Stocking a freezer?

Question

We recently moved to a new country and were given a real nice freezer. I heard some where that freezing things in ice trays is a good way to freeze things like tomato paste. What is the size of an ice tray? It looks kinda like a tablespoon. What are some other things I can freeze and use later to make dinners easier like onions?

What is clairafies butter?
How do you freeze onions in butter and why?

Answer 1

Tomato paste you can can, or buy canned, so you do not have to freeze, and putting it in the freezer would just waste space.

I say fill your freezer with things that you'll use. For example if you like to eat meat, save up some money to stop at the butcher and get an entire cow. By buying the entire animal you can save money, the butcher will process it. You can have ground beef, steaks, ribs etc.

Beyond that, seasonal fruit is good to freeze. You can buy it in season in bulk for fairly cheap, freeze it, then have it in winter. For some fruit this can mess with the texture and flavour, but you can still use it for fruit salad. You'll often see frozen fruit salad at grocery stores, just defrost and serve. You can also freeze fruit to make smoothies, or use cropped frozen fruit as ice cubes in drinks, or put them in your ice cube tray and fill with water for bigger ice cubes with fruit inside, a great addition to any drink.

Onions for the most part you do not need to freeze, they'll last in a cool dry place. Only stick them in the freezer for a few minutes before chopping to prevent crying. I guess if you want to make it easier you can always chop the onions and freeze them in small containers, then you can just toss them in a frying pay when needed.

Tomatoes you can can as well. Same with fruit. I think anything with a high water content can be canned, so you may wish to consider canning.

I suggest using your freezer for bulk meats and in season fruits and veggies. In both cases you can save money. Plus things like frozen veggies are convenient because you just pull them out, stick them in the steamer, and there you go. You can process them by chopping them before bagging for example.

Lastly consider cooking large meals, then freezing leftovers. Things like chili, meatballs, homemade burgers, and so forth freeze well. Pasta you don't need to freeze, and I do not know what would happen to it.

So for me I guess the rule of thumb is proteins(meats) and some fruits/veggies in the freezer. I do not freeze carbs like cooked rice or pasta or potatoes.

Answer 2

The ice trays I have hold one ounce per section. The trays have 16 sections, so each one holds 16 ounces by volume. Yours may be different, so just fill one of the sections with water, then put that in a measure and see how much it is.

Clarified butter is made by taking unsalted butter and slowly melting it until it separates into 3 layers. There will be foam on top and milky stuff in the bottom. The middle layer is the clarified butter and will be a golden-yellow liquid. After you melt if, let it sit a couple minutes for everything to settle, then skim off the foam, and strain the rest to collect the clarified butter. You can store it in the refrigerater for several months, but chilling it makes it grainer.

To freeze onions, wash, peel and chop fully mature onions. Place the chopped onions in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze. Once frozen, place them in a sealed container in the freezer. They'll keep for 3-6 months. I do NOT freeze them in butter. Freezing changes the texture of butter too much for my taste.

I freeze bell peppers, too. I quarter them, remove the seeds, freeze on a baking sheet, then put in a freezer zip bag.

Answer 3

You can freeze about anything. Buy meat on sale and freeze it. Freeze leftovers in tupperware. Don't put the tomato paste in the ice cube trays. Dollop it out on a sheet of wax paper, freeze, then dump the blobs into a ziplock. Use the ice cube trays for ice, or say if you make lemonade, make lemonade ice cubes so the lemonade doesn't get diluted with water. Most cheeses freeze really well. I buy cheddar, Parmesan, asiago, Romano, manchego, mozzarella and Swiss in huge blocks and shred them myself and freeze them in ziplocks. Cheese on demand!

Answer 4

breaks
stocks/broths
soups
chopped up onions (only if frozen in butter)
clarified butter
bell peppers (take care that they don't get freezer burn)

Answer 5

huh