Home Freezing Of Foods

Housewives find it convenient to buy food stuffs in seasons when they are in abundance, and freeze them for several months for use after the season is out. One an also do bulk cooking and store it for later use.

Meat, fish , poultry, fruits, vegetables and cooked foods can be frozen for months if carefully packed. These should be washed and wiped and packed in polythene containers. Fruits may be frozen as a dry pack mixed with sugar or as wet pack, i.e. in syrup. In either case, they should be sealed properly. Vegetables should be blanched before freezing. Meat should be cut in convenient pieces, fat and bones removed. In case of fish, scale and gut them. Remove head and tails of big fish. If desired they may be filleted. Wrap them up individually.

Eggs cannot be frozen whole because the shells crack. It is advisable to separate them into white and yokes and freeze separately.

Cooked foods should be well cooled down and frozen immediately. Do not over cook nor add too much seasonings as this can be done while reheating for serving. Aluminum foils or foil containers are ideal for freezing. Foods once thawed should never be re-frozen.

Gourmet's Tips

Cooking At Pressure / Pressure Cooking.

The idea of cooking at pressure is to save time and fuel. Normal cooking keeps the housewife tied down to the kitchen. In pressure cooking there is also the additional advantage of saving food value and flavour; since the cooker is tightly closed throughout the cooking process, Certain foods which takes a long time to cook in normal conditions, like tough meat, etc. become soft quickly by pressure cooking.

To test if your cooker is in order, boil two or three cups of water in it
and let it come to pressure.If it takes about 5 minutes to produce the hissing sound,
on strong heat,the gasket and safety valve are in good condition.

The gasket and fuse should occasionally be smeared with oil to keep it soft.Stretch the gasket a little before you put it on to the lid, so that it will
fit well and will not permit steam to escape.The gasket has to be cleaned with a wet cloth to remove any food particles that stuck to it.Do not keep tight fitting lids
on vessels kept inside the cooker.Cleaning of the lid should be done carefully to
avoid extra stretching of the gasket.

Rough handling will cause dents in the rim and thus spoil the cooker.While cleaning the lid take care that the vent is open and not clogged with food particles.