Rules for safe freezing

1 servings

Ingredients

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Directions

SAFE FREEZING RULES

For clean and safe to eat foods, always follow the freezing recipe directions exactly, use the containers and equipment called for, and keep in mind the following DO's and DON'Ts.

DO 1. Work in a clean kitchen with clean floors, counter tops, cabinets and range, and clean equipment.

2. Keep utensils that handle raw meat and poultry scrupulously clean. That means scrubbing, washing, and rinsing knives and cutting boards between each type of cutting or chopping task.

3. Work with clean food. Wash, scrub, and rinse vegetables in several water, lift food out of the water to drain, and don't let water drain off over food.

4. Work with clean dish cloths and towels, clean hands, and clean clothes.

5. Wash your hands each time you touch something other than food, such as your hair, your face, the phone, a child, or a pet.

6. Get out all the necessary equipment. Wash it and ready all ingredients before you start to follow recipe directions, so there's be no delays and no chance for food to spoil.

7. Remember to protect your hands when working with hot foods. Use hot pads and tongs.

8. Be extra cautious with large pots or kettles of boiling water or food. Don't move them, but keep them on the range and work there.

9. Avoid any sudden changes in temperatures when working with can-or-freeze jars. Putting a hot jar on a counter or in a cold draft could cause it to break.

10. Always read and follow manufacturer's directions for special equipment or appliances.

11. Use the very best, most perfect food for freezing. Spending time and money to freeze less than the best is a waste.

12. Blanch all vegetables before freezing. Blanching destroys enzymes that can cause chemical changes in foods, and is an essential step.

13. Use moisture/vaporproof containers and seal properly, following recipe directions exactly. Poor packaging can cause freezer burn, off flavors, and less than the best foods.

14. Freeze foods quickly to prevent large ice crystals from forming.

Follow the directions for quick freezing.

15. Buy a freezer thermometer and check it regularly. It should read zero degrees F at all times, any higher temperature and you're shortening the freezer life of the food.

16. Keep an inventory of your frozen vegetables, so you can use them within the best part of their freezer life. Most vegetables will maintain quality for a year. Vegetables that have been fully cooked before freezing should be stored for a much sorter time, no more than a month.

17. Cook and serve vegetables as each recipe directs. Vegetables are best cooked directly from the frozen state, in a very small amount of water and just until tender.

18. Put your freezer in a convenient, cool, dry, well ventilated location and clean and/or defrost it once a year.

DON'T 1. Don't use your hands when a kitchen tool will do the job.

Keep fingers out of food if at all possible.

2. Don't try shortcuts or substitutions or time saving gimmicks.

There's only one correct way to prepare food for freezing, and the techniques and recipes are based on it.

3. Don't cook or prepare food for preserving when you're sick.

4. Don't prepare food if you have sores on your hands, unless you wear rubber gloves.

Source: Vegetable Gardening Encyclopedia Typos by Dorothy Flatman 1995 Submitted By DOROTHY FLATMAN On 09-28-95

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