How to Freeze Foods Without Plastic
If you pop open most people’s freezers, it’s full of plastic. I get it. Plastic keeps the air out, which makes your food last longer. But there are several ways to freeze food without plastic. Here are a few.
Liquids
Freezing liquids can be tricky, since it expands during the freezing process. I have shattered too many jars trying to freeze chicken broth. So, if you choose to freeze liquid in jars, make sure you leave enough room for the liquid to expand. I like to use 16 ounce wide mouth mason jars.
If you use a regular mouth mason jar, make sure your fill line is well below the neck. I made the mistake of not accounting for the reduced diameter of the neck when freezing and ended up with cracked jars.
Another option is to freeze the liquid in a cupcake pan first. I love this method because it allows me to individually portion the liquid. So, you can freeze the liquid in a pan or silicone cup cake liners on a baking sheet.
Since I don’t have silicone cupcake liners, I just use the pan, but it is a little bit harder to get the frozen liquid out of the pan. If you didn’t have either and had to buy something, I’d go with the silicone liners so it’s easier to remove the frozen liquid.
If you want to freeze even smaller portions, an ice cube tray is a great option. There are both stainless steel and silicone options. Both work great. The silicone version is also great for molding homemade fruit snacks!
Okay, after you’ve frozen your liquids, you can store them in an airtight silicone bag. I’ve found this to be the easiest for me. They stack nicely in my freezer and keep the air out.
I use the half-gallon size the most. I fill these with discs of broth or loose frozen vegetables.
For the breastfeeding moms, this is a great way to freeze and store breastmilk without plastic!
Fruits & Veggies
With vegetables, they last longer if they are lightly steamed or cooked before freezing. Fruits you can freeze raw. I lay out the fruits or vegetables on a sheet pan and put it in my freeze.
Once the fruits and vegetables are frozen, I store them in a silicone bag similar to the liquids. I like the stand-up version for fruits and vegetables.
Meat
Since I can no longer bring my own container to the butcher, I’ve been buying a few weeks’ worth of meat and freezing what I don’t use during that week. This isn’t too bad since I only cook one meal with meat a week. The rest are vegetarian or vegan.
To freeze meat, I love these 3/4 L wide-mouth Weck Jars. They easily fit four chicken thighs and they fit nicely in my freezer.
Bread
I started keeping our bread in the freezer since going plastic-free. I’d read this before but never really thought much about it until I was buying fresh French bread. It makes a huge difference. It doesn’t get stale in a few days and it stays so fresh.
So, when I get a fresh baguette, I slice it up in pieces and then put it in my Onya bread bag.
What do you think? Will you try one of these ways of freezing foods? What are your hacks for freezing foods? Tell me in the comments!
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