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We've all been at that place, shuddering in the cold air of the freezer while blindly foraging through opaque bags and blocks for dinner. Freezing is a dandy manner to extend your food supply, but things can easily get lost or fall casualty to freezer fire. With the right gear, as well as a few savvy techniques for packing, thawing, and organizing your nutrient, you can stock up and too ensure that nothing goes to waste. We conducted hours of research, including talking to food-safety specialists and cooking editors, to find the best gear and strategies for freezing food.

Freezing is one of the easiest steps you tin take to make ingredients or cooked meals last longer. It requires much less try than other methods such as canning, fermenting, or dehydrating. In addition, if you lot're satisfied with the freezer space y'all already have, you lot don't need every bit much extra equipment as you do for other preservation methods.

Freezing is a versatile technique. You lot tin can preserve a season's bounty directly from the garden or grocery store (think summer berries for a tart, juicy pie on a wintry day, or spring peas to brighten a creamy pasta). You can freeze meals fabricated in advance to pad your ready-to-eat supply. Y'all can stock your freezer with citrus juice and minced herbs, alliums, or ginger root to add together brightness to a dish at a moment's notice, without a trip to the store.

It'due south undeniable that some frozen foods do not retain the same flavors or textures as their fresh predecessors. Simply when you lot cull what to freeze wisely, and pack it using the right containers and techniques to maintain quality, you lot'll give your futurity self a gift of ingredients and premade meals beyond what your pantry or even your fridge can adapt.

The all-time gear for freezing nutrient

Air and ambient moisture are the biggest enemies of frozen foods: They cause freezer burn, which creates a tough or rubbery texture after thawing. The right packaging can prevent that dreaded aftereffect. Elizabeth Andress, food safety specialist and professor of foods and nutrition at the Academy of Georgia, said, "Different types of [materials] volition vary in how much air they let through them, too equally odors and what nosotros telephone call moisture vapor, or airborne moisture." Closed containers, likewise as thicker bags, durable foil, and coated paper designed for freezing, tin can make a big difference in post-thaw quality. They'll ensure that whatsoever yous freeze stays ameliorate for longer.

The best heavy-duty freezer bags

Assorted reusable silicone bags can help prevent freezer burn. — Thick reusable silicone numberless can help forestall freezer burn down. Photograph: Sarah Kobos

Null-top numberless are peculiarly practiced for freezing food because you lot can more hands get all the air out of them than out of rigid containers. You tin use them for everything from blanched spinach to chicken thighs and, after laying them flat to freeze, stack them to economize space. Nosotros like Hefty Freezer Slider Bags, but if y'all can't find them, expect for an option that's labeled for freezing. Freezer bags are thicker than regular ones, so they're less probable to puncture or tear, and they're designed to be less brittle when frozen. We've establish that bags with sliders are easier to fill and seal even with saucy foods, which tin can gum upwards the zippered seals on other bags.

You can wash and reuse a freezer bag until it goes kaput, but if y'all're concerned about using disposable plastic, reusable silicone bags also piece of work well. "Silicone allows fifty-fifty less transmission of air and moisture vapor," said Andress. Of the reusable bags we've tested, we recommend the Stasher Reusable Silicone Handbag Multi-Pack, which includes multiple sizes in bright, fun colors. These sturdy numberless seal tightly, don't impart any flavors, store flat in a drawer, and are dishwasher safety and easy to clean. The downside is that they're much more than expensive than plastic bags; a pack of four costs $50 at this writing. And considering the Stasher bags are more rigid than plastic ones, it's a piddling harder to shrink the air out of them.

To become as much air as possible out of a handbag before freezing, effort pressing it against a table, hugging it to your trunk, or rolling information technology from the base of operations toward the seal. If you're sealing several bags at once, information technology's worth filling a large container with h2o and using this handy play a joke on for almost-like-a-vacuum-sealer results: Submerge a filled, barely opened purse into h2o with the zipper just in a higher place the water line. Let the air escape equally you lot slowly sink the bag, and seal information technology right before you submerge the opening. This process can help push button more air out of silicone numberless, too.

Thick or coated wraps

For items that are too unwieldy to fit in a freezer bag, such as large cuts of meat, a loaf of bread, or a bundt cake, you can use any of several types of freezer-specific wraps to seal them tightly. It comes downwardly to preference or what you have on hand. A freezer-class plastic wrap volition work simply can be hard to observe; Suzanne Driessen, extension educator in nutrient science at the University of Minnesota, recommends Glad Press'n Seal Freezer Wrap, which is sold out online at this writing. If you have only regular plastic wrap, which is thinner, use multiple layers for improve quality.

Aluminum foil will also conform tightly to baked goods or other non-compatible items. Opt for a heavier foil such equally Reynolds Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil because information technology's thicker and harder to tear if you're stacking or moving things around. As an extra line of defense force against freezer burn down, y'all can first use a layer of plastic wrap earlier covering with foil.

For wrapping meats snugly, Andress likes using freezer paper similar this one fabricated by Reynolds. Freezer paper may be harder to find, but information technology'southward another adept, airtight alternative to plastic wrap. Freezer paper is not the same as wax, butcher, or parchment paper: It has a wax or plastic coating on i side that acts as a bulwark to hold in meat juices just is uncoated on the other side and so that you tin easily write the contents and date on the outside of the parcel. If you lot cull to wrap your nutrient in freezer paper, follow this demonstration of two folding methods (video) from the extension programme at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to make sure that you wrap it tightly. It'due south a good idea to seal the paper with record and to characterization what you've packed.

Even if you lot buy proteins such equally chicken, beef, or fish prewrapped, it'south oftentimes best to transfer them to freezer packaging. "At that place's short-term packaging and longer-term packaging," explained Driessen. "Then when you buy something from the meat counter in that plastic wrap, it'south designed for curt-term apply and not lower temperatures similar a freezer." The meat that you find packed on a tray covered with a sparse film is non well sealed, so air and moisture can become in and cause freezer fire. Vacuum-packed meat wrapped in thicker plastic is likely fine, but for the best quality Driessen nevertheless suggests repacking it. If you lot've put meat straight from the shop into your freezer, that's okay, but Driessen recommends using that meat within 2 weeks for the best quality.

Airtight containers

Stacks of oven-safe glass containers on a cutting board in a kitchen setting — These glass Pyrex containers stack easily and are oven prophylactic. Photo: Michael Hession

Compared with bags, reusable containers stack more neatly and may be easier to fill with liquids, stews, or soups. After testing dozens of sets for our guide to the best food storage containers, nosotros recommend the Pyrex xviii-Piece Only Shop Food Storage Set. These durable tempered-glass containers stack well and won't pick up stains or smells. They're also conveniently oven safe as well every bit freezer and dishwasher safe, though Pyrex cautions against moving them straight from a cold freezer into a hot oven for reheating—the shock of the sudden temperature change may crusade them to shatter. Instead, let the container defrost in the fridge and then place information technology on a room-temperature baking sheet earlier transferring it to the oven. The actress layer provides a buffer between the very hot oven rack and the cold glass, lessening the chance of the container shattering (and preventing stuff from spilling all over your oven if the glass does break). We've used that method for baking chilled pies, and we've never had an issue.

The Pyrex containers aren't leakproof—for that, we like the Glasslock 18-Slice Container Fix. The Glasslock containers accept locking lids that prevent leaks, but the lids also put stress on the lip of the containers, which makes the glass prone to chipping over time. For an affordable plastic fix, we like the Rubbermaid TakeAlongs 40-Slice Storage Set containers, which are tight-sealing and microwave safe, although nosotros found that they may soften in the microwave during defrosting.

Avoid reusing the cartons from yogurt or sour cream for freezing, because their lids don't seal well and will let air in. "If you lot accept a dip container where yous peel off a plastic kind of summit, so that outer lid may not have to be quite as tight a seal as if it were being manufactured for freezing," said Andress. Nosotros'd also avoid plastic takeout containers, which tin can go brittle in the freezer and then crack or shatter easily.

You'll never exist able to get all of the air out of rigid containers, though tight-sealing lids can aid. Only try to fill up the container as much as you can while leaving adequate headspace for liquids to expand as they freeze—peculiarly when using drinking glass containers that can crack or shatter. (Nosotros have some tips on how much headspace to leave in all types of containers below.)

Equipment to invest in

Food being processed through a vacuum sealer for freezer storage — Vacuum-sealing ingredients is the best mode to protect them from freezer burn. Photo: Sarah Kobos

People who freeze items frequently or who buy food in bulk may desire to invest in a vacuum sealer to keep ingredients fresher for longer. Vacuum sealers get every bit much air out of a handbag as possible, which helps reduce freezer burn. "In addition to pulling the air out of the package, they are much more preventative at letting anything [in the air] transmit through the plastic itself," Andress said. Nosotros sealed footing beef and pork chops with 10 different machines for our guide to the best vacuum sealers, and all of them came out with minimal freezer burn afterward spending several months in the freezer. We recommend getting the easy-to-use Nesco VS-12, which offers powerful suction, several useful settings, and the option to single- or double-seal bags, only if it's sold out you tin observe other suggestions in our guide.

How to bundle food for the freezer

Besides the containers and bags yous use, how yous pack foods will alter how they freeze and thaw. Freezing things as quickly every bit possible is important for maintaining quality: The slower the process, the more likely information technology is that larger ice crystals will develop, making foods soggier or tougher when yous reheat them. And so avoid adding a ton of non-frozen nutrient to your freezer at once, and consider lowering the temperature the twenty-four hour period earlier freezing a load. Packing smaller portions will besides help speed up freezing times.

When freezing cooked dishes, make sure everything has cooled down completely before you pack information technology. "Warm foods are going to cause condensation inside your packaging. And that again is very bad for frozen food quality," said Andress.

If you're freezing a meal with several components that will freeze and thaw at different rates, such equally craven and broccoli, take the time to pack them separately. Andress said to think about how air would flow in a container filled with dissimilar ingredients of different shapes when you're deciding what to pack with what: "Any air pockets or trapped air around the nutrient is very detrimental to quality," she said.

For foods you desire to freeze in bulk merely use little by little, the dry-pack method—which involves packing foods upward later on they've been frozen—is central. This technique is cracking for berries that would normally clump together, balls of cookie dough y'all want to bake a few at a time, slices of bread, or bacon from a pack you won't eat all at once. Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper (moist ingredients will stick to bare metal), arrange items in a single layer so they're not touching, and then put the sheet in the freezer. Our favorite baking sheet, the Nordic Ware Natural Aluminum Commercial Baker's Half Sail, works smashing for this task (you tin can get it in smaller, quarter-sheet and eighth-canvass sizes, too, which may fit ameliorate into an already crammed freezer). Driessen recommends checking the items every 30 to threescore minutes and packing them upwardly as soon as they are frozen, which normally takes one to ii hours. Once they're frozen, y'all tin wrap up the portions and put them in containers or numberless for extra protection or organizational purposes.

For freezing pocket-sized amounts of sauces, herbs, citrus juice, or condiments so that they're easy to throw into a dish, use an ice cube tray. Nosotros recommend the OXO Skilful Grips Ice Cube Tray over others considering it has a rigid plastic lid that keeps smells out and prevents spills; plus, it allows for easy stacking so you can maximize space. You tin can freeze cubes of pesto, tomato paste, lemon juice, minced garlic, or even individual, cracked eggs.

Foods expand when they freeze, and so exit some headspace when yous are putting anything in a jar, a container, or even a handbag to prevent cracks or rips. Generally you should get out about half an inch of room, but the amount varies based on what'south inside and the kind of container you're using. The National Center for Home Food Preservation has a chart to assist determine how much headspace to leave in containers.

How to thaw frozen foods

The USDA offers several methods for safe defrosting. The best manner to thaw is in the fridge, which keeps nutrient out of the temperature danger zone in which present bacteria tin can rapidly multiply. To safeguard against spills or melting frost from the outside of containers, place packages on top of a baking canvas or in a bowl.

The disadvantage to thawing food in the fridge is that it takes a long time—it's not a procedure you can showtime an 60 minutes before dinner. 1 faster option is to identify sealed numberless in a big mixing bowl filled with cold water (never use warm water) that you change out every xxx minutes until your food thaws. We recommend the deep Cuisinart Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls, which permit you to fully submerge large packs of meat or stew, simply any large bowls you have at home will work fine. The large Rubbermaid Commercial Infinite Saving Food Storage Containers, which we similar for dry food storage, would also work great for this purpose. If you need to thaw even faster, you tin can ever use a microwave. Just make certain that y'all use what you've defrosted immediately, because food can commencement to warm up in the microwave, and y'all shouldn't let it sit at an dangerous temperature at which bacteria can grow.

Alternately, you can cook many frozen foods directly from the freezer, every bit long as they volition oestrus fast plenty. Premade frozen meals such every bit soups or stews are fine to defrost straight in a pot. If you accept a sous vide setup, information technology's the perfect selection for heating a pack of stew or a cut of meat pulled straight from the freezer. Simply make certain that the nutrient is well sealed in a heavy-duty freezer bag or vacuum-sealed bag and that your water bathroom remains at a temperature to a higher place 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Driessen recommends adding about 30 to 60 minutes to the melt fourth dimension.

An electric force per unit area cooker is too a convenient mode to melt frozen items, including meat, quickly, although you may need to add together some actress cooking fourth dimension (Instant Pot has a table with suggestions for fresh foods that you can apply equally a baseline). We recommend the Instant Pot Duo 6-Quart, which is simple to use and comes with a durable stainless steel inner pot. But Andress advises against putting anything frozen, especially meat, straight from the freezer into a slow cooker, which takes too long to estrus foods to safety temperatures and thus allows bacteria to grow.

How to organize your freezer

A freezer can exist a blackness hole. Simply if yous organize it well, label what's inside, and make an inventory of what you have, you can avoid letting food sit there for ages untouched. Instead, you lot'll be rich in prepare-to-use, easy-to-find food that y'all can grab in an instant.

Most things keep in a freezer for a very long time, but you should still go on runway of what's inside and then you tin use what you've stored efficiently—while it still tastes good. The National Heart for Home Food Preservation has a timetable for the lifespan of frozen foods, only y'all should use your all-time judgment when it comes to deciding if it's too tardily to use something. "As long as that food stays frozen, then at that place aren't whatever bacteria at work or even molds," said Andress. "Simply quality will keep to deteriorate in the freezer." Everyone perceives the shift in quality a little differently, simply it's a proficient idea to utilize things within effectually eight to 12 months of freezing.

To keep rail of expiration dates, label packages with tape and markers that won't disintegrate in colder temperatures. We like the hardy FrogTape Multi-Surface Painter's Tape that many kitchen professionals use, merely you can employ freezer record besides. Write the date and ingredients on tape labels with a Sharpie Fine Tip permanent marker and so the writing won't rub off.

We recommend keeping an inventory of what you have and what you've used, whether that's with a spreadsheet or a written list that yous tack to the fridge with a magnet. Consider doing an occasional freezer edit, where you go through and reorganize your freezer, whether it'south every quarter or every twelvemonth.

What can you freeze?

Y'all can freeze almost anything. Merely harsh temperatures can crusade concrete and chemical damage to cells and tissues, which makes some foods limp or watery later thawing. For case, you'll never get the same satisfying bite from a well-baked leaf of lettuce after you've frozen it, and cream will never whip to as fluffy a texture. There are many recipes that freeze very well, though: Soups, stews, casseroles, cakes, and cookie dough are just a few examples. Even ingredients such as sour cream, tofu, and eggs tin can exist revived after freezing, and items such as tortillas and bread tin be zhuzhed upwards in a toaster or pan.

For recipe ideas or advice on what will freeze best, NYT Cooking (Wirecutter is a part of The New York Times Company) has a guide to freezing many ingredients, too every bit several recipe roundups similar "Recipes to Make and Freeze" and "Having a Baby? What to Cook and Freeze Now." The National Eye for Home Food Preservation also has extensive guidelines for freezing, although some of the recommendations are dated and taste preferences have inverse. Andress recommends contacting your local cooperative extension function if you accept questions.

Sources

Elizabeth Andress, food safety specialist and professor of foods and nutrition at the University of Georgia, phone interview, November 25, 2019
Suzanne Driessen, extension educator in food scientific discipline at the University of Minnesota, phone interview, November 25, 2019
Harold McGee, On Nutrient and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, November 23, 2004
National Center for Home Nutrient Preservation
Freezing, Encyclopaedia Britannica, September 28, 2018
William Schafer and Suzanne Driessen, The science of freezing foods, University of Minnesota Extension, 2018
Melissa Clark, How to Freeze Just About Everything, The New York Times, March 26, 2020
Margaret Eby, How to Store Whatever Vegetable to Go on Information technology Fresh Equally Long As Possible, Food & Wine, March 30, 2020
Jonathan Chan, Are Freezer-Safe Plastic Bags a Waste material of Money?, Reviewed, September 17, 2019
Danilo Alfaro, How to Freeze Anything, The Spruce Eats, March 26, 2020