Which foods can be frozen

Most foods, including bread, pizza bases, fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, and ready-made soups and stews, are suitable for freezing.

In general, any vegetable that is eaten steamed or boiled can be frozen, while those that are eaten raw, such as spring onions, lettuce, and radishes, are not suitable.

In order to retain the vitamin content and colour of vegetables, it is advisable to blanch them first, before freezing. This involves immersing the prepared vegetables in boiling water for a few minutes.

Eggs cannot be frozen in their shells, but the yolk and white can be frozen separately or stirred together and frozen in plastic containers or ice-cube trays.

Freezing limits and thawing times

Thawing times at room temperature are given here; thawing in the fridge will take longer.

FOOD	FREEZER STORAGE	THAWING TIME
Bread	6 months	2-3 hours
Pizza	2-3 months	2-4 hours
Broccoli	9-12 months	Cook from frozen
Carrots	12 months	Cook from frozen
Corn-on-the-cob	12 months	3-4 hours
Plums	10-12 months	5-10 hours
Raspberries	10-12 months	3-7 hours
Beef	6-12 months	10-12 hours
Chicken (1-1.35kg)	8 months	10-12 hours
Fish fillets	2-3 months	6-8 hours
Ricotta cheese	1 month	3-4 hours
Soup	3-6 months	Reheat from frozen