home inventory. I don't have solar, but I do have a small generator if I need to use it to run stuff like the freezers.
2. Like I said above, I don't feel super great eating out all the time. It's convenient (albeit costly), but I feel a lot better eating homemade stuff. They put too much crap in food these days.
3. Way cheaper cooking at home. Especially when you factor in buying in bulk.
4. Got into IIFYM not too long ago & making food at home lets me easily track my macros by using a kitchen scale to weigh food, having access to all of the ingredients, etc.
5. I like convenience. Huge, huge fan of making things convenient. In my H&F thread, I detailed out some ways to make homemade TV dinners, so all you have to do is microwave them & you have healthy, tasty food with zero effort. Very nice.
6. I like cooking, but not necessarily every day - but I also don't want to eat out every day, either. I can throw a frozen casserole & some frozen rolls in the oven and have a great-tasting, healthier-than-takeout meal without much effort.
7. I do a lot of appliance cooking, and things like meals-in-a-bag for my Instant Pot or vacuum-sealed meats for my Anova are no-brainers for freezer storage.

So it really depends on what you want to get out of it. If you're tight on space, like living in an apartment, it's not really going to make a whole lot of sense to get a giant separate freezer. If you don't like to cook & prefer to eat out, why bother? The usefulness of extended freezing capabilities definitely depends on your lifestyle & personal goals.

 

[Kaido]

Just read the Serious Eats article. I use freezer containers for the few things I cook and freeze. Pasta sauce, chili, occasionally soup. Are the freezer bags easily reused?

They look like they stack and store easily enough, but would be more of a pain to fill and use with liquids than a rigid container. Once you've defrosted something, do you keep leftovers in the bag or transfer them to another container for the fridge?

Other than for convenience, I'm not sure there's any real advantage to thawing foods rapidly. I usually just move something from freezer to fridge a couple days before I need them. If the chili isn't thawed yet, the microwave finishes the job. If the chicken isn't thawed, I eat something else.

I don't re-use freezer bags, but I know people who do (clean them out, dry them, and re-use them). Personally, I'd rather work some overtime & then grab some jumbo-sized boxes of them at Walmart than have to clean them, but depends on the person (and the budget).

It does take a bit of extra technique to fill them flat, but it's not overly hard. I have both freezer containers & freezer bags, just depends on what i want to do with the food. For example, I have paper pint cups with lids for storing stuff like homemade ice cream, soups, stews, and chilis. If I make a batch of taco soup, I'll have some for dinner & then store the rest in pint cups & just thaw or microwave as needed. Those are a lot more convenient for carrying to work in my lunch than a plastic bag is. Although if you plan ahead, you can put the plastic bag in the fridge the night before to thaw overnight & then heat it up & put it in your thermos so you have a hot lunch. Depends on if you want grab & go capabilities or if you prefer to plan ahead.

Regarding thawing foods quicker, it again depends on if you like to plan ahead or if you're an on-the-fly type of person. Or if you have guests drop by & need to whip up dinner ASAP. Or how I cook something...a lot of times, I'll buy say chicken breasts in bulk on sale & then individually vac-seal them for later use in the Anova...I usually don't bother pre-thawing them in that case.

 

[Kaido]

Speaking of bags, introductory post on my Foodsaver.

A Foodsaver is basically a vacuum-sealer for special food-safe plastic bags. It has a heat-sealer to close off the open part of the bag & a vacuum that lets you seal food into bags by sucking the air out; you can then store items for longer periods of time than normal. For example, you can vacuum-seal a steak & keep it in the freezer for 2 years with no freezer burn. This is nice for keeping food on-hand, for buying in bulk & storing, and for cooking using methods like sous vide. Foodsaver has a good blog entry here on how long you can store common items (sealed) for the freezer, fridge, and pantry:

http://www.foodsaver.com/blog/archive/2014/november/how-long-can-you-save-it?.html

The shortest period of time is a year for stuff like soups, stews, and breads; the longest stuff are things like meat & veggies, which can go for up to 3 years. I don't really see myself keeping anything for more than a year at most, really more like 6 months with rotating the items inside of the freezer. Anyway, moving onto hardware, they sell a variety of food sealer units. I have a really old one I inherited from my mom & it works fine. Most come with a heat seal, vacuum, and tube attachment. The tube attachment is pretty cool because you can use it on mason jars with a lid attachment (for stuff like lengthening the life of small quantities of food, or increasing the shelf life of something like a salad in a jar), plus they have a quick-marinate box. Rather than marinating something like chicken overnight, you can do it in as quick as 30 minutes (although 1-2 hours works better). You can also use the bags to marinate, rather than the box, but the box is convenient if you're using a lot of liquid because you can just dump everything in & suck the air out.

As far as bags go, they are pretty expensive. I buy knockoff bags that are actually better (7 layers @ 5-mils thick; 40% thicker) AND cheaper from eBay seller "foodsealerking2011" & just use a paper-cutter to get straight cuts on the rolls, that way I can make the bags any size I need. So many uses for them...storing fresh herbs, veggies from CSA's, bulk meat on sale, you name it. Foodsaver also sells special expandable bags ($27 for two 11" wide & 16' long rolls that you can cut to whatever length you want, so nearly a dollar per foot for those bags) that are better-suited for larger items like turkeys, casseroles, and pies (no knockoffs for those that I'm aware of, unfortunately). Nice to have the option for storing larger items, however. So the system in a nutshell: (with various accessories)

1. Foodsaver unit (heat sealer + vacuum + tube)
2. Bags (various sizes, knockoffs also available; recommend a heavy-duty paper cutter for slicing)
3. Expandable bags (for larger items)
4. Mason jar lid attachment
5. Quick marinator

They also sell some regular containers that can be vacuum-sealed, although the reviews are pretty bad as far as functionality goes. Note that the expandable bags also have mixed reviews, mostly due to the nature of the how the bags work - you have to cut some extra space & make sure to bag them right so they seal properly. I have a couple rolls of the expandables coming in this week (never used them before), so in addition to vac-sealing various meats, I'll try out some casseroles & maybe some brownie batter or something with them to see how they do.

 

[NetWareHead]

We also do food storage and employ a combination of techniques. We freeze stuff in food saver bags. We also can food items in mason jars (boiling water and pressure canning). We use a food dehydrator to dry other items. And we pickle other items in big crocks either in vinegar or brine. My next foray is to attempt (using sodium nitrite or nitrate) to cure ground or whole muscle meat into sausages, hams, sopressata etc... We try to preserve as much food as possible and some preservation techniques are better suited than others depending on the food.

Talking about freezing, we buy entire sides of meat, break them into servings and vacuum seal steaks into food save bags. These are then frozen. I also use the flat bag storage method for optimum freezer space usage and quick thawing. We usually submerge the frozen bag into warm water and in less than 30 minutes it is ready to use. We also picked pounds of berries this summer and froze the berries this way too.

While we do live in a medium sized city with access to groceries close by, we like to buy our food from carefully chosen sources. We also buy in bulk to take advantage of pricing. That being said, there are no substitutions for fresh items like bread, eggs or dairy. I would gladly make a regular trip to a good baker for fresh warm bread.

We are also big on seasonal items so we have done things like pick > 20 pounds of blueberries and vacuum sealed them for freezing. Now we have season ripened berries in our freezer in pound sized bags. Although most of the time, seasonal fruits/berries etc... get processed into jams/preserves and are canned in mason jars.

We also like the convenience of a full freezer with ingredients in it and not need to go to the store often. We have a bit of disaster preparation in our blood so always nice to know we have food at hand.

However we usually dont use our freezer bags for finished foods, usually only for "raw materials" for cooking. On occasion we will throw a tupperware full of leftovers in the freezer but rarely entire ready to go meals. For instance, we have one of the last vegetables in our garden that we will pick and they are leeks. We will buy a few pounds of potatoes and use up the leeks, make a few gallons of potato leek soup and then pressure can 50 or so mason jars. Shelf stable jars that can live in the basement for years.

We also resuse bags, a quick rinse in some soapy water and ready to go again. However bags that have held oily substances or meat/fish are generally not reused.

 

[jsalpha2]

I prefer upright freezers and would love to have one like yours. I have seen to much food disappear into a chest style freezer only to be found years later freezer burnt beyond recognition. I am actually looking for a very small (5.8 cu ft) upright like this one http://www.sears.com/kenmore-5.8-cu-ft-upright-freezer-white/p-04620602000P?prdNo=1
The small ones don't seem to be made as well as the full sized ones based on the reviews I have read. The refrigerator I have now has the freezer on the bottom, I have to get down on my hands and knees to get anything out.

 

[Kaido]

I prefer upright freezers and would love to have one like yours. I have seen to much food disappear into a chest style freezer only to be found years later freezer burnt beyond recognition. I am actually looking for a very small (5.8 cu ft) upright like this one http://www.sears.com/kenmore-5.8-cu-ft-upright-freezer-white/p-04620602000P?prdNo=1
The small ones don't seem to be made as well as the full sized ones based on the reviews I have read. The refrigerator I have now has the freezer on the bottom, I have to get down on my hands and knees to get anything out.

Yeah, that's the exact reason I didn't buy a chest freezer...stuff disappears & it's hard to get to. Plus the vertical one only takes up half the space!

I have a Sears scratch & dent store near me; I scored a nice 30cf French-door fridge with bottom freezer there - but yeah, the bottom freezer is kind of a pain to use. At some point when I get an actual house, I'd like to do a freezerless refrigerator (an all-fridge), plus a couple of jumbo deep freezers. Going to spend the next few months getting my freezer workflow down. Just started doing kid's meals too...small baggies of stuff like 5 or 6 chicken nuggets or fish sticks that I can drop in the toaster oven (from frozen) for a quick meal. Convenience is King!

 

[NetWareHead]

While I understand the convenience of an upright freezer vs a chest, aren't the chest freezers more efficient? And cheaper too.

 

[Kaido]

While I understand the convenience of an upright freezer vs a chest, aren't the chest freezers more efficient? And cheaper too.

Not anymore, on either points. Energy efficiency & cost competitiveness have come a long way on modern appliances. My 20cf upright was $600 & costs $58 annually to run; a competing 21.7cf chest is $720 & costs $47 annually to run. Mine is also frost-free, whereas the Whirlpool I just pulled up on Home Depot's site requires manual defrosting with a drain hose:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Whirlpoo...a-Large-Capacity-in-White-WZC3122DW/207111887

So as long as you have the vertical space (basement, garage, etc.), an upright is pretty nice for ease-of-access. Plus I can fit 2 of them where a single chest freezer would fit.

 

[Muse]

Subscribing. The freezer section of my big Amana fridge/freezer is pretty full ATM and always seems to be at least at 75% capacity. I have contemplated getting a stand alone freezer, I think I have room for one in the adjoining laundry room/hallway.

I've experimented with lots of food prep scenarios over the years, I seldom go out to eat, so I prepare almost all of my own meals. Decades ago I used to often prepare rather elaborate meals but nowadays almost never do, however I do enjoy good food and am health conscious, so I understand the issues I think you are dealing with, Kaido.

One of the things I do is take lemons (either the ones that hang over my fence from the neighbor's tree, or ones given me by my sister), and juice them with an electric citrus juicer and freeze the juice in ice cube trays. When rock solid, I transfer them to hard plastic containers which are stored in my freezer section. Lemon juice can be shaved from the cubes or lemonade made from a cube and some water and sugar or stevia for sweetness.

I store bread in the freezer if I'm not eating it fast enough to ward off mold. Otherwise, it stays in my refrigerator in plastic bags.

I store several kinds of meat in the freezer. I store 5 kinds of nuts in there -- almonds, cashews, walnuts, pecans and hazelnuts. There's frozen ginger, lemon and orange zest, butter, ice cream, coconut milk (also frozen in an ice cube tray and stored like my lemon juice), bananas (skinned first, of course), pineapple, various cheeses including some cream cheese. I'll take cooked rice and freeze it if I think it will perish in the fridge before use. I used to make my own sweet rolls and freeze them, but no more.

In terms of food storage, no storm or earthquake is going to have me hungry. My bigger concern, I think, is water. I have some stored, but possibly not enough for a serious emergency when normal water supplies may be inaccessible for a long period. I don't have a backup power system, so loss of electricity would be a problem in terms of my refrigerator/freezer. However, what I have on my shelves is very substantial.

 

[Ns1]

hm I was in the market for a chest freezer but now I'm having second thoughts...

 

[gorb]

hm I was in the market for a chest freezer but now I'm having second thoughts...

Use it for beer

 

[Kaido]

hm I was in the market for a chest freezer but now I'm having second thoughts...

I just crossed the year mark with the frost-free upright deep freezer. I have it about 80% full and it stays around -20F all the time. It is awesome. It is currently on sale for $578: (MSRP is $829)

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frigida...zer-in-White-ENERGY-STAR-FFFH20F2QW/205556833

I really like it. If I had the budget available right now, I would buy a second one. I vac-seal a lot of stuff for sous viding, for the Instant Pot, and leftovers for future use. Like I'll make a big batch of pulled pork, vac-seal it into pound baggies, and throw it in the freezer for easy meals later (especially when reheated perfectly in the vac bags using sous vide). Lets me buy in bulk to save money & not have to run out to the store every week for supplies.

 

[Kaido]

Freezer in the OP is on sale for $578 with free delivery:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frigida...zer-in-White-ENERGY-STAR-FFFH20F2QW/205556833

Still running awesome after a year for me, wish I had another one!

 

[feralkid]

Freezer in the OP is on sale for $578 with free delivery:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frigida...zer-in-White-ENERGY-STAR-FFFH20F2QW/205556833

Still running awesome after a year for me, wish I had another one!

I'd sure as heck expect it to last a year.

 

[Ns1]

Freezer in the OP is on sale for $578 with free delivery:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frigida...zer-in-White-ENERGY-STAR-FFFH20F2QW/205556833

Still running awesome after a year for me, wish I had another one!

hah, w/o looking at this thread I ended up with the 13.8 CF version of it, also on sale for 30% off.

 

[Kaido]

hah, w/o looking at this thread I ended up with the 13.8 CF version of it, also on sale for 30% off.

I have been switching more & more to freezer-based cooking. Mostly using appliances to fill the freezer with pre-cooked stuff. So much more convenient.

 

[Ns1]

Do you have a $500 vacuum sealer too, or are you using a foodsaver like the rest of us plebs?

 

[Kaido]

Do you have a $500 vacuum sealer too, or are you using a foodsaver like the rest of us plebs?

Hah, I have a Foodsaver from the 90's. I should really upgrade it because cutting bags manually is such a pain; the new ones have a built-in slicer. I saw some bags on Amazon that had a slicer built into the box though. I was considering a VacMaster (lets you do liquids more easily, like soup), but the price is as much as a deep freezer is, so meh. And of course, there's the holy grail of vac-sealers:

http://www.irinoxhome.com/eng/zero

That puppy can reach a vacuum at near absolute zero

 

[Ns1]

FoodSaver's black friday deal was insane. better upgrade next year.

 

[Kaido]

FoodSaver's black friday deal was insane. better upgrade next year.

I just ordered the new Monoprice vacuum sealer. On sale for $64 shipped:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=21596

They have some pretty interesting products (and pricing!) in their new Home Goods line:

https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...eap-home-goods-on-sale-free-shipping.2530937/

It looks pretty comparable to a Foodsaver - for less than a quarter of the retail cost. The 5800 is currently $300 direct from the manufacturer:

http://www.foodsaver.com/vacuum-sea...ing-vacuum-sealing-system/FSFSSL5860-DTC.html

I'll have to remember to report back on functionality. My brother has started to get into food prep & got a deep freezer as well, so I gave him my old Foodsaver & upgraded to the Monoprice model, mainly to get the bag-cutter feature. Looks pretty nice, actually:

 

[Ns1]

This upright freezer thing is kind of awesome - it's like going to the market, except the market is in the garage.