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Freeze Yeast: This Way You Can Use it For Longer

Freezing yeast makes sense if you have leftover yeast after baking or you bought it in advance. Here we explain how you can freeze the fresh yeast.

Freeze yeast: in jars and in cans

Would you like to stock up on fresh yeast or did you only need half a yeast cube for your yeast dough? Then simply freeze the fresh yeast. Frozen yeast keeps for several months and you don’t have to waste food
Place the yeast cube in a small tin or jar

Thaw yeast after freezing

If you want to use the frozen yeast, thaw it ahead of time. There are two variants:
Defrost gently: Put the yeast in the fridge the day before you want to bake and let it thaw slowly.
If you’re in a hurry: Thaw the yeast in a warm liquid if your recipe uses that liquid. Note, however, that yeast does not tolerate temperatures above 45°C, as the yeast then loses its effectiveness.
The yeast may become slightly softer and runnier after thawing than before freezing. But that’s not a problem, you can use them normally for baking.

We recommend organic yeast

Organic yeast is the ecologically better yeast:
While conventional yeast is produced using chemical substances that have to be washed out afterwards, organic yeast is much more sustainable. Because organic yeast does not have to be washed out, it requires less water during production and no unnecessary chemical substances get into the waste water.
In addition, genetically engineered enzymes can be used in the production of conventional yeast. Since there are no long-term studies on the use of genetic engineering, it can harbor undiscovered risks. The production processes of organic products do not contain any genetically modified substances.

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Food

18 Foods You Can Easily Freeze

Freezing food preserves it and can thus reduce waste – and that works with a surprising number of foods. We show what you can freeze and what you should pay attention to.

Freezing is a good way to avoid wasting food, especially when you have leftover food that would otherwise go bad. Fruit or vegetables, for example, that you just can’t manage to use up or leftovers from dinner that nobody can eat anymore.

Of course, freezers or chest freezers need electricity – that’s why it’s important to make sure you choose efficient devices and the right location.

1. Fruits and vegetables

Mushrooms: Simply (dry!) ​​clean button mushrooms or oyster mushrooms, trim stems if necessary, then cut into quarters or slices and prefreeze flat on a chopping board or baking sheet to prevent them from sticking together, then transfer to cans. Blanch chanterelles briefly in salted water before freezing, otherwise they taste slightly bitter after thawing. Tip: simply use frozen mushrooms! If you let them thaw before processing, they will become slightly mushy.
Avocados: You should only freeze ripe fruits, either halved, without the stone and sprinkled with lemon juice, or pureed for dips like guacamole.
Better than buying strawberries in winter: Freeze seasonal strawberries. To do this, simply wash the whole fruit, remove the stems and pat dry, then pre-freeze flat on a board or baking sheet before dividing into freezer containers. Or you puree the strawberries and freeze the puree in small glasses or ice cube trays.
You can also freeze cherries: wash, remove the stalks – and the pits if you want – then prefreeze flat on a board or baking sheet before dividing them into freezer containers.
Although you can freeze apples, they are best suited for baking or cooking afterwards, as they lose their consistency when thawed. To preserve apples, you can also make applesauce from them – and you can freeze applesauce without any problems.
Freezing ripe bananas is a good idea, especially if you want to use them for smoothies, vegan egg substitutes, or nice cream. You can freeze bananas whole, sliced, or mashed, depending on how you want to use them.
Freezing tomatoes is not a problem, but they lose their flavor due to their high water content. They are then best suited for sauces. Tip: You can also freeze homemade tomato sauce in a jar and defrost as needed. Another method if you have more tomatoes than you can use: preserve them by canning them.

2. Ready meals

Here’s an idea for the summer: You can freeze cold coffee in an ice cube mold – and then spice it up with ice coffee or cold brew, for example.
Raw potatoes don’t work, but boiled potatoes or potato dishes do: You can freeze mashed potatoes or potato soup in particular without any problems.
If you have too much cooked pasta or rice left over, you can simply freeze both – the easiest way is to portion out the leftovers. To thaw frozen noodles, simply put them in boiling water, thaw the rice at room temperature and then warm it up in the steam.
Freezing soup is super easy – and you’ll have “ready to eat” ready to hand. Tip: Freeze soups in screw-top jars so you have ready-made portions straight away.

3. Animal Products

It will go rancid in the fridge after a few weeks, so freezing butter may be a good idea. It will then last up to six months. Simply put the butter pack in a tin and put it in the freezer. If necessary, thaw slowly in the refrigerator. Tip: You can also freeze pre-portioned butter for baking. You can freeze herb butter in ice cube molds.
Incidentally, you can also freeze margarine, but this only works with full-fat margarines.
Cheese: You should only freeze hard cheese or semi-hard cheese and only if you cannot use it otherwise. It keeps best whole and with the rind on, but sliced ​​raclette cheese can also be kept in the freezer for around two months without losing too much of its aroma. Re-thawed cheese is best for cooking and baking as it loses some of its flavor.
Whole eggs will keep raw or hard-boiled in the refrigerator for a few weeks and are not suitable for freezing. Raw egg yolks or egg whites or whisked eggs, on the other hand, go bad quickly – you can also freeze eggs in this form. Simply place in freezer-safe containers and thaw slowly in the refrigerator as needed. Be sure to heat it up properly before eating!

4. Dough & Yeast

Did you know that you can freeze fresh yeast dough? It is best to divide the dough into portions before letting it rise and freeze them in airtight wrappers. Tip: If you want to freeze pizza dough, you can freeze it rolled out to the right size, separating several layers with baking paper. It is best to let yeast dough thaw overnight or for several hours in the refrigerator.
You can also freeze fresh yeast – this is a good idea, for example, if you have half a cube of yeast left over. Simply place in a small can or jar in the freezer. It is best to put it in the fridge to thaw the day before you use it.

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Food

Freeze Kohlrabi: This is How it Stays Fresh

Kohlrabi is a healthy and delicious summer vegetable. You can freeze it so that you still have some of it in winter.

Depending on the variety, the kohlrabi harvest season begins in May and ends in autumn. If your harvest is very good, you can freeze kohlrabi and enjoy the vegetables even in winter. But even if you have leftover kohlrabi from a meal, you can freeze it to avoid wasting food.

Blanch and freeze the kohlrabi

If you want to preserve your kohlrabi harvest, then proceed as follows:
Peel and wash the fresh kohlrabi.
Cut it into strips or cubes. Be sure to remove woody spots.
Bring salted water to a boil in a saucepan.
Have ice water ready to chill.
Add the kohlrabi and blanch in boiling salted water for two minutes.
Then shock the kohlrabi in ice water.
Let it cool completely and drain well through a sieve.
Then freeze it in suitable glass or bioplastic freezer containers.
Defrosting: You can add the kohlrabi pieces to soups, stews and vegetable pans while they are still frozen. It is important not to cook it for too long, otherwise it will become too soft.

Alternative: Freeze raw kohlrabi

Some home gardeners and chefs skip a step and freeze their kohlrabi without blanching it first. To do this, peel the raw kohlrabi and cut it into sticks or cubes and place it in freezer-safe containers. After thawing, however, this method can change the appearance and consistency of the kohlrabi.

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Cooking Tips

Preserve Wild Garlic and Freeze

Here you will find instructions for freezing and preserving wild garlic. Wild garlic can be used in a variety of ways in the kitchen to prepare tasty dishes. But you have to preserve the delicious wild vegetables because they are not available all year round.

Cool wild garlic and preserve it

Wild garlic stays fresh in the fridge for about 2 days, after which it begins to lose its aromatic freshness. By the way, did you know that you can easily freeze wild garlic? So you can extend its availability to the whole year.

Ferment wild garlic

Fermentation is a typical way of storing food in Japan and Korea. In order to preserve wild garlic, it is fermented. The taste then changes to something sour, as the lactic acid bacteria decompose the wild garlic and convert it into acid. Vegetables preserved by fermentation are a tasty change of taste and have a very health-promoting effect on your body. Be sure to use gloves for the preparation if you don’t like green hands. You will need salt, empty screw-top jars, labels to write on, and a tray or plate. Fermenting only works in a dark place at 18-20 °Celsius.

  • First, clean the wild garlic by carefully shaking out the leaves.
  • Add 0.5 to 1 g salt per 100 g and put the wild garlic in a bowl.
  • Knead everything well with your hands for a while.
  • Fill the softly kneaded wild garlic into a clean glass.
  • Leave 2 cm under the lid after you push it in.
  • Seal the jar and label it with self-written labels.
  • For two weeks you put it on a plate in a dark place at 18-20 degrees.
  • Now the wild garlic is ready to eat. It has a shelf life of one year in a cool, dark place.
  • Wild garlic deep-frozen

You can buy frozen wild garlic from many companies. But to go collect it yourself or to harvest it in your own garden is an experience. Hopefully, you have found a suitable method for preserving wild garlic in our compilation and can now season many delicious dishes with your own wild garlic. By the way: Even the flowers are edible and have a very aromatic taste!

Freezing wild garlic

Another way to preserve wild garlic is to freeze it. You need fresh wild garlic, water, broth, or olive oil. When it comes to wild garlic, you should note that it has not yet bloomed. This method works best if you’d like to take small portions for daily meals. By the way, did you know that wild garlic doesn’t smell as strong as garlic? You can grab it and still not smell like garlic from your mouth.

  • Then pluck off the leaves first.
  • Next, the wild garlic must be carefully washed.
  • Then you should finely chop the leaves.
  • Fill them in airtight plastic containers or in portions in ice cube trays.
  • You can fill the small compartments of the ice cube tray with water, broth, or olive oil.

Freeze wild garlic differently

There are several ways to freeze wild garlic. They differ with regard to the type of use when later cooking with wild garlic. For example, you can freeze the wild garlic ready-made as pesto, herb butter, or spice stock cubes. You need clean containers with lids. Depending on the type of preparation, you also need butter, oil, or broth. We have put together preparation for pesto, a preparation for herb butter, and a preparation of the spice stock cubes for you.

  • For the preparation with butter: Simply stir the chopped wild garlic into the butter with a spoon, using plenty of wild garlic. Then pour the mixture into the prepared glasses. You can even freeze the glasses.
  • However, it is best to only fill the jars three-quarters full, as the liquid inside expands below 4 °C. If there is still enough space in the glass, it will not burst in the refrigerator compartment. Wild garlic butter tastes particularly good with freshly grilled meat, fish, or vegetables.
  • For the preparation with oil: Puree the wild garlic with a little olive oil. Then simply pour it into a glass as usual. This way of preparing wild garlic is particularly suitable for preparing spaghetti with pesto. Pesto with wild garlic is a tasty change from tomato pesto or basil pesto.
  • For the preparation with broth: With this preparation, you should puree the wild garlic with as little liquid as possible. Then freeze the wild garlic. This way of preparing wild garlic is particularly suitable for seasoning soups or sauces. You can use them like bouillon cubes. To freeze a cube shape, use an ice cube tray to freeze.
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Cooking Tips

Freeze Pizza Dough: You Have to Pay Attention to That

Freezing pizza dough is useful if you have misjudged the quantity or want to build up a small supply. We’ll explain how to freeze.

Freeze pizza dough in portions

Ideally, you freeze the pizza dough before it has risen – this way the pizza doesn’t get soggy. If you’ve made a lot of pizza dough, you should freeze the dough in the portions you need for one pizza at a time.

When freezing, it is important to pack the dough airtight. This works with cling film or freezer bags, but for the sake of the environment and your health you should avoid plastic. A good plastic-free alternative is a beeswax wrap.

You can freeze pizza dough particularly well in a cake tin: Roll out each portion of dough into a circle and place them in a round cake tin. Always put a layer of baking paper between the flatbreads (you can use the baking paper later).

Then you pack the whole thing airtight, for example in wax paper. The advantage of this method: You can take individual pizza bases straight out of the fridge. They thaw faster thanks to their flat shape and you don’t have to roll them out after freezing.

thawing and shelf life

Well packaged, the pizza dough can be stored in the freezer for up to three months. That’s enough to create a small supply.

You should defrost the dough slowly, ideally over a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator. This allows the pizza dough to rise again. If it has to be quick, you can save yourself the hassle, the pizza will be a bit crispy.

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Food

Freeze Tofu: You Should Pay Attention to This

Freeze tofu? That’s fine! This not only keeps it longer, but also makes it particularly crispy or tasty. You can find out what you should consider here.

Freezing tofu has several advantages: Not only can you extend the shelf life, but you can also change the consistency. Tofu can be frozen for up to six months.

When does it make sense to freeze tofu?

Freezing tofu makes sense to prevent food waste – for example in these cases:

You don’t consume your tofu within its shelf life. Note: Most foods are still edible beyond the best-before date without any problems.
You opened the package and you have tofu left over. Tofu usually only lasts a few days in the refrigerator once opened.
Because it contains a lot of water, the tofu changes its consistency when it freezes. You can use this:

The pores get bigger. As a result, thawed tofu can absorb the marinade and spices better and tastes more intense. For particularly flavorful marinated tofu, it makes sense to freeze the tofu beforehand. However, be careful not to over-season – this can easily happen due to the larger pores.
Depending on the type, freezing the tofu makes it either firmer, softer or more crumbly. Natural tofu becomes firmer and easier to express. You can take advantage of this in dishes with crispy tofu, such as breaded tofu sticks. All other types of tofu, such as silken tofu, become softer and more crumbly and are then great for soy Bolognese or desserts such as vegan chocolate mousse or vegan cheesecake.
It is possible that some varieties will turn yellowish when frozen. However, the yellow tinge often disappears again when it is thawed.

Freezing tofu: what do you have to consider?

Pack the tofu airtight, for example in a tightly sealable box. Alternatively, you can leave it in the vacuum pack that you bought the tofu in. This is important to keep the tofu from drying out and freezer burn.
If you like, you can chop or portion the tofu before freezing.
The tofu should be in the freezer compartment or cupboard for at least half a day so that it is properly frozen. Then you can use the changes in consistency (see above).
Don’t marinate and season the tofu until it’s thawed.
The best way to thaw frozen tofu is to place it in the fridge the night before.

Which tofu is recommended

We recommend buying organic tofu. In particular, organic seals such as Bioland, Demeter or Naturland have strict guidelines and ban chemical-synthetic pesticides, among other things. In addition, organic tofu mostly consists of European soy.

Ask your supermarket or health food store about regional products and pay attention to the indications of origin. With shorter transport routes, you can save on CO2 emissions and thus reduce your ecological footprint. Here you can find out more about how you can eat regionally despite a vegan diet: Vegan regional: Soya and seitan are also available from Germany.

Tip: You can also make tofu yourself.

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Food

Freeze Bread Dumplings: Here’s How

Freezing bread dumplings is a great way to avoid food waste or to stock up. In this article we will show you step by step how to freeze bread dumplings and then use them.

Bread dumplings are very easy and uncomplicated to freeze. Not only do you avoid waste if you have cooked too much, you also have a tasty and home-cooked side dish at hand when you need something quick.

Freeze bread dumplings: This is how it works

If you want to freeze bread dumplings, you should cook them first. If you cook the dumplings before freezing them, they will have a nicer shape and be easier to prepare and use.

Proceed as follows so that you can use the bread dumplings individually:

Place the cooked bread dumplings loosely on a tray or in a casserole dish and let them cool completely. Attention: The dumplings must not touch each other, otherwise they will freeze to each other.
Place the tray with the completely cooled bread dumplings in the freezer for at least an hour.
Then, remove the dumplings from the freezer and place them in a reusable glass or plastic freezer container.
Deep-frozen bread dumplings can be kept for up to four months in an airtight deep-freeze container.
Pre-freezing the dumplings on a tray will prevent them from freezing together. This allows you to remove them individually from the freezer and use them.

How to use frozen bread dumplings

You don’t need to thaw frozen bread dumplings before using them. They are therefore an uncomplicated side dish when time is of the essence.

Tip: Freezing bread dumplings is particularly advantageous for single households because you can remove the dumplings individually. In this way you can cook a larger quantity as meal prepping and then have bread dumplings in stock for many weeks.

How to prepare frozen bread dumplings:

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
Remove the desired amount of bread dumplings from the freezer.
Add the still frozen dumplings to the boiling water.
Let the bread dumplings simmer in hot water at the lowest temperature for about 20 minutes. Attention: The water should only boil and not boil, otherwise the dumplings will fall apart.
Serve the dumplings as usual.
Alternative preparation options:

Frozen dumplings can also be prepared very well over steam with a sieve insert in the pot or with a steam cooker.

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Cooking Tips

Freeze Rhubarb: with or without Blanching?

Freezing rhubarb is a great way to preserve it and enjoy it out of season. We’ll show you how to do it and whether you have to cook it beforehand.

Rhubarb is in season from early April through June. The rhubarb harvest time is always over far too quickly. Maybe you have a surplus harvest and are looking for a way to preserve the vegetables. Freezing is a good option – we’ll show you how it works.

It’s best to avoid plastic containers and freezer bags when freezing the rhubarb. Screw-on jars are a good alternative. It also makes sense to portion the rhubarb before freezing; so you can thaw and process the right amount later.

Freezing rhubarb: this is how it works

First remove the rhubarb leaves. The leaves are not edible, but you can make plant fertilizer out of them, for example: put the leaves in cold water and let them steep for 24 hours. With the resulting extract you can water your plants and give them valuable nutrients.
Rinse the rhubarb stalks under running water and then drain them.
Cut off the ends with a knife. This is only necessary if the ends are hard. You can usually process fresh rhubarb without this step.
Now you can peel the rhubarb.
Cut the pickled vegetables into chunks. These should be between two and five centimeters long.
At this point you can blanch the rhubarb. However, the investment of time and energy is not absolutely necessary. Blanching preserves the color better, but does not change the taste. The shelf life does not change if you freeze the rhubarb raw.
Layer the rhubarb pieces in screw-top jars. Fill it up to just under the brim and seal it. Label the glasses with the respective date. Then you can store them in the freezer and freeze the rhubarb.
Frozen rhubarb will keep for 10 to 12 months. After defrosting, you can make rhubarb compote or rhubarb crumble, for example.

Tip: If you want to avoid the rhubarb pieces sticking together after freezing, you can prefreeze them: spread the pieces out on plates – they shouldn’t touch each other. Freeze the rhubarb for about an hour and then pour the pieces into glasses. If you have a freezer instead of a small freezer compartment, you can also prefreeze the pieces on a baking sheet or tray.

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Cooking Tips

Freeze Peppers: This is How They Stay Delicious

To keep peppers fresh and crisp for a long time, you can freeze the delicious vegetables. Here we explain what you should pay attention to and how to do it without plastic.

Freezing peppers: how it works

Whether as a side dish in a pasta sauce or as a healthy snack in between: paprika can be used in many ways. However, you should use up the crunchy vegetables within a few days. If you want to store peppers longer, you can freeze them.

Prep: Unlike other vegetables, you don’t need to blanch peppers beforehand. You don’t have to skin the peppers either.

This is how easy it is to freeze peppers:

Wash the peppers thoroughly.
Cut them into smaller pieces. For example, you can cut the peppers lengthwise into thin strips and then dice them further.
Put the chunks of pepper in a small tin and store them in the freezer.

Alternatives to plastic

Freezing peppers or other vegetables in plastic bags is often recommended. However, we recommend avoiding plastic as far as possible. There are some greener alternatives to plastic freezer bags:

You can use lunch boxes made of wood or glass several times.
Stainless steel cans are also suitable for freezing vegetables.
You can also freeze peppers in glasses (e.g. washed jam jars).
You can even freeze peppers in cotton or jute bags. You should first pat them as dry as possible with a kitchen towel.
By the way: A great alternative to freezing is to soak peppers in oil or vinegar. This way the vegetables will last longer.

 

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Cooking Tips

Freeze Chard: Simple Step-by-step Instructions

Freezing chard is the best way to preserve the leafy greens. But how does one do it? We’ll explain how to do it best.

Chard is a seasonal vegetable. If you grow it in the garden, you often have more at once than you can use. In this case, you can give away excess harvest or freeze for self-sufficiency. That is how it goes.

Freezing chard: the preparation

Before you can freeze the chard, you need to prepare it well:

Cut off dried stem ends.
Wash the chard thoroughly, preferably several times, as there are often a lot of earth residues attached.
For varieties with thick stems, you should remove them and cut them into pieces.
Cut the chard into small pieces. You can cut it a little coarser or finer according to your taste.

Blanch chard before freezing

Before freezing, you should blanch your chard. This means it keeps its color and can also be frozen to save space. Leaves and thicker stems should be blanched separately:

Put a large pot of water on and bring it to a boil. Lightly salt the cooking water.
While the water is getting hot, prepare a large bowl of ice water.
As soon as the water boils, first blanch the chopped chard stalks for one to three minutes.
Remove the stems from the water with a slotted spoon and shock them in ice water.
Blanch the leaves as well, but only for a minute.

Freeze chard

You can now freeze the prepared chard:

Drain the blanched chard thoroughly. You can also pat it dry with a cloth. It is important that it is completely dry.
Put the chard in portions in freezer containers, preferably made of glass or stainless steel. How to avoid plastic when freezing.
Place the containers in the freezer or freezer.
The chard can be frozen for around eight to twelve months.

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