Freezing food is the best way to keep good food and drinks from going bad including uncooked beef, excess herbs or wine that you couldn’t finish.
Unfortunately, not all your groceries are fit for the freezer. Some foods just don’t handle those subzero temperatures and should be preserved another way, such as pickling, vacuum-sealing or simply consuming them before they start to turn.
To prevent a mass clean-out of expensive groceries you’d be wise to learn which foods don’t belong there in the first place. Below, we’ve rounded up eight common foods you should never freeze.
1. Milk and cream
Keep your dairy out of the freezer or it will separate and curdle.
Most dairy products can’t be frozen and will become inedible if they are. Milk, cream, yogurt and sour cream tend to separate when frozen. Once they do, there’s no returning them to their former state and the thawed result will be grainy, watery or even curdled. Nut milk, on the other hand, can be frozen more successfully.
Ice cream is a known exception to the dairy rule because its high sugar content lowers the freezing point and keeps the product soft and palatable.
2. Potatoes
There are ways to store all types of cheese that will keep them fresh for longer but the freezer isn’t one of them.
Pesky ice crystals form in frozen cheese, which completely changes its flavor and texture profile. This primarily applies to soft and moldy cheeses, though some hard varieties such as cheddar and jack can withstand the consistent blast of cold air if grated first and laid flat in a plastic storage bag.
Read more: Store Cheese Properly and You’ll Extend Its Life by Days, Even Weeks. Here’s How
4. Fried food
Eggs have a fairly long shelf life in the fridge so you shouldn’t need to freeze them.
If you enjoy your scrambled eggs rubbery, stick them in the freezer before preparation. This is due to a process called “gelation” where the yolk’s protein molecules clump and make the liquid harder. Egg content also expands when frozen, which causes whole eggs to crack and leak. Avoiding eggs in the freezer means you must also avoid egg-based condiments as well, such as mayonnaise, which get lumpy and unspreadable.
6. Salad-friendly fruits and vegetables
Your best with an excess of citrus is to juice the fruit and freeze the juice for recipes and cocktails later on.
Some dense fruits such as berries and mango do well in the freezer, but citrus won’t hold form so well. Whole citrus fruit will become mealy after thawing it out. If you have an abundance of lemons, limes or oranges, your best bet is to juice them and freeze the juice for later.
8. Cooked pasta and rice
We’ve all tried to quick-chill a beer or soda in the freezer before.
Who among us hasn’t tried to cheat time by chilling a lukewarm beer can or bottle in the freezer, only to forget about it and return to find a frozen, bubbling disaster? If you’re going to use the freezer to chill canned or bottled beverages, you’d be wise to set a timer for 10 minutes so they don’t freeze solid and explode.
