1. Using the correct containers:
When you select containers, make sure they have been designed and rated for the freezer. Anything thin, or lesser quality should see the inside of your freezer. The right items are made out of a thicker gauge of plastic or glass, and it will help to keep your food from drying out. Yes partner, the freezer is just like a desert and it drys things out.
2. Air Kills:
You need to remove as much air as humanly possible. If you trap air in your container, you will be helping freezer burn get access and start freezer burn. You can avoid this by only freezing full containers (leaving about 1/2-inch for expansion). Then, you should always take the time to remove or suck the air out of the containers before you seal the time capsule.
3. Double Wrap:
If you know your item will be going into the freezer for a while, you need to give it a second layer of love. By using the second layer, it will provide you an additional layer of peace of mind. Drop that item into a second bag or by adding using an extra layer of freezer paper, freezer wrap or foil.
4. Chill before Freeze:
When you allow your food to chill before you freeze them it will ensure that you are not trapping any additional steam inside the package you intend to freeze it in. This will prevent ice crystals from forming, and that you are not causing any other foods in your freezer to thaw or have to refreeze.
5. Size Does Matter:
When you freeze too much food at once will increase the temperature of the freezer. Just as in step 4, when you add too much to that fragile ecosystem you could cause items to thaw or refreeze and that causes ice crystals.
6. Cycle the Foods:
It is important that you use the oldest foods first. To ensure that you are able to do that, you need to label and date everything! It’s the only way you know what you have. Then, use the packages with the oldest dates first, that way you can minimize the time everything spends is the freezer!
7. Don’t open the Door:
Just like when you tell your kids to keep the front door closed so you are not heating or cooling the outside, that same principle holds true with your freezer. If you can keep the temperature at or below freezing, you will have less chance of introducing freezer burn.
If your house is like mine, your refrigerator freezer gets opened a ton, it makes practical sense to only store things that you currently are using there and to store the rest in a deep freezer.
8. SubZero:
Drop your freezer temperature. make sure you have your freezer is set to at or below 0 degrees Fahrenheit, this way there is less of a temperature swing when you have to open the door.
9. Keep it Full:
When you keep your freezer full, well at least 70-80% full, it will stay cold even when you have to open the door to take away or to add new items. This also is handy when the power goes out.
10. Don’t Overfill:
It’s important not to overfill. Overfill blocks the vents at the back of your freezer. This is bad juju. The vents circulating the air helps to keep the freezer chest properly circulate and that all the foods are kept at the same temperature.
11. Choose Wisely:
You need to choose your freezer wisely! Having an auto-defrost feature on freezers can save you some work, however, it can introduce a lot of freezer burn. So, if your future has a purchase of a second freezer, you may want to consider a chest freezer, which will allow you top store your foods for the longest time with the least amount of decline in quality of freezer.
