Cooking from scratch is an important skill for living sustainably, but it takes a big chunk of time out of your day. It makes sense to cook more than you need, and then save the extra portions so you can have a quick meal another day.
You’ll need something to store the extra portions in. Jam jars are a perfect single portion size, infinitely reusable and store nicely in your freezer, but there are some important tips to do it safely.
How to freeze food in jam jars
- Start saving your jam jars! Jars with wide necks are the easiest to fill and least likely to crack, but save all of them to begin with and replace them with better ones over time.
- Jars with plastic, or plastic-coated, lids are better than metal ones, because frozen metal can hurt your fingers when you touch it. Protect your hand with a tea towel if you can’t avoid using a metal lid.
- Soak the original label off the jar in warm soapy water. Some labels come off easier than others. If the label leaves a lot of glue behind and it won’t come off easily, it’s probably best to recycle the jar instead, as it will always stay sticky.
- Make sure the jar is clean and dry. You might want to sterilise it in the oven or the dishwasher first, but we haven’t found this to be necessary.
- Fill the jar with food. Leave approximately a 1-inch gap at the top of the jar to give the food room to expand as it freezes.
- Write what’s in the jar, and the date, on a small sticky label or a reusable tag. Stick the label on the lid, or tie the reusable tag around the neck of the jar, so you know what’s in it later. Labels soak off lids better than they soak off glass jars, so stick the label to the lid to make your life easier later.
- Liquids expand when they freeze, so put the lid on loosely to start with, otherwise the jar may crack as the food freezes and expands.
- Now let the food cool down before putting it in the freezer, so your freezer doesn’t have to work so hard cooling it down.
- Later, when the food is completely frozen, tighten the lid to stop air from getting to the food (you can do this when you next go in the freezer – you don’t have to set a timer).
How do I defrost food in jam jars?
- Plan ahead when you want to use the food. Instead of defrosting it in the microwave, save energy by taking the jar out of the freezer the night before. Put it in the fridge and leave it to defrost overnight.
- Heat the food in a saucepan or use it in a recipe. Make sure it’s completely warmed through.
- If you have any leftovers after this meal, you’ll need to throw them away, because you shouldn’t freeze the food a second time.
- After use, soak the label off by leaving the lid in a small amount of water for a few minutes. If you put the jar in the dishwasher without removing the label, you will get bits of paper stuck to all your crockery and in the filter.
- Use the dishwasher to clean the jar and the lid, then store it with the lid on, ready to use it again.
Image credit: photo by Tina Witherspoon on Unsplash