This short video shows you a simple and effective way of flash freezing your food to preserve it's freshness.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
What exactly is flash freezing?
Freezing something quickly.
Precisely right. I did a service call years ago on a machine which pressed out hamburger patties, flipped them on a belt and flash- froze them, and it was amazing. I think the closest you can come to this at home is to put it in the part of the freezer where the ice trays normally go.
To flash freeze at home you put a single layer of what ever food you are working with on a tray and put in freezer for a couple hours or overnight. Then you can either put them in a ziplock or food saver them and be a be able to take just one or as many as you want at a time.
Can you flash freeze green beans?
to flash freeze at home you put a single layer of what ever food you are working with on a tray and put in freezer for a couple hours or overnight.
This is not flash freezing.
Flash freezing means it is frozen very, very quickly at extremely cold temperatures in order to obtain small ice crystals so the food cells are not damaged. Home freezers are not cold enough for this process.
Try laying stuff out on a cookie sheet and putting it in a cooler with some dry ice. Transfer to ziplock bags and store in freezer until needed. No more mushy thawed strawberries in December.
To flash freeze you must literally suck the heat out of the substance you are trying to freeze as fast as possible. An average home freezer is more than capable (with a little help from you) if you work in small batches.
By placing a small amount of substance on a highly conductive material with a large surface area (like an aluminum cookie sheet) the heat moves from the substance to the cookie sheet where it can then be carried away by the freezer. This is the same principal used in radiators, and it is why they have 'fins.' The more surface area you have the better the heat exchange works. It's also the same reason you don't ever want to stick your tongue to a flagpole in the winter.
You see the problem isn't that the freezer section of your refrigerator isn't powerful enough; a modern freezer is very efficient at removing heat from the refrigeration compartments. The problem is that it takes a long time for the heat to 'leach' out of the food to get into the refrigeration compartment in the first place so that the refrigerator can expel the heat. By placing the food on a cookie sheet you can speed the process up.
Remember: Refrigeration works by 'taking away heat' not 'adding more cold.'
I would like to know how to start a food line that is not out yet, a puree line. I would like to flash freeze it. Do you know of any companies? kari
Are there any dangers to the food when flash freezing?
Has anyone successfully flash froze par-baked bread in a home freezer? If so, can you outline the details?
I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that you are you are all wrong. Flash freezing is in fact a process of cryomagnesis with organic materials. To do it properly, you need a crab pot, mayonnaise, and snow.
