You stock up on steaks during a winter sale. You wait 4 months for grilling season. You eagerly extract the steaks from the freezer—only to find that they’re brown and shriveled. That, dear reader, is the heartbreak of freezer burn.
Freezer burn happens when air reaches the surface of frozen foods, creating patches that are dry and discolored. Although freezer-burned foods are safe to eat, the leathery texture and degraded flavor make them less appealing (might be time for a stew!).
Here's how to save your food from freezer burn.
Keep the freezer temperature at 0°F. When the freezer temperature goes up, frozen food releases moisture, which forms ice crystals when the temperature drops again. Which leads us to the next tip...
Let food cool in the refrigerator before moving it to the freezer. Consider
it a time-out that keeps hot foods from increasing the freezer temperature.
Plastic wrap doesn't cling to itself as well when cold, so tightly double wrap the food. Plastic wrap manufacturers suggest keeping foods for no longer than 2 weeks if wrapped in plastic.
