Discretion Needed In Using Freezer

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31563, 28 December 1967, Page 2

Discretion Needed In Using Freezer

A home freezer can simplify the task of providing meals, and let you enjoy the holidays too.

It can save you time and lastminute preparations because you can cook ahead of time at your own convenience.

However, rot everything freezes well, so choose dishes for the freezer carefully, and avoid using ingredients and recipes that do not give good results.

Hard-cooked egg whites toughen and become rubbery, although the cooked yolks freeze well. This means you cannot freeze Scotch eggs, curried eggs, or chopped egg sandwiches. Bacon and egg pie is controversial. If you

leave the eggs whole, try freezing before baking, then cook as usual without thawing. With beaten eggs try baking before or after freezing to see which you prefer. A baked pie may be reheated or simply thawed. However, a pie frozen unbaked and cooked before use usually rewards you with a crisper crust, and a fresher flavour. Jellied dishes do not freeze well as a rule. Freezing damages the gelling quality of gelatine, so mixtures become watery and do not reset after thawing out. This rules out making jelly-and-cake puddings and fancy moulded salads ahead of time. On the other hand, a lemon chiffon pie or a cold ham mousse, which include a custard mixture and whipped cream or an egg white meringue, can be frozen for up to two weeks. In general, thaw before serving, but some desserts are delightful when thawed just to the soft-frozen stage. Custard sauces and puddings tend to separate and lose creamy smoothness when frozen. Stirring helps to blend some mixtures, such as sauces, but is not practical for a baked rice custard.

Meringue toppings on puddings and pies toughen, shrink and often weep. If you like a meringue crown or fruit mince tartlets, for instance, add it after freezing, either when the tarts are baked, or heated through, then brown as usual.

Cake icings are somewhat temperamental. Rich butter icings freeze best of all, but even they may lift after extended storage. Fluffy icings become sticky and make the cake just underneath soggy. Glace and fudge type of

icings usually crack and chip off.

Cooked potatoes, rice and macaroni become soggy when frozen in large amounts of liquid, such as in soup or stews. This may not matter in left-overs frozen to save them, but as a rule, omit these ingredients and add in reheating. You can freeze French-fried potatoes, and stuffed baked potatoes, as well as mashed potatoes. However, it is almost as fast to prepare fresh mashed potatoes as to reheat them. Do not use raw potatoes in any mixture: they become soggy in freezing, and whole ones tend to develop a tough heart.

Creamed dishes such as crayfish mornay, and sauces and gravies thickened with flour tend to separate after freezing. Stirring helps to blend the sauce, but as with custards, it is rarely velvet smooth. For better results, substitute processed cheese for the natural kind in cheese sauces. For thickening, use rice flour to replace half or all the wheaten cornflour ordinarily needed.

Better choices are meat casseroles, stews and curry. For these omit the thickening, and use a minimum of liquid or stock to save containers and freezer space. For vegetables, chopped carrots, peas, corn and broad beans are good choices. Do not use greens; they overcook too quickly. If the vegetables are fresh, blanch as for freezing, or use vegetables already frozen. Make sure leftover vegetables are not overcooked, and cool them quickly over ice-water before packaging. For easy reheating, use foil plates and cover each plate with aluminium foil. To reheat, bake at 375 degrees (regulo 5) about 30 to 45 minutes, or until a check under the foil cover tells you everything is invitingly hot and ready to enjoy.—Department of University Extension, Dunedin.