How to Make Individual Portions in Freezer Bags

Here's a neat tip from Biggie of Lunch in a Box blog on how to make individual portions in freezer bags:

I operate from more of the spur-of-the-moment approach to cooking, so it’s essential to have a well stocked freezer and pantry. One drawback, though, is that if I’ve frozen food in big blocks, I can’t use just a bit quickly without defrosting the whole thing.

Enter my Japanese-language freezing books. A standard tip for freezing ground foods or thick sauces in small portions is to first put the food into a large freezer bag and press it out as flat as possible, eliminating air pockets. (Making it thin speeds up defrost time due to the increased surface area, and pressing out excess air guards against freezer burn.) Use a long chopstick or ruler to create divisions within the food, forming individual portions. This way when you freeze the entire bag, you’ll be able to quickly break off just as much as you want to use, no more.

Read the entire tip here: Link - Thanks Deborah Hamilton!


That's pretty useful. Having not clicked the link yet, I assume they recommend using an ice cube tray to freeze portions of chicken stock or other liquids.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
I freeze constantly. Our family is usually lucky enough to enjoy lunch together, so it is always fun to pull out that stuff that was great a month ago. This was a total forhead smack, for not thinking of this before.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
My mom, who's korean, prepares garlic that she uses in dishes in advance by first peeling it, then mashing it, then doing something similar to what this article describes. Then when she needs a bit of garlic, she just pops one of the squares in.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
I read recently that Americans waste up to 1/3 of the food they buy, which is just atrocious especially, you know, given all the starving children in our world... Freezing food has always been my solution to not wasting it, but I had never thought of this great idea!
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Login to comment.
Click here to access all of this post's 11 comments




Email This Post to a Friend
"How to Make Individual Portions in Freezer Bags"

Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5.

 

Success! Your email has been sent!

close window
X

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

I agree
 
Learn More