Freezing and storing food
Defrosting
Frozen food can be defrosted in
different ways:
– in a microwave oven,
– in an oven using the "Fan" or
"Defrost" setting,
– at room temperature,
– in the refrigerator (the cold given off
by the frozen food helps to keep the
other food cold),
– in a steam oven.
Flat pieces of partially thawed meat or
fish can be placed directly into a hot
frying pan.
Thicker pieces of meat and fish (e.g.
minced beef, chicken, fish fillet) should
not come into contact with other food
when defrosting. Collect the defrosting
liquid and then pour it away, making
sure you wash the container it was in,
the sink and your hands.
Fruit should be defrosted at room
temperature in its packaging, or in a
covered bowl.
Most vegetables can be cooked while
still frozen. Just put straight into boiling
water or hot fat. The cooking time is
slightly less than that of fresh vegetables
due to changes in the cell structure.
Never refreeze partially or fully
defrosted food. Consume defrosted
food as soon as possible as it will
lose its nutritional value and spoil if
left for too long. Defrosted food may
only be refrozen after it has been
cooked.
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Making ice cubes
^ Fill the ice cube tray three quarters
full of water and place it on the
bottom of a freezer drawer.
^ If the ice cube tray freezes to the
floor of the drawer, use a dull object
(e.g. a spoon handle) to loosen it.
^ The ice cubes can be easily
loosened by holding the tray briefly
under running water.
Cooling drinks quickly
When cooling drinks quickly in the
freezer, make sure bottles are not left
in for more than one hour; otherwise
they could burst, causing injury and
damage.