What's the Best Way to Freeze Meat?
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Freezing meat is all about convenience: you have to plan ahead and freeze it in a way that makes it easy to use. Here are 10 do's and don'ts when it comes to freezing meat:
Do:
- Label your packaging with the contents and the freeze date.
- Freeze in portions you will cook with (e.g. ground meat in 1-pound packages and 4 chicken breasts to each zip-top bag).
- Chill your freezer to 0°F.
- Purge regularly to keep foods from being lost.
- Use your freezer to prolong the life of foods, not a place to ignore them.
- Don't freeze your food in big blocks that are slow to defrost.
- Don't freeze unsealed packages. The meat will dry out too much, which will ruin the texture.
- Don't freeze old meat; package and freeze meat soon after purchasing.
- Don't forget to use what you frozen. There's no point in saving what you won't eat.
- Don't freeze oversize cuts of meat. Keep frozen meats to manageable sizes to encourage use.