# Amazing what you can freeze



## maddy (Oct 30, 2010)

Seems that every day I'm discovering something new that I can freeze. Some real gems:

- Eggs: Just beat them up and pour into an ice tray to freeze. They're great for baking, and they taste just fine when scrambled up for breakfast.

- Milk: Freezes just fine in the jug if you pour out 1/10 to leave room for expansion. Tastes pretty close to fresh. A couple of gallons of milk in the freezer make dual-purpose ice blocks that will keep other foods cold when the power goes out.

- Sour cream and buttermilk: I freeze these in ice cube trays as soon as I buy them. No more waste when a recipe calls for just a little, and no more running to town for ingredients.

- Lemon juice/lemon peel: I'm buying lemons when on sale, grating the peels into a freezer bag and then juicing what's left to freeze in ice cube trays. BTW, lemon peel makes a wonderful addition to banana bread.

- Fresh orange/grapefruit juice: I'm absolutely can't stand heat-treated (pasteurized) juices, so I've begun juicing fresh oranges and grapefruits and freezing the juice in small plastic bottles. After defrosting, the juice still tastes like fresh-squeezed.

- Cheese: I routinely freeze pint-size containers of shredded parmesan, crumbled feta, and other "specialty" cheeses so that I have always had these on hand when a recipe calls for them. I even freeze "staple" cheeses such as cheddar and jack. The latter tend to become crumbly after freezing, but since I ordinarily use them melted, that's not a big deal to me. 

- Nuts: I've discovered that nuts freeze beautifully. Now I buy walnuts, almonds, pecans, and peanuts in bulk and never find myself needing to run to town for them. I just take out what I need, reseal the bag, and pop it back into the freezer.

What other items, not usually frozen, have you found to freeze well?


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## sdnapier (Aug 13, 2010)

Hi Maddy,

Being single I don't use my spices as fast as others so I refrigerate most of them but I also freeze some of them. Whole cloves, whole nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, anything I bought in a larger than normal size container. I am just not going to use them very fast but I do want them on hand. I also freeze all baking chocolate. 

Just started freezing eggs and pulled my first ones out to bake with. I haven't tried freezing cheese but I have waxed my first blocks of cheese for long term storage to see how that works.


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## morninglory (Aug 7, 2003)

Just FYI, I have noticed that it is necessary to add either a small amount of salt or sugar to the eggs before freezing to prevent them from being tough (if frozen very long). I freeze mine for later when the chickens decide it is vacation time so sometimes they are frozen for long periods.


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

When I have a good year growing potatoes I freeze them.

Just wash good, cut up in bite size chunks into a bowl, toss with Olive oil, enough to coat potatoes. If you want to add a little parsley, thyme, etc. at this time you can. Put in Freezer bags & get as much air out as possible and freeze.

They do not turn black this way!
Roast in a 400 degree oven after taking from the freezer, can deep fry or fry in a skillet. It works great.

We also freeze eggs & milk.
Going to try the sour cream freezing & some of the lemon & orange rinds & juice though.


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## kittyjo (Feb 10, 2005)

if you freeze sliced cheese I put wax paper between [cut up cereal bags] in between the slices and then vacuum seal for later use


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## Patches (Aug 9, 2006)

I tried freeing sour creme and it came out awful when I thawed it out. What did I do wrong. Would love to keep some in the freezer, but mine was all water and lumps when I thawed it out.


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## stormrider27 (May 31, 2011)

When I make stock, I make a lot usualy about 20 quarts at a time. I will can some but freeze most of it. I fill 2 liter bottles 4/5 full and freeze and also I have special ice cube trays I use for stock and freeze in those then put in zip-loc bags when frozen.

Storm


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## DeaDomestica (Oct 5, 2012)

If you have left over wine you can freeze it in ice cube trays them toss in a zip lock and pull it out to add to soups, risottos, etc. Not that we ever have left over wine. :ashamed:


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## unregistered65598 (Oct 4, 2010)

I froze tomatoes for the first time this summer. I didn't have the time to can them. I washed and cored them. Then put them in ziplocks. The skins come right off when thawed. They work great for chili and stews.


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## kittyjo (Feb 10, 2005)

I also froze tomatoes but just washed them I dumped them in a pot and cooked then I ran them through a food mill to make sauce cooked it down in low oven then canned didn't have to deal with any coring or peeling


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## Barn Yarns (Oct 7, 2012)

I was always told to add a TBSP honey to the icecube tray bound eggs. its healthier than salt 

When I buy milk from the store, its in bags and just toss them into the freezer. they are half gallon bags, and thaw in about 8 hours in the kitchen sink. Raw milk doesnt freeze well.

Yogurt is a great frozen treat. I always have some starter in the freezer for the next batch. as for sour cream... yeah... i freeze that too, but when I do its only for stuff that is baked. done this twice now and you dont notice any difference in flavor or texture. Im trying the 'turn over the container' trick on my current small container of sour cream. I read here it should stay OK for 4 months so long as there are no continments in it. 

I have frozen tomatos whole until i have time to get to them. 

we have made up a big patch of potatoes, mashed and frozen them. 

I have some lard in the freezer, but some is canned too.


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