Prevent spoilage, stay organized, and make cooking more streamlined with these tips
Hidden within your freezer is a world of untapped potential — it doesn’t have to just be a gravesite for freezer-burned chicken breast, warped cardboard boxes of pizza, or numerous bags of compost. Instead, you can use it as the kitchen tool it’s meant to be. Whether it’s portioning proteins instead of wrestling with a block of frozen pork chops, alleviating weeknight cooking woes with homemade stocks, or labeling everything in deli containers for better organization, there are ways to make the freezer a more habitable environment for all of your precious ingredients. Here are the tried and true hacks Eater staff use to make our freezers be all they can be.
Store curry pastes in ice cube blocks
For quick and easy weeknight dinners, I like to prep cubes of curry or Thailand’s beloved “three buddies” paste — a blend of garlic, cilantro roots, and black pepper — into ice cube blocks that can later be easily tossed into a pot of simmering coconut milk or stir fried in a wok. Doing this sets up the rest of my cooking for success; instead of wasting time peeling and pounding aromatics, everything is pretty much ready to go. Just add proteins and your favorite veggies and dinner is served. — Kat Thompson, associate editor
Prep for “semi-homemade” dinner
As much as I may roll my eyes at the cutesy marketing of a “semi-homemade” dinner, the philosophy still has its place — and it can start with the freezer. I’m much more likely to freeze the starter components of a meal than a meal in its entirety, whether it be something like pesto sauce, shrimp stock, or compound butter. Pho broth freezes better than pho; chicken noodle soup freezes better without the noodles. My night won’t be ruined if I have to force myself to boil some egg noodles before I eat chicken soup (even when I’m not feeling well), or cook up some spaghetti that I can pair with freezer meatballs or sauce. Is this all just an elaborate argument to convince you not to freeze cooked noodles? Maybe. — Missy Frederick, cities manager
Grate frozen ginger to avoid fussy peeling
I don’t use fresh ginger all that frequently in my own cooking, which means that if I buy a large knob at the grocery store, it will likely get mushy before I can make my way through it. As such, I usually toss it in the freezer immediately after getting home from the grocery store. Once it’s frozen solid, I use a microplane to grate the ginger into fluffy, icy shards that mix right into my stir-fries and marinades, no peeling required. — Amy McCarthy, reporter
Portion your proteins
The best form of culinary tenderness lies not in the final presentation of a meal, but in the preparation. Whether you shop for a specific meal or buy in bulk, remove those chicken breasts, steaks, or filets from their store packaging and group them into reasonably sized quantities for you, rather than trying to meet the outdated dieting guidance we may have inherited from parents or social media. It’s easy to do, whether you ask your local grocery store butcher to slice and seal your preferred portions before sealing them in cling wrap, or simply seal your ideal amounts in Ziploc bags for later use. However you incorporate this into your day-to-day, remember that heartfelt “warmth” and compassion can thrive in the freezer. It just takes a little nurturing and preparation — and keeping an eye out for freezer burn. — Jesse Sparks, senior editor
Store the beginnings of soup in deli containers
My freezer is far from well organized. The interior is a chaotic mess of precariously placed frozen Costco chicken bakes and bulk-purchased meat. But, the one thing I have consistently done is keep broth, and broth ingredients, in deli containers. I’m a big advocate of not letting things go to waste, so rotisserie chicken remnants are often turned into chicken broth after the bones have been picked clean. Storing this in deli cups removes the risk of glass breaking in the freezer, and the fall risk when it inevitably tumbles out. The best part, though, might be when I forget they’re in there, and rediscover a treasure trove of broth ready to become congee or risotto, or in truth, just a hot mug full of comforting both. For the times I’m a little extra organized, I’ll even freeze leftover mirepoix for future use. —Rebecca Roland, associate editor
Prevent your nuts from going rancid
Few foods are more disappointing, more an affront to expectation, than a rancid nut. Nuts are supposed to be stable at room temperature, something you can leave out for indeterminate periods of time without fearing mold or rot. They’re also somewhat expensive, which adds insult to injury when you discover that they can, in fact, go bad. For this, my solution, or maybe preventative medicine, is the freezer. Frozen nuts do not turn rancid, which is why my freezer door is lined with bags of almonds, cashews, pine nuts, hazelnuts, and pistachios, all trapped in a state of suspended animation. When I take them out they taste as fresh as they did on the day that I bought them, another reminder of the miracle that is vapor compression cycle technology. — Rebecca Flint Marx, Eater at Home editor
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