Salvaging Accidentally Frozen Foods

Technology is a fickle thing; refrigerators are no exception. Sometimes when trying to keep all the food in the fridge chilled, the temperature doesn’t get dispersed evenly and then you might be in for trouble.
More than once, my fridge has managed to freeze foods that I hadn’t intended to freeze, leading me to shake my head in disbelief at all the potentially ruined good. Once foods have been frozen, they will rarely be the same again.

The Science Behind Freezer Ruined Foods

I’m not big into writing science on my blog, because, from what I see, people are less interested in the hows and the whys of things than in the fact that their expensive food just got ruined, but in this case, a little biology and chemistry will help you understand that that food doesn’t need to go into the garbage.

When water freezes, because of its unique molecular structure, it expands. All living things are made up of cells, each consisting of a cellular wall and cytoplasm, among other things. Cytoplasm is water based, so when things comprised of cells get frozen, the cytoplasm expands and ruptures the cell walls, much like what happens when you put a glass bottle of water in the freezer- it bursts.
Since vegetables and fruit are built up of cells, when they’ve been frozen and their cell membranes rupture, they end up with a distinctly different texture. In essence, they loose their crispness and wilt.

When raw vegetables get frozen, either accidentally or on purpose, they will never be as they originally were. Cucumbers will become soggy, lettuce will become wilty, and carrots will become soft.

Salvaging Accidentally Frozen Foods

Some vegetables are often sold frozen. If they’re sold that way, you can rest assured that your food won’t be ruined by having been frozen. Examples of commonly frozen veggies and fruit are:

If these foods, or any of their ilk, become frozen by a malfunctioning fridge, just pretend that you bought them frozen and leave it at that.

Basically he consistency of a frozen raw vegetable will usually be similar to that of a cooked vegetable.

To salvage an accidentally frozen vegetable, if you use it in a cooked dish, most of the time no one will know.

Some vegetables, like cucumbers and lettuce, are usually eaten raw. How can you salvage that?

Other foods that come to mind that slightly change their properties once frozen are milk and blended soups and gravies. 
  • Frozen milk may start separating slightly. This isn’t the hugest deal and most of the time it is barely noticeable. If your milk has been changed because of freezing, use your milk to make yogurt or ricotta cheese or other recipes that involve separating curds from whey, as you’re part way there already. Alternatively, use this milk in pancakes or other baked goods.
  • Blended thick soups and gravy often separate into solids and liquids when frozen. The quick way to salvage this is to just blend it again once defrosted and it’ll be back to normal.
~ ~ ~
Some foods that aren’t fixable once frozen. Potatoes, kohlrabi, and turnips end up with very unappetizing textures once frozen. Cooking, unfortunately, doesn’t fix this. In cases like this, simply chuck the whole thing into a pan of water, bring to a boil and then strain once cooked. This way you’ll still be able to retain the flavor and the nutrients from the food that you still find too gross to eat.
Does your refrigerator ever freeze some of your foods? What do you do then? Do you toss the food, fix the food, or do something else? 
What foods have you discovered do not survive a freezing?

0 Responses

  1. What about accidentally frozen eggs? Has anyone any tips for dealing with them? Or are they hopelessly lost?

  2. I accidentally froze a bag of lemons. Now they are soggy and gross. There goes my detox this morning.

  4. Does anything happen when you accidentally freeze cheese? Like can it go moldy while thawing? Earlier today I didn't realize that I had put cheese in the freezer until I got home after school which was around 6PM Tonight. When I was about to make dinner for myself, I noticed a bag in the freezer that seemed odd where when I took it out, it was about a 1/2 block of cheese that I had accidentally placed there earlier in the day.

  6. You can still definitely eat it. Frozen blocks of cheese that are thawed will become crumbly like Feta cheese. You can no longer slice it, but you can break it up and use it in casseroles just fine. In fact, this saves time from having to grate the block by hand. Years ago, I used to buy organic cheese by the 10 lb. block, slice it up in sections and freeze half. If I needed grated cheese, I would thaw the block, crumble it, then put it in or on the casserole. I don't know if processed cheese food will react the same. Frozen cheese changes in texture, but not flavor or melting ability.

  7. Hey everyone…I'm not a food scientist but I'm pretty sure that one should eat thawed fridge freezes quickly, again treating them like cooked food. Once it's cooked (or frozen and thawed) the spoiling process will accelerate, so eat it quickly, within that first day or two, or throw it out. That's my common sense caution.

  8. Planned to fry yellow squash with onion but they froze in refrigerator. Any suggestions?

  9. Planned to fry yellow squash with onion but they froze in refrigerator. Any suggestions?

  28. You can add lettuce to any banana based fruity smoothie. Add figs, mangos, berries, and nutmilk. Even carrots and celery or raw potatoe chunks.!

  29. You can add lettuce to any banana based fruity smoothie. Add figs, mangos, berries, and nutmilk. Even carrots and celery or raw potatoe chunks.!

Salvaging Accidentally Frozen Foods

Technology is a fickle thing; refrigerators are no exception. Sometimes when trying to keep all the food in the fridge chilled, the temperature doesn’t get dispersed evenly and then you might be in for trouble.
More than once, my fridge has managed to freeze foods that I hadn’t intended to freeze, leading me to shake my head in disbelief at all the potentially ruined good. Once foods have been frozen, they will rarely be the same again.

The Science Behind Freezer Ruined Foods

I’m not big into writing science on my blog, because, from what I see, people are less interested in the hows and the whys of things than in the fact that their expensive food just got ruined, but in this case, a little biology and chemistry will help you understand that that food doesn’t need to go into the garbage.

When water freezes, because of its unique molecular structure, it expands. All living things are made up of cells, each consisting of a cellular wall and cytoplasm, among other things. Cytoplasm is water based, so when things comprised of cells get frozen, the cytoplasm expands and ruptures the cell walls, much like what happens when you put a glass bottle of water in the freezer- it bursts.
Since vegetables and fruit are built up of cells, when they’ve been frozen and their cell membranes rupture, they end up with a distinctly different texture. In essence, they loose their crispness and wilt.

When raw vegetables get frozen, either accidentally or on purpose, they will never be as they originally were. Cucumbers will become soggy, lettuce will become wilty, and carrots will become soft.

Salvaging Accidentally Frozen Foods

Some vegetables are often sold frozen. If they’re sold that way, you can rest assured that your food won’t be ruined by having been frozen. Examples of commonly frozen veggies and fruit are:

If these foods, or any of their ilk, become frozen by a malfunctioning fridge, just pretend that you bought them frozen and leave it at that.

Basically he consistency of a frozen raw vegetable will usually be similar to that of a cooked vegetable.

To salvage an accidentally frozen vegetable, if you use it in a cooked dish, most of the time no one will know.

Some vegetables, like cucumbers and lettuce, are usually eaten raw. How can you salvage that?

Other foods that come to mind that slightly change their properties once frozen are milk and blended soups and gravies. 
  • Frozen milk may start separating slightly. This isn’t the hugest deal and most of the time it is barely noticeable. If your milk has been changed because of freezing, use your milk to make yogurt or ricotta cheese or other recipes that involve separating curds from whey, as you’re part way there already. Alternatively, use this milk in pancakes or other baked goods.
  • Blended thick soups and gravy often separate into solids and liquids when frozen. The quick way to salvage this is to just blend it again once defrosted and it’ll be back to normal.
~ ~ ~
Some foods that aren’t fixable once frozen. Potatoes, kohlrabi, and turnips end up with very unappetizing textures once frozen. Cooking, unfortunately, doesn’t fix this. In cases like this, simply chuck the whole thing into a pan of water, bring to a boil and then strain once cooked. This way you’ll still be able to retain the flavor and the nutrients from the food that you still find too gross to eat.
Does your refrigerator ever freeze some of your foods? What do you do then? Do you toss the food, fix the food, or do something else? 
What foods have you discovered do not survive a freezing?

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