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How to Conserve Food for Children in the Freezer
Freezing is one of the methods of conserving food that is used at the present time, since it does not change the characteristics of the conserved food very much. Broths or prepared foods prepared for a baby should be kept in bags or recipients that contain a single portion. This way you will only use the one needed for the moment. There are many methods for freezing food. The most comfortable way to freeze small quantities of food is, for example, to put the broth in recipients that will only hold a single portion or food. When this is frozen, it is taken out and the portions are kept in a plastic bag. This way you will only use the amount that you need. Another method is to put the food in individual and freezer bags, indicating the content and the freezing date. When trying to freeze food, it is very important to know how to freeze it as well as know how to defrost the food appropriately. if the food to be defrosted is already cooked, it doesn't need to be defrosted, you should put it directly over low heat in the oven or microwave, choosing the appropriate defrosting program. When defrosting raw food in the microwave, it is necessary to be very careful because since such a small amount is going to be defrosted, on occasions it is defrosted and cooked at the same time. Food that has been frozen raw, such as fish or meat, once cooked can be frozen again, since cooking it changes the characteristics of the food. To the contrary, you should never do this with a frozen food that has defrosted if it is still raw. Although the quantities of food to be frozen for children are small amounts, the truth is that the quicker a food is frozen, the better it will conserve its nutritional characteristics. For this reason it is important to freeze the food under –21 degrees C. and keep it in the freezer under –18 degrees C. As has been pointed out before it is perfectly fine for a child to eat fish that has been frozen. There are recipients that can be bought that have valves to extract the air, and these are a good alternative for keeping food from going off so quickly. On the other hand it is not advisable to keep some already prepared foods, such as purees and fruit juices since these go off very quickly. It is important to make them and serve them out right away. It is not advisable to make the purees out of rice flour, cereals or cornstarch in advance, as they will thicken and it is difficult to get them back to the point in which they were before, since the most of these flours are instant. |
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