Packaging and Freezing the Goods

As you consider using the Don’t Panic method of cooking, one obstacle you may face is the lack of a separate freezer in which to store large quantities of food. We encourage you to begin working with the space that you do have available. By incorporating some of the hints we offer regarding custom packaging and freezing, you will be able to store quite a few meals in your refrigerator’s freezer alone. As our cooking method becomes more a part of your lifestyle, you may want to make an investment in a chest or upright freezer. This will allow you to prepare larger quantities of meals, as well as take better advantage of sale items at your local grocery store.

One: Custom Packaging

An essential component of the economic savings of the Don’t Panic method is to package meals according to your family size. On cooking day, after you have prepared your recipes and you are ready to put them into the freezer, package your meals according to how much your family will eat at each meal.

For example, if preparing a recipe of Chicken Enchiladas with a yield of eight enchiladas per recipe, tripling the recipe will provide three casserole dishes of eight enchiladas each. This is a total of twenty-four enchiladas. If your family eats only six enchiladas for dinner, the enchiladas can be repackaged into meals containing six enchiladas each. You have now made four meals instead of three! This stretches your loss leader savings even more.

Two: A Word about Containers

In choosing containers to freeze our meals in, we have found that high-quality freezer bags (not storage bags) work well in most cases. As a general rule, plastic containers take up too much space in your freezer and should be passed up for more space-saving techniques.

Three: Flash Freezing

Some meals can go directly into freezer bags or containers without any further shaping or extra wrapping. If a particular meal needs to hold its form, you may flash freeze it. This refers to putting an item in the freezer for a short period of time in order to freeze it into a particular shape. Once the food item is solid, it is removed from the “molding” or shaping container and placed in a freezer bag for storage.

Four: Methods of Freezing

A. Freezer Bag Method

• When to use it:

• Liquid: Use this method when freezing items such as soup, chili, and stews.

• Semi-solid food items: Use this method when freezing items that DO NOT need to hold a particular form, such as meats in marinade, stroganoff, and barbecue shredded beef.

• How to do it: When using the freezer bag method for freezing, place your meal in the freezer bag, remove as much air as possible, and seal. Then take a cake pan, or a pan that has sides, and lay the bags flat, stacking one on top of the other. The cake pan will not only freeze the meals flat, giving you more freezer room, but will help ensure that any leaks will be kept within the pan. Place the pan in the freezer. Once the item has been “flash frozen” (see “Flash Freezing” above), remove the items from the pan and stack them inside your freezer.

• On serving day: When defrosting, make sure you place the item in the refrigerator with a pan, plate, or bowl underneath to catch the extra moisture (or any leaks) from defrosting. For your health and safe food handling, we do not recommend defrosting the meal on the kitchen countertop, as this promotes the growth of harmful bacteria. If you need to speed up the defrosting process, consider using the defrost cycle on your microwave oven.

B. Foil and Plastic Wrap Method

• When to use it:

• Semi-solid food items: Use this method when freezing items that DO need to hold a particular form, such as Chicken Enchiladas, Cottage Pie, lasagna, and meatloaf.

• How to do it: When using the foil and plastic wrap method for freezing, line your baking dish with aluminum foil first and then with a layer of plastic wrap (make sure that the foil and plastic wrap are large enough to cover the bottom, sides, and top of the dish). If your food is hot, allow it to cool slightly. Fill the dish with your prepared meal. When completely cooled, seal the plastic wrap, removing as much air as possible. Then seal the outer aluminum foil layer. With the packaged meal still in the pan, place it in the freezer. Once the item has been flash frozen, slip the meal out of the pan and into a freezer bag. See “Flash Freezing”.

• On serving day: Remove the meal from the freezer and thaw slightly. Remove foil and plastic wrap, then place in original dish for baking. If you have a little trouble getting the plastic wrap off, place the meal in the microwave or dip it in warm water quickly. The plastic wrap should then come off easily.

• Advantages of foil and plastic wrap method:

• Baking dishes aren’t tied up in the freezer.

• The pans are removed after the meals are frozen solid, and then the meals will stack compactly in the freezer.

• Your meal fits back into the original pan for thawing and baking or cooking.

C. Baked Goods

• To help ensure freshness and taste, always double wrap baked items. Wrap the item first with plastic wrap, then place in a freezer bag.

• Cookies: Cookie dough may be flash frozen by placing formed cookie balls on cookie sheets in the freezer for ten to twenty minutes. Remove and place in freezer bags. For slice-and-bake cookies, form cookie dough into “logs” (two to two and one-half inches in diameter). Wrap thoroughly with plastic wrap and seal ends well. Place logs in a freezer bag. Frozen cookie dough may go directly from freezer to the cookie sheet and be baked. Cookies may also be frozen after baking.

• On serving day: Baked breads and muffins can be brought to room temperature or defrosted in the microwave.

Five: Finishing Up

Date and label your meals (no one likes mystery meals!). Also note specific cooking time and temperature and any special recipe instructions. Label meals directly on the freezer bag using a permanent marker. Freezer moisture will sometimes cause tape labels to fall off.

Six: Miscellaneous Freezing Hints