Proper Storage: How to Keep Your Food Safe From Freezer Burn
We all use our freezers to keep our meals safe and healthy for cooking. Sometimes, we use it to store the food we can’t finish in one go to save for later.
You might find yourself occasionally seeing a layer of frost on your food and think that it’s a natural effect of freezing, but that isn’t the case. Most people overreact on its presence and feel that it has damaged the food due to spoilage. This phenomenon is the result of improper packaging practices, which lead to what’s called freezer burn.
What is the freezer burn?
Although freezer burn doesn’t have any direct links to foodborne illnesses, it does lead to a degradation of the food’s taste and quality. For instance, meat and fish products become dehydrated due to the pockets of dry tissue left behind by the evaporated air.
In this article, we’ll share with you five packaging tips to make sure that your food products in your fridge are safe from freezer burn.
1. Wrap your food with airtight materials
Every time you open your fridge, you expose the items in it to airflow. If you have exposed food products in the refrigerator, it can quickly cause freezer burn. Remember to wrap your food thoroughly before you place them on the fridge. You can use airtight sealed bags to observe good wrapping practices without using too much of your freezer’s space.
2. Use alternative wrapping materials besides plastic
Though plastic gives airtight protection to cover your meat products, it’s not the only way to seal your frozen goods. For the environmentally-conscious consumer, plastic has been out of fashion in recent years.
Instead of using plastic products, you can use a wax freezer paper or butcher paper as an alternative wrapping material in sealing food away from the harsh air of your freezer while preventing water evaporation to occur.
3. Repack your family-size purchases
Buying family-size servings of meat is a great value for your money. Cooking one batch of the meat while leaving the rest on the fridge is a common practice. However, some people forget to repackage their meat when returning it to the freezer. When buying family-sized packs of meat products, you should always re-wrap them in airtight containers instead of using the same packaging.
4. Coat your food in water before freezing
Coating your seafood in water is an excellent way to prolong their shelf life in your freezer. For seafood products such as fish and shrimp, you can cover them in water before putting them in the freezer. The water acts as a layer of protection and moisture to prevent freezer burn. This allows the layer of water to evaporate first instead of the moisture contained on the food.
Conclusion
As home cooks, we always strive to keep fresh ingredients in our meals. Freezer burn may not be on the top of your list of worries in storing your food, but it does make a significant difference in making your frozen goods last for a long time. Proper food storage doesn’t just keep you away from foodborne illnesses; it also helps you preserve the richness of flavor of your food products for cooking.
If you want to know more about proper fridge care and news on the latest models in the market, our Pixel Fridge blog offers a wide range of topics to cover different fridge-related content. Browse through our articles and read through reviews, fridge care tips, and more!