Beef, veal, mutton and poultry are suitable for freezing. Only fresh, high-quality meat and poultry should be frozen.
Instruments
- Polythene Bag
- Deep Freezer
- Sealer
Procedure
Preparation for Freezing:
- Beef, Veal and Mutton — Select suitable cuts or portions. Cut into desired size pieces as required for final cooking. All blood-stained portions should be trimmed off.
- Poultry — If whole chicken is desired to be used in the final preparation, e.g. for roasting, then it must be frozen after slaughtering, de-feathering, singeing and eviscerating. Chicken cuts’ are preferred for freezing when these are to be used for cooking.
Procedure:
- Prepare the meat or bird, wash and allow to drain.
- Pack in portions to be used later in moisture-proof wrapping material. Polythene bags are quite suitable for the purpose.
- Repack the bag in another polythene bag. This will ensure that moisture will not be lost from the meat during freezing storage.
- Note: Improper packaging material may result in meat to become dry on .the surface, thereby causing loss of weight and fat to become rancid. This condition is known as freeze-burn.
- Place the packets in the coolest part of a deep freezer. Make sure that the freezer is not overloaded with too much material.
- Once frozen, the packets can be transferred to other parts of the freezer or stacked one over another.
- Keep in a frozen state, preferably at a temperature of -18 °C, till required.
- Note: If there are no power failures or fluctuations in the freezer temperature, then frozen meat and poultry should preferably be consumed within 3 months.
- Thawing — Thaw the meat in the cooking pan and cook from the frozen state. Utilize the drip containing soluble nutrients.
