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The freezer can be an important extension to your store cupboard. It can help you fight food waste and keep you from being tempted by the ready-meal aisle, saving you money. On the other hand, you may recall throwing bags of frozen food into the bin as you puzzle over what they are and what year they went into the freezer. With a little organisation and careful labelling, you can eat well and keep your cool.

Freezing food stops the growth of bacteria. In theory, food can be frozen indefinitely without going ‘off’. However, foods that are exposed to the air in the freezer can be affected by ‘freezer burn’, and fats can go rancid. Over time, the quality, taste and texture of all food will be affected by being frozen. Meat with a greater surface area, such as bacon, mince or sausages, keeps less well than large cuts of meat.

The tables below are guidelines for how long foods can be frozen for and still taste good, but this is subjective and affected by other factors. The faster food is frozen, the less likely it is to become ice-damaged and mushy – better to freeze little and often than to add large quantities of unfrozen food to your freezer all at once. Flat-packing food in thin layers in plastic bags will help it to freeze faster. Keep in mind that some industrial freezing processes can extend the freezer life of foods, but home-frozen foods may only taste good for a fraction of the time.

How long does food keep for in the freezer?

How to make frozen food last longer

Wrapping food well and eliminating exposure to air will help keep its flavour and texture. It’s tempting to throw a packet from the supermarket into the freezer, but you may get better results from rewrapping the food so there’s minimum of exposure to air. If you’re storing food in a resealable bag, seal the bag almost completely and then use a straw to suck out any air (don’t do this with raw meat, though!).

By using freezer bags, you can ensure all excess air is removed, and they take up the minimum of space. You can wash and re-use bags. If you would rather use a plastic box, select one that can be filled as completely as possible.

When you label a box or bag, use the table above to work out the use-by date, and write this on the label. This will helps you know at a glance what to use first and what can be left for another night.

(Ed. Accurate labelling will also eliminate the egg-white-fish-stock mix-up I made when trying to make a pavlova!)

Try portioning your leftovers into smaller sizes. They’ll be easier to reheat or defrost. If the food requires defrosting before cooking, do this in the fridge.

And, of course, always ensure food is completely cooled (ideally refrigerated) before you put it in the freezer.

How to freeze vegetables

Blanching vegetables is often recommended before freezing. Blanching simply means partially cooking food in boiling water before draining and cooling it in iced water. This helps to retain the colour and texture of vegetables and kills any lingering microbes. The length of time you should cook vegetables for varies depending on the size, but most bite-size pieces require 2-3 minutes at a rolling boil. Peppers are the exception – they can be frozen cooked or uncooked, though they’ll always come out less than crisp.

Cooking leafy greens before freezing reduces the space they take up. Freeze them in silicone muffin cups or in ice-cube portions to make it easy to use what you need.

Keep a bag in the freezer for parsley stalks, celery ends, the tough outsides of fennel bulbs, leek ends, even mushroom stalks. It can all go into making an excellent stock when you have time.

Cooked potatoes such as par-boiled roast potatoes or buttery mash will freeze well, but raw potatoes will not.

How to freeze fruit

Spread berries, peach slices, cherries, melon slices and the like out on a baking tray and fast-freeze before tipping into a bag and sealing. Some fruits, such as nectarines, peaches and apricots, benefit from a toss in sugar and lemon juice to retain their colour.

Whole lemons, limes and oranges can be frozen, allowing you to zest them before they fully defrost. Or you can freeze the grated zest in a container and the juice in ice-cube trays. Frozen Seville oranges still make great marmalade if you haven’t got time to make it during their short season.

Bananas go brown and mushy when frozen, but they have some advantages. They make amazing instant banana ice cream, smoothies and banana bread. Just remember to slice them into bags before freezing, to make them easier to use.

Apples and pears should ideally be cooked before being frozen. Stew or roast them with a sprinkling of lemon juice and sugar, leave to cool completely, then pack into containers and freeze.

How to freeze herbs

If you end up with more herbs than you can use, the best way to retain their flavour and texture is to chop them up and mix them with a little neutral-tasting oil before freezing. The oil helps reduce freezer damage to the delicate leaves and prevents air from getting in and reducing their flavour. If you spread this oily paste thinly in a resealable bag, you can chop off as much as you need from the frozen pack. Ice-cube trays also work.

Pesto is a great way to keep herbs, and can be made with many different flavour combinations. Herb butter also works well.

Foods not to freeze

Soft cheeses such as camembert, brie and cream cheese don’t freeze well. Parmesan can be frozen, but its flavour may be affected and, as it can be kept in the fridge for a long time, freezing probably isn’t necessary. Opinions differ on freezing cheese at all, with most agreeing that the best use for frozen cheese is in a cooked dish. The structure will be affected and you may not be able to slice it.

Egg yolks can be frozen for use in baking or as an egg wash, but won’t work for all recipes. Mayonnaise will split if frozen and hard-boiled egg whites will go rubbery. Whole, raw eggs should not be frozen.

Milk can be frozen with some (generally) acceptable changes to its structure – the fat is separated from the liquid suspension and can have a grainy texture that’s usually fixed with a quick shake. While frozen custard (ice cream) and yoghurt are a real treat, if you thaw them they also develop this texture. If you want to freeze double cream, give it a light whipping first.

Raw vegetables with a high water content, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, courgettes and lettuces, will never be appealing when defrosted. The same is true of many fruits, including citrus fruits, watermelons and grapes, but these often taste refreshing when eaten frozen.