Frozen Food

[beanebabe]

I have a fairly new American side by side fridge freezer. The freezer is set at -18C. Frozen meat and fish has a tendancy to be rather tough/chewy when it is defrosted and cooked. Is this what happens to frozen stuff or is it my freezer? Is it at the right temperature?

[pastafreak]

That is certainly the right temperature as that is what we aim for in a catering kitchen.....have you never frozen your meat and fish before now??

[Marg0]

It may be getting burnt.
The cold air can give 'freezerburn' to produce, they are sometimes housed in special bags just to prevent this.
I seldom notice any difference otherwise.

[beanebabe]

Mmmm - MargO, that's interesting. Do you mean put the food in special bags? Obviously, I have always had a freezer and I can't say I really noticed before. The old thing used to freeze icecream solid and the new one keeps the soft scoop - soft. I have never liked frozen bread because it tends to go hard around the edges. The new freezer does tend to make things very icey. A bit more info on freezer burn would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Marg0]

Hi,
Yes, special bags are available, best used for long term storage. They limit the evaporation of water (ice crystals) by limiting circulation in the food and maintaining a more constant temperature.
Here's a bit from Wiki:
Freezer burn (alternately spelled freezerburn, sometimes called frostbite) is a condition that occurs when frozen food has been damaged by ice crystals, due to air reaching the food. It is generally induced by substandard (non-airtight) packaging.


[edit] Effects
Freezer burn is based on the fundamental physics of sublimation. Water evaporates at all temperatures, even from what appears to be solid ice. For example, ice cubes in the freezer will shrink and eventually disappear. When the constantly oscillating moisture molecules in the meats and vegetables stored in the freezer migrate to the surface, crystals of ice are formed. This process occurs even if the package has never been opened. The parts now deprived of moisture become dry and shriveled and look burned.

It is possible to slow down freezer burn by filling plastic milk containers with water (leaving room for expansion) and keep them in the freezer to help maintain the temperature. Meats and vegetables stored in a manual defrost freezer will last longer than those stored in automatic defrost freezers. That is because the temperature of a manual defrost freezer remains closer to 0 �F/-18 �C while the temperature of automatic defrost freezers fluctuates. Food with freezer burn, though dried and wrinkled, is safe to eat. However, food afflicted with freezer burn generally has unpleasant flavor.

[beanebabe]

Thanks MargO that was great - had to read a couple of times to understand it! I will try and package food better and see if that makes a difference.