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Making an enormous batch of Sunday sauce, curry, or an enormous pot of chili is taxing. Recipes require giant portions of elements, the method could be a multi-hour or all-day endeavor—and for what? Oh, proper, you get 10-20 servings of richly flavored sauce that has been made with love and endurance. It’s price it to make sure each drop will get used, so put know-how to make use of and freeze nearly all of it. Right here’s the way to freeze giant portions of sauce for straightforward dinners later.
Freeze smarter
The largest hurdle with freezing something—sauce, broth, and even meat—in giant blocks is that thawing a small a part of it’s a true ache within the ass. You both should thaw all the factor and refreeze it, which might negatively influence the standard, or hack it aside, which will be harmful.
As a substitute, tackle the portion dimension earlier than you freeze the sauce the primary time. You will have heard of utilizing ice dice trays for portioning sauce in an lovely means. Whereas it’s vital for everybody to find what works for them (and this may be just right for you), for me, the ice dice tray is a rubbish thought. For one factor, it is means too small. My ice dice divots maintain one tablespoon of water every. I’d want at the least half the tray for one small bowl of pasta. I’m additionally comparatively certain these trays might be imbued with tomato, garlic, or basil odor afterward, which implies I can’t use them for ice ever once more, and I’m not the kind of one that desires to maintain sauce-specific ice dice trays in my dwelling. As a substitute of ice dice trays, use one thing extra sensible to an actual serving dimension.
Select your “single serving” dimension
Ice dice trays can work for freezing potent, highly effective liquids—like lemon juice, or olive brine—the place you’re more likely to simply use a bit. For big batches of sauce, portion the servings in plastic reusable containers or baggage. The dimensions ought to match the “single” serving you’ll seemingly want. You probably have a household of 5, you’ll freeze bigger parts than a two-person family. Use appropriately sized freezer baggage or reusable containers accordingly.
Sheet trays are indispensable instruments for flat freezing:
When doubtful, freeze flat
Arranging my freezer is sort of a terrifying puzzle typically. I know there’s a strategy to match all of it, however there are such a lot of irregular shapes in there. Freezing liquid flat as an alternative of in a block form may help make storage simpler. Extra importantly, you may break the sauce into items simply when it’s frozen skinny and flat to regulate the portion dimension later. That is excellent in the event you’re not likely certain how a lot you’ll want for dinner on any given evening. Not solely is freezing sauce faster this manner, however thawing and cooking might be quicker too.
The best way to freeze giant batches of sauce
There are two methods to do that: Pre-portion sauce into baggage, or use the sheet tray technique.
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Pre-portioning with freezer baggage: Merely dump your “single serving” into the freezer bag, round one to 4 cups. Lay it flat on a sheet tray and put it within the freezer till frozen strong. You possibly can in all probability match a couple of baggage on one tray if you could. Then neatly stack the frozen sauce baggage.
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The sheet tray technique. To consolidate much more slabs, you’ll use the sheet tray barely in another way. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper or plastic wrap, with some overhang over the edges. Unfold the sauce straight onto the tray, a couple of half-inch deep. Fastidiously put the sheet tray within the freezer so it doesn’t spill. Enable the sauce to freeze, in all probability half-hour to an hour relying on the kind of sauce and its thickness. Take it out of the freezer and use the liner to raise and assist break the sauce into smaller slabs. Slide the slabs into freezer baggage or different containers.
Even in the event you’re an ice dice tray portioner for all times, you may nonetheless consolidate your cubes right into a bag or container if that helps along with your freezer tetris. While you’re prepared for a zero-effort slow-simmered sauce on a time-crunched weeknight, merely drop a slab or two of sauce right into a pot together with some frozen rice and a tablespoon of water (to stop burning). Cowl it with a lid and put it on low warmth. Let it warmth up by itself for 20 minutes when you take a while to your self to unwind.
