Freezing Vegetables - Freeze only fresh high-
quality vegetables picked when barely mature
For best results, freeze no more than 2 to 3 hours
after picking. Wash In cold water, sort and cut into
appropriate sizes. Blanch or scald. Pack in recom-
mended container and freeze.
Do not freeze lettuce, celery, carrot sticks.
potatoes or fresh tomatoes. All will become limp or
mushy. Tomatoes will collapse when thawed
Freezing Meats - The meat you thaw can only
be as good as the meat you freeze. “Drugstore’
wrap in meal-size packages. Flat cuts or patties
should be wrapped individually or in layers sepa-
rated by a double thickness of freezer wrap
Make sure store wrappings are moisture ana
vapor proof. If not, re-wrap meats with one of the
wraps recommended under “PackagIng”
Freezing Cooked Food-Prepare cooked foods
as you would for the table; shorten cooking time IO
to 15 minutes to allow for additional cooking dur-
Ing reheating. Omit seasonings and part of the liq-
luid. Plan to add them at reheating time. Potatoes
should also be added to soup and stew at heating
time. Add crumb and cheese toppings at heating
time.
Cool as rapidly as possible and freeze at once.
ilquld or semi-liquid dishes may be frozen in rec-
ommended containers with head-space. Cas-
seroles and other more solid foods may be frozen
X-I the baking container. If you don’t want to leave
v’our casserole dish in the freezer, line it with foil.
Bake, cool, freeze, lift out the foil package, bag it
.lnd return to freezer.
Freezing Baked Goods-Wrap baked breads in
recommended material. Thaw in wrapping.
Unbaked yeast breads can be frozen after the first
rising. Punch down, wrap and freeze
Bake cookies as usual. Cool and freeze on trays,
then pack in recommended freezer bags or car-
tons. Unbaked cookies may be dropped, molded
31 rolled and frozen on cookie trays. Store in bag or
carton: bake without thawing. Refrigerator-type
;ookies can be wrapped and frozen in roll form.
rhaw only enough to slice when ready to bake.
Fruit pies are best frozen unbaked. Bake without
;hawing. Bake pecan and similar pies before
‘reezing...rich fillings do not freeze solid. Cut steam
Jents In top crusts when ready to bake.
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