First aid for ice crystals
If you prefer to freeze everything you have left over, you probably recognize it: ice crystals on your frozen soup, pasta sauce or beef. What on earth are they, and how can you prevent them?
Small ice crystals
Small ice crystals on your pasta sauce or chili con carne? That’s freezer burn. It occurs when air gets to your frozen food. Your food then loses moisture, which turns into ice. Because of the lost moisture, your food also becomes much drier. Meat can even take on a brownish-grey color. It may not look very appetizing, but you can still eat it. As the food dries out, it also loses flavor, so it’s considerably less tasty than food that has been frozen properly. Fortunately, it’s easy to prevent.
Airtight
How do you prevent it? Make sure you package everything you freeze completely airtight. For example, use a sealable freezer bag, as it doesn’t allow water vapor through. In such a bag, your food loses almost no moisture, so no ice crystals form either. This keeps your food almost as juicy as it was when you froze it.
Also read:
- Guide: get the most out of your freezer
- How to: store fresh fish
- How long can you keep food in the freezer?
