Hi, what have people found to be the best storage bag/container to freeze meals?

Adventurista wrote: »

@mtaratoot ~ mmmmmm!
-- freezing beer? Doesn't explode?
- bonus bringing frozen food, and beer.

Not if you do it right.

• Step one: Get beer.
• Step two: Put it in the refrigerator for several days or a week. This allows the maximum amount of CO2 to dissolve in the beer and not be in the head space. You can even take the beer out once or twice a day and shake them and put them back. Let them sit at least a day after you do all that.
• Step three: GENTLY move the chilled cans to the freezer. Let them freeze completely. Then you can store them in the deep freeze until you're ready to pack the cooler.
• Step four: By the fourth day of your river trip, your frozen beer will be defrosted. I did a three-day trip one October, and I had to sit cans out by the fire to thaw.....

Deal is - gas is more soluble in cold liquids. If you think about it, you can put a beer out in 100 degree heat and it won't explode. There's a lot of pressure in the head space as the CO2 comes out of solution AND the beer itself expands as it gets hot. The cans are that strong.

So when you FIRST get as much gas out of the headspace and into the beer, you can have that head space be at a lower pressure. Then when the beer expands as it approaches freezing temperature, there's some room for that gas to expand without exploding the seal. If you put warm beer directly in the freezer, it will burst the can. The pressure in the head space gets too high. That's what does it.

I have had some beer split cans. I've had some cans deform. Typically those are higher level of carbonation beers, like cheap American light lager. If I freeze Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, it works fine. You have to follow the process though.

To pack the cooler: The day before, add a bunch of cubed ice and let sit overnight to pre-chill the inside of the cooler. Dump out that ice and pack. I put two one-gallon jugs of frozen water in the bottom of the cooler and l fill in space between them with frozen beer and any other food that I want to stay frozen. I cover that with a sheet of Mylar bubble wrap. Non-frozen food goes on top of that. As room allows, I can add other small frozen bottles of water. On top of it all, I put another layer of Mylar bubble wrap. That way, as we eat our way through the food, there's always an inner lid to keep things close together in one thermal mass.

My cooler is a roto-molded model. Holds cold a long time. We have had ice at the end of a 23-day Grand Canyon trip if we practice good cooler management. Don't open the cooler during the heat of the day. Know what is in each cooler; open quickly and get what you need. For frozen things that need to thaw, pull them out the night before and put in a different cooler.

If you're someone who doesn't use jugs and instead uses block or cube ice, you can drain the very cold water from your cooler when you get to camp and use that to make ice-cold beer from the beer in your dry storage. Not draining the cooler means the inside will be at a colder temperature, but it may melt the ice faster. Mostly I don't want my food swimming in water - it's a food safety issue.

Multi-day river trips are great. I have a permit for the Rogue in mid May.

SafariGalNYC wrote: »

I like silicone food storage bags. They travel well and can be cleaned in dishwasher!

That's a great idea. I bought a couple of sylicon bags to reduce reliance on ziplocks for sous vide, but depending on the brand, the seal is not dependable enough for cooking sous vide. I now mostly use them in the fridge to contain condensation when defrosting meat in ziplocks. I must start using them in the freezer.

I do re-use ziplocks that are not too dirty or greasy by turning them inside out and draping them over a tall glass in the dishwasher.

I'm afraid I only have negative silicon bag experiences, but here are my warnings about the two brands I have:

"Stasher" bags have reliable seals, but one of them became brittle in the freezer and tore. I don't remember if I put a hot Stasher bag from the sous vide directly into the freezer on that occasion. I don't know if tearing was due to my low freezer temperature. Most domestic freezers are set to -18C but mine is set at -23C because I freeze to kill parasites in fish that is served raw.

"Fudy" bags have a totally unreliable seal, and just pop open at random.

I have been experimenting freezing meat in marinade, and I can report defrosting in marinade overnight has a similar effect to marinating overnight.
Following a tip from the Serious Eats cookbook whenever I make marinades, stir fry sauces, and salad dressings I will make a batch to keep in the fridge in squeeze bottles so I always have favourites on hand.

I’m a country girl at heart…lol…so I use mason jars for everything from cups I drink out of to storage containers (I also store and freeze meals in them), I even use them as measuring cups…I originally started removing plastic containers from my house after my son was diagnosed as Type 1 since plastic affect your endocrine system. I also find they stack really well if you have limited space in your freezer. I even found jar jackets (it a silicone sleeve that fits the mason jars..I added pictures) on Amazon so I’m not bumping glass on glass and there is also so many interchangeable lids you can get for them for almost anything you can think of. Plus it has a rustic country look to them. lol

Hope this helps

Vacuum sealing is the best way to freeze anything for later use.

For liquids and/or soft foods, freeze them 1st in a suitable container or wrapping and then remove the item(s) and then vacuum seal them.

You can sous vide and/or defrost & cook vacuum sealed foods in whatever way you like.

A friend got me a bunch of ziploc square and round containers a few years ago when I was postop and needed single-serving meals readily available in my (not very big) freezer. I still use them, but I did get some glass ones after reading people’s storage ideas here. I ordered online, which was probably a mistake, because the lids are almost impossible to close. Luckily I only got a few as a trial run. So I went back to ziploc and got a 6-pack of 2-cup round containers, and they’re great and sturdier than my old ones. I most only cook things that freeze well: Chili with rice, various chicken dishes (current fave is an asopayo recipe from my SO’s recipe stash), etc. I don’t have a dishwasher, but the containers and lids clean well if I soak them.

history_grrrl wrote: »

A friend got me a bunch of ziploc square and round containers a few years ago when I was postop and needed single-serving meals readily available in my (not very big) freezer. I still use them, but I did get some glass ones after reading people’s storage ideas here. I ordered online, which was probably a mistake, because the lids are almost impossible to close. Luckily I only got a few as a trial run. So I went back to ziploc and got a 6-pack of 2-cup round containers, and they’re great and sturdier than my old ones. I most only cook things that freeze well: Chili with rice, various chicken dishes (current fave is an asopayo recipe from my SO’s recipe stash), etc. I don’t have a dishwasher, but the containers and lids clean well if I soak them.

Well, that stinks - the lids not fitting, I mean.

Running the lids under hot water may help, until they loosen up.

I haven't had this problem with Pyrex or Anchor brands, except for some Pyrex lids on Anchor bowls or vice versa. I can believe it might be a problem with some other brands, or even those brands sold online by a smallish outfit (could be seconds). If purchased mainstream, major brand, I'd return them.

Not saying this to criticize you, but to report my experience for other readers.