We all are busy with work and life and it becomes pretty challenging to cook every day. Hence it is best to cook large portions of food in one go and freeze them so that you can use it for later use. The best part is to always take out the cooked meal and freeze it before you place the rest on the table. This makes it a planned meal rather than the picked ones. If you are determined to store liquids then it is best to use freezer bags and make sure that the thermostat of the fridge and freezer is on 40 degrees Fahrenheit or lower in case of a refrigerator.
People are often confused on how to store poultry meat such as chicken, fish or eggs. The best case is to freeze them and use them within a 4 day time period. You can keep the eggs for a week or so in the fridge, not the refrigerator. Also make sure you are storing food in small portions and not in a giant bag. This will keep the food as fresh as possible. There are certain guidelines to follow as well for storage. Also if you are interested in gaining muscle mass follow the meal prep ninja. Click here for more details about meal prep and diet.
- Cool foods before refrigeration
You don’t have to cool the food to higher limits but before you refrigerate it is best to cool it down by placing it on a rack where air will be moving. Let it stay there for 20 to 30 minutes and then place it under a container but don’t overflow the container with food. You can tune into many online websites that are going to help you with meal prep freeze or refrigerate.
- Complete cooling of food in the refrigerator
Once you have taken the food out of the freezer it is best to place it inside the refrigerator to let the food cool down a bit. Also loosely uncover the food lid so that the food will let the heat move out and this will prevent all sorts of contamination from dust or food particles
- Pack foods in a freezer bag
Yes, this is another important step to consider. Make sure you are not using storage bags for storing food rather use freezer bags to store food and then keep it inside the freezer. The purpose of the freezer bag is to make sure that the food stays fresh for as long as possible. You can find easily freezer bags in the market or if not search it online as well
- Label food
It becomes pretty messy when foods are frozen inside the fridge. Therefore to avoid confusion it is ideal to label the freezer bags to know which bag is containing what sort of item is inside of it. Write the name and the date of storage of the freezer bag. You can also take a tray of metal or plastic and freeze meat on it. You can use a tray to place freezer bags inside as well otherwise if you stack them one over the other then it might stuff the whole refrigerator. So to your convenience jot down the label
- Thaw and cook frozen food
Avoid thawing for food that is unpreserved. If you keep perishable food outside for a longer time then the risk of getting bacterial contamination may double up. This is pretty possible for meat and chicken. The best you could do is either keep the perishable food outside of the fridge at night or first keep it inside the fridge and let it thaw for some time. Once you cook the perishable food out for long you might not be able to kill the toxins that are present at that time. Therefore make sure you are doing the best for such food products.
Read also: Which Meal is best Freeze or Refrigerate