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| Foods | Usual use | Condition after thawing |
|---|---|---|
| Raw cabbage1 , celery, watercress, cucumbers, endive, lettuce, radishes | As raw salad | Limp, water-logged, quickly develops oxidized color, aroma, and flavor |
| Cooked cream vegetables | Side dish | Loses flavor rapidly. Store only a few weeks for best quality |
| Irish potatoes, baked or boiled | In soups, salads or with butter | Soft, crumbly, water-logged, mealy |
| Watermelon | As raw fruit | Soggy/watery |
| Egg whites, cooked | In salads, creamed foods, sandwiches, sauces, gravy or dessert | Soft, tough, rubbery, spongy |
| Icings made from egg whites | Cakes, cookies | Frothy, weepy |
| Cream or custard fillings | Pies, baked goods |
Separates, watery, lumpy, soaks into the crust |
| Milk sauces and gravies | For casseroles or gravies |
May curdle or separate. Best to thicken with waxy starch (Clear-Jel)... less likely to separate |
| Sour cream | As topping, in salads | Separates, watery |
| Cheese or crumb toppings | On casseroles | Soggy |
| Cooked macaroni, spaghetti or rice | When frozen alone for later use | Mushy, tasted warmed over |
| Mayonnaise or salad dressing | On sandwiches (not in salads) | Separates |
| Fried foods | All except French fried potatoes and onion rings | Lose crispness, become soggy |
| Potato salad, macaroni salad | Salad | Becomes watery and tough, mushy |
| Unbaked biscuits | Baked products | Smaller and less tender |
| Unbaked muffins | Baked product | Poor texture |
| Gelatin | In salads or desserts | Weeps |
| Fruit jelly | Sandwiches | May soak bread, weeps |
| Chocolate-covered cherries | Candy | Expands during freezing causing them to break |
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Source: OSU Master Food Preserver Program
Adapted from: So Easy to Preserve, 5th addition, cooperative extension services, the University of Georgia and Freezing prepared Foods, PNW 296.
- 1Cucumbers and cabbage can be frozen as marinated products such as "freezer slaw" or "freezer pickles." These do not have the same texture as regular slaw or pickles.
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