How to freeze broth: methods, instructions and useful information

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Ready-made broth is a real lifesaver for every housewife. Based on it, you can quickly prepare dinner, whether it be soup or gravy for main courses. Therefore, having tried this method of preparing a semi-finished product, most housewives leave it to themselves as a note: it really saves time. It remains to learn how to freeze the broth so that this method can be adopted.

Perishable

Real, tasty and fragrant - this is how the broth should be to make your dishes perfect. It is very difficult to cook soup, borsch, homemade noodles if you have hastily boiled meat and water in which it was cooked. Real broth needs to be rich, and that takes time. Therefore, it is best to prepare it in a week. That is why the question arises of how to freeze the broth. Otherwise, it will deteriorate very quickly.

Storage rulesbroth

You really don't have many options. This rich product is very loved by all kinds of bacteria. In fact, it spoils no less quickly than fresh meat. Therefore, choose one of the following methods:

• If you need to keep vegetable or meat broth warm, you can use a thermos. Pour the broth into a clean thermos and boil. Then it will keep warm and will not go bad for up to 6 hours.
• The finished product keeps well in the refrigerator. Therefore, if you want to cook something from it in the coming days, then you can safely put the saucepan on a free shelf. He survives three days easily. After that, you can boil it and use it again without fear for another three days.
• And what if you need to keep it longer than a week? To do this, you just need to cool the fresh broth, pour it into molds and put it in the freezer.

Technological subtleties

Every housewife becomes a practitioner in the field of cooking. But there is always something to learn. So let's look at some tricks that will help you prepare a great base for entrees and gravies.

• Before talking about how to freeze the broth, you need to learn how to cook it properly. Utensils are very important to maximize shelf life. The one that tends to oxidize is not suitable. The best option is glass. You can also use ceramic with a tight lid.
• Sometimes housewives complain that not even a fewdays from the date of preparation, and the broth is already sour. To prevent this from happening, you need to cool it as quickly as possible. To do this, you can use a large pot of cold water.
• If you know how to freeze the broth correctly, you can safely count on its safety for 6 months. It is best to freeze it in flat-lid portioned containers.

Following these recommendations, you can be sure that you will get excellent results.

Proper broth

It is very important that you have confidence in the quality of what you have in your fridge. Despite the fact that the preparation procedure is not too complicated, there are a number of subtleties that need to be considered. Before you wonder how to properly freeze the broth, you need to prepare a good, high-quality base for first courses.

Highlights

The best broth comes from beef. Many prefer chicken to save money, but this product is most often used for noodles. Can you freeze bone broth? Yes, they are best used in this way. The basis for the soup turns out to be rich, and the pulp can be added directly during the preparation of the dish. But it is best to take a bone with meat and freeze the broth along with the pulp. Then you get a ready-made semi-finished product, which is very convenient to use.

You will need:

• Meat on the bone.
• Water.
• S alt, black pepper, bay leaf.
• Slow cooker or convenient pan.

Proportions can be chosen at your discretion, depending on how much you want to get the final product. Professional chefs recommend making the broth stronger. At the right time, it can be diluted with water and get the desired concentration. Do not be zealous with the addition of spices. You make a universal base for first courses, which can then be easily diversified and used for a huge number of recipes.

Cooking steps

The first step is to wash the meat under running water. You do not need to cut it, so your preparation will come out tastier and more aromatic.

• Put the piece in a saucepan and cover with cold water.
• Put on medium heat and wait until it boils.
• After that, reduce the heat and do not forget to remove the foam.
• After about an hour and a half, you need to add s alt.
• The duration of cooking depends on the type of meat and the selected piece. Try to cook until the meat starts to fall behind the bone.
• After cooking, you need to remove the meat, and place the pot with the broth in a bowl of cold water.

That's basically it. Now you have the finished product, and you can go directly to the question of how to freeze the broth in the refrigerator.

Freezing containers

Here you have several options. You can use disposable or reusable tableware. The first option is more convenient, since freezer bags are cheap and are soldin any store.

• For freezing, containers with high sides are most often used. This will come in handy if you plan to put the broth into the pan without defrosting. On the other hand, if the container is wide, the frozen broth bar can be placed sideways in the pan. It will gradually melt.
• If there is no time to defrost, you can pour boiling water over the container, then the frozen broth will fall out by itself.
• It is very convenient to use empty plastic mayonnaise buckets.
• Plastic bags can be used to save space. This saves space in the freezer.

Is it possible to freeze the broth in the freezer if its volume leaves much to be desired? Yes, only for this you need to slightly change the cooking technology. Pour enough water into the pot to just cover the meat. In the process of cooking, it will still boil away, and a concentrated broth will remain. It can be poured into plastic cups. Then simply dilute the concentrate to the desired volume.

Chicken broth

It sours much faster than all other varieties of meat broths, so it requires more attention. How to freeze chicken broth? First of all, it must be boiled, cooled quickly and be sure to strain through a sterile gauze folded in half. Before being sent for storage, it should be poured into a glass dish and covered with a glass lid. This will avoid the oxidation process.

You can freeze chicken broth inlarge quantities. It is great for making soups or homemade noodles. What's more, it makes delicious sauces. A big plus is the quick preparation. If the beef needs to be cooked for 2-3 hours, then the chicken will be ready in 40 minutes.

How to store meat broth

The difference is not too big. Beef is cooked longer, and the broth itself is more saturated. The storage temperature in unfrozen form is the same as that of chicken broth, that is, from 4 to 8 degrees. This is easily achieved on the middle shelf of the refrigerator. But the terms are a little longer - it will completely "live" up to 7 days without freezing. But if you are planning on storing it in the freezer for a long time, then it is best to freeze it fresh, immediately after preparation.

How to determine freshness

We have already talked about how long frozen broth lasts. Cooks and technologists call a period of 6 months, but if there were no temperature drops, then it will stay in the freezer much longer. But even the broth stored according to all the rules can deteriorate. Therefore, after defrosting, you must definitely smell it. If the broth is spoiled, you can easily catch the smell, which resembles a spoiled egg.

If there is even the slightest suspicion that the base for the soup is spoiled, it must be poured out without any regret. It is especially easy to observe such changes if you have thawed the broth and temporarily placed it in the refrigerator. In addition to an unpleasant smell, the appearance of the product can warn about the deterioration of the product. If the broth is cloudy, itflakes and sediment appeared, this should also alert. If the smell has not changed, you can try to boil the broth.

Instead of a conclusion

Having learned how to freeze the broth in the freezer, you definitely won't want to give up this method. It is very convenient and practical. Moreover, the broth does not have to be stored in containers. After freezing, dip the container in warm water, shake out the contents and carefully stack in the freezer. Some housewives prefer to crush ice blocks into cubes.

If the refrigerator has been defrosted, it is advisable to boil the broth and freeze again. The quality of the finished product and the content of nutrients in this case is reduced, but the broth is still suitable for consumption. Judging by the reviews of experienced housewives, the optimal amount of broth is 2-3 liters. In this case, the product is easily placed in the freezer and consumed quite quickly. Within a month, it can be safely eaten even if you rarely cook soups.