freezing things
Posted by nmpixie on Nov 21, 2008 · Member since Jan 2008 · 1243 posts
I bought the cheap, store-brand freezer bags, and they REEK of plastic. I'm afraid it will make my sauces taste like plastic, too. Can you just freeze in a glass jar or glass tupperware? Does it take forever to thaw out that way? I've never had this problem before.
I use plastic bags on occasion, but I'm a total stickler about reusing them. (I'll keep one box for a year or two). Wash them out and see if that helps with the smell.
As far as glass, as long as you do not top off the jar, do cool with the lid off, and leave out to cool to room temp (which also cuts down on decomposing bacteria and should be done even if you are putting food into the fridge and not the freezer), I think you will be fine.
If you are looking for a quicker thawing process, I suggest setting up a double boiler (or two pot stacked with the larger one filled with a little water and the smaller one-with a small amount of water in it- set in the larger one) with a small amount of water in your top pot as well as the bottom one, letting the glass jar thaw a bit, then placing it in the double boiler WHILE THE WATER IS COOL!!! and slowly bringing it to a light steam.
It will cut down a little bit of time and should cause no harm to you as a result of broken glass in your goodies!
Just a suggestion.
Interesting, I also thought that glass only busted with a drastic change in temp or if they were overfilled so that the contents couldn't expand. I've use canning jars all the time to freeze things.
It depends on the glass. Here they sell a lot of plates and glasses made of something called Duralex. Their tumblers are notorious for bursting for no particular reason at all. I've had one burst in my hand when I picked it up. Fortunately they don't break into shards, but into little squares like windshield glass. I still have a scar on my finger, though.
The wierdest Duralex explosion I ever witnessed was in the Spanish equivalent of a truck stop. Someone had left a tumbler on a table in one corner of the room, everyone else was across the room at the bar or other tables. Suddenly the tumbler exploded, with no provocation whatsoever. No one was anywhere near it and it had been sitting there empty for at least 30 min or more. We all jumped out of our skins, and the waitress went over to clean it up. Her explanation? "It must have been sitting in a draft." :-\ ???
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