Freezing food without plastic (1 Viewer)

Angela · Feb 23, 2019

So, having large amounts of veggies from the farm, I tend to make large batch soups or chilis and freeze single serve meals in the freezer. It's been a life saver as far as having something healthy available at all times.

The only thing is, I can't really find a good alternative to using all those ziploc bags. They fit really well, snug and slim, (which also helps with the thawing) but I'd love to hear suggestions for alternatives.
We have our stock in mason jars. But I really can't allot that much space in my freezer for all the other food to fit that way.

Snowmelt · Feb 23, 2019

My personal opinion is that you need to take the best and avoid the worst from what this point in space time on this timeline offers. Ziploc bags are one of the best, considering they allow you to make your meals in advance, defrost them easily, can be washed and are re-usable. If you want to offset the use of plastic, gather more seeds, keep a seed stock. Plant more seedlings. Life is cyclic, things coming up one way and going out another way.

Linda · Feb 24, 2019

Thanks Angela - I've been mulling this over recently, too.

I listened to a few podcasts about women's health and some of the presenters made the point about our bodies having excellent detox systems. My thinking is that if we do the best we can with our health, then our bodies will take care of the rest. If I did everything perfectly, I'd spend hours in food gathering, prep, and cooking daily. If a few ziplock bags here and there help us, then bless them and carry on.

Lila · Feb 25, 2019

Yeah, this one's a conundrum.
I did hear that you could freeze things on a flat surface (cookie sheet type surface) and once the veggies/fruit/whatever was frozen then put it into other containers. I believe the idea was mostly that the individual veggies etc wouldn't freeze to each other though I imagine you could freeze them this way and then pretty quickly transfer them to other containers.
I got stuck at not having the freezer space for the flat surfaces.

I do hugely prefer glass containers to plastic and sometimes life throws us a curve so all you can do, as mentioned above, is your best.

I guess that is why pickling was invented, so that you could then stash it in a place that didn't require freezing, etc. Again, haven't really figured that out though I did recently buy a good book about fermenting one's veggies. What I liked was a page that had a basic recipe that was intended for just about whatever veggie one wanted to ferment. I liked that idea. Haven't yet acted on it.

Snowmelt · Feb 25, 2019

I once bought a food drier at a garage sale for $10. But then I got all worried that it could go on fire - an untested, electrical item that is someone else's junk. So I tossed it without ever trying it.

Angela · Feb 25, 2019

Lila said:
Yeah, this one's a conundrum.
I did hear that you could freeze things on a flat surface (cookie sheet type surface) and once the veggies/fruit/whatever was frozen then put it into other containers. I believe the idea was mostly that the individual veggies etc wouldn't freeze to each other though I imagine you could freeze them this way and then pretty quickly transfer them to other containers.
I got stuck at not having the freezer space for the flat surfaces.

I do hugely prefer glass containers to plastic and sometimes life throws us a curve so all you can do, as mentioned above, is your best.

I guess that is why pickling was invented, so that you could then stash it in a place that didn't require freezing, etc. Again, haven't really figured that out though I did recently buy a good book about fermenting one's veggies. What I liked was a page that had a basic recipe that was intended for just about whatever veggie one wanted to ferment. I liked that idea. Haven't yet acted on it.

I've done the flat freezer sheet thing with blanched or roasted vegetables and also some fruit we've gotten. (Peaches specifically. Oof those took a long time to prepare. Heh)

I've considered pickling. But I have allergic reactions to too high of a histamine amount and I don't think that would go over well. I try to have a little here and there. But with fermented foods, but my body will only accept so much of it. It sucks because I like a lot of that stuff. Sauerkraut for one. I've also wanted to play with kimchi. My first recipe didn't work all that well. But I haven't gotten to try another yet.

I've also considered learning how to can. But I'm intimidated, not because I don't think I can do it, but because I have so much on my plate, I think it might all just overwhelm me.

I appreciate the kindness of the responses here. It's a shame that this market doesn't have much of an option yet. But maybe that just means we're almost there.
Thank you guys.

Linda · Feb 25, 2019

Angela said:
But with fermented foods, but my body will only accept so much of it.

Same here, but I never knew why - thanks. I used to love pickles and picked okra, but only in small quantities now.

Lila · Feb 25, 2019

Yeah, overwhelm.
Sometimes I just wish there were somebody available who's figured all that stuff out so that I can learn from them and/or outsource some of that.
Hmmm.... sounds like that may be the start of a business idea!

Linda · Feb 25, 2019

I went on a search and found this item. Looking at it reminded me of some smaller corning ware pieces that I've had for a long time, but they don't have air tight lids.

Well, amazon is not letting me insert a link, so here is one piece on the Walmart site - look up that brand name wherever you are.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bormioli-Rocco-Frigoverre-Square-Food-Container-with-Frosted-Lid-8-Ounce/106351746

Lila · Feb 25, 2019

Linda said:
I went on a search and found this item. Looking at it reminded me of some smaller corning ware pieces that I've had for a long time, but they don't have air tight lids.

Well, amazon is not letting me insert a link.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bormioli-Rocco-Frigoverre-Square-Food-Container-with-Frosted-Lid-8-Ounce/106351746

I use something quite similar for storing leftovers in the fridge all the time. Mine have little flaps on all sides which snap down to close. I have another set which are circular and the lid looks more like what you show. I love them.

I do also store things in the freezer with them which does, as Angela says above, take up more room than ziplocs but since they're stackable you can still fit a fair bit. For stackablility I'd choose squares or rectangles.

I had another thought: dehydrating food. I haven't tried it myself though I do know there are commercially available dehydrators and these are supposed to be easy to use. I believe you put your food in them, stacked on cookie sheet like plates, and leave them there until they are done which is probably at least 24 hours and that's it. My understanding of them is that there would be an up-front price to pay for the dehydrator and then it'd be free or very inexpensive from there.

Linda · Feb 26, 2019

I found another one on the Indigogo site (crowd funding). They are silicon and should last a long time, but the initial investment is a bit steep.

Angela · Feb 26, 2019

Linda said:
I found another one on the Indigogo site (crowd funding). They are silicon and should last a long time, but the initial investment is a bit steep.

Those look pretty darn cool. Those could potentially work, but as you said, the initial investment is steep. I wonder how many I would need. Hmmm....

Lila said:
I use something quite similar for storing leftovers in the fridge all the time. Mine have little flaps on all sides which snap down to close. I have another set which are circular and the lid looks more like what you show. I love them.

I do also store things in the freezer with them which does, as Angela says above, take up more room than ziplocs but since they're stackable you can still fit a fair bit. For stackablility I'd choose squares or rectangles.

I had another thought: dehydrating food. I haven't tried it myself though I do know there are commercially available dehydrators and these are supposed to be easy to use. I believe you put your food in them, stacked on cookie sheet like plates, and leave them there until they are done which is probably at least 24 hours and that's it. My understanding of them is that there would be an up-front price to pay for the dehydrator and then it'd be free or very inexpensive from there.

I know a lot of people at the farm dehydrate different things too. A lot of people do fruit leather or chips.

These are such great ideas, guys.

Linda · Feb 26, 2019

I checked Bed Bath and Beyond (in US) and found Rubbermaid and Oxo glass containers with silicon and plastic lids. They also had several silicon storage bags, with the largest one being 1/2 gallon for $20. I get those coupon fliers all the time, so I just need to wait for another 20% off purchase and get a silicon bag to see how it works.

Hey, I could plan ahead and get some for Christmas gifts for the kids. They are accustomed to weird yet useful items from me. :))

bo atkinson · Mar 2, 2019

I’ve been getting into making my own very large LDPE bags with a heat sealing wheel, using painter’s plastic (2 mil thickness). This is strictly for kale which is a favorite-easy super-food, easy to grow and store and it takes plenty of cold weather too. I don’t bother with blanching it, but collect and place between bag-with-fresh-kale between two pieces of heavy-steel-plate already inside the freezer, to compress it in these flat ‘bags’ and also to get a fast freeze, also to not defrost other frozen food. Recyclers accept film plastic like LDPE, but i may try some techniques to use fewer bags and a 6-mil-sheet of LDPE, as a parting-agent to press the fresh kale to thin-leafs, to later stuff in the bigger bags. (Keep adding layers without so much 2 mil plastic. Freezers actually dehydrate foods somewhat and kale is always easy to break off enough for meals all year.

therium · Mar 3, 2019

We found these thick glass bowls with tight-fitting lids. We use them in the freezer all the time and pop them right into the microwave. Depending on how rich the food is they will hold 1-2 servings of food. If one of these bowls were full of chili that would be 2 servings for me. The lids will leak if the soup is liquid and the bowl gets turned over but they work fine in the freezer when the stuff is frozen.

These are pyrex. I think this is what we have. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=pyrex+glass+storage+containers+with+lids&crid=34ORMXV622AZL&sprefix=pyrex,aps,197&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_5
Amazon search for you. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=glass+bowl+with+lid&pldnSite=1&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
These are also excellent due to the positive locking action. These are soup proof. They have a gasket which clips firmly to the bowl. Silicone gaskets are best. Rubber is ok but will not last as long especially if exposed to high heat of the dish washer dry cycle.
This looks like a good deal for $30 because it's tempered glass. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=oxo+glass+food+storage+containers&crid=OCRJ24TD275M&sprefix=oxo+glas,aps,199&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_4_8

Also, if you are concerned about phthalates (and there are many types of those) your exposure will be minimal unless you heat the food in a plastic container. BPA free does not mean phthalate free. I'm not a person to use emotions to make decisions about this type of thing but after I read the research I'm concerned. Phthalates are really dangerous because they mess up the endocrine system.

(Edited by Linda to show links.)

whiterchocolate · Dec 16, 2019

I have done this with fish before , it should work with liquids or solids inside a liquid and saves up space , get a pyrex dish ( preferably square or rectangle for efficient space management) , and put your liquid and I guess veggies inside ( I used water with fish inside and it kept them really fresh ) and then freeze it ( make sure that the veggies are completely covered with water ) when it has frozen solid, take out the frozen dish and use a spray bottle to spray water on top to make sure any cracks are sealed and cover up any veggies sticking out so they wont get freezer burn and then freeze it again , it should be a completely frozen block, then set the dish ( this is why it is important to have good quality glass) in warm water so that it starts to melt and loosen the ice inside the pan so that the whole block comes free , flip the block over , spray the " bottom" ( that you just removed from the glass pan ) with the spray bottle of water and freeze again ( this part may take 1-2 times to make sure it is all covered in a nice layer of ice ) , when it is all finished , wrap in paper ( I just used the brown paper commonly used in packing but you could use freezer paper too but it usually has plastic on it) , use " freezer paper tape " ( in the same section of the store you get the freezer paper) it wont come off when it gets really cold. Now you have veggies frozen without worry about plastic , and they stack and store really well , like I said I only used this with fish ( and got really good results ) but I imagine it works well with veggies too .

Linda · Dec 16, 2019

whiterchocolate said:
I have done this with fish before

Sounds like a good way for some long-term storage. Thanks for sharing.

whiterchocolate · Dec 16, 2019

No problem , happy to help , if anyone tries this with veggies be sure to post how it does.

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Freezing food without plastic (1 Viewer)

Angela

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Snowmelt

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Linda

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Lila

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Angela

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