Introduction
Freezers are the most important component of most refrigerators. It helps to preserve the most perishable items in your inventory. From fresh meat to dairy and medicine. If your refrigerator breaks down, you can search for “refrigerator repair near me” and hire technicians to fix it for you. Let’s check out a few useful freezer hacks that make life easier.
The Hacks
1. Bacon ice – Bacon is delicious and most people like to save the bacon grease to use for cooking other ingredients. You can go one step further and optimize that grease with the freezer. After your bacon is crispy, transfer it to a container and strain out the grease with a fine mesh strainer.
Pour that strained grease into an ice cube tray and place it inside the freezer. You can even mince up fresh bacon and add bits to each cube. Once the grease and bacon bits freeze into cubes, you can use them in your cooking conveniently without getting your hands greasy and struggling with a jar. Throw in a couple of cubes to the pan, let it sizzle, and add bacon flavor to sauteed veggies, caramelized onions, or chicken.
2. Freeze grains – If rice isn’t in your daily diet, you probably don’t own a rice cooker. That means every time you cook rice, it’s an intimidating experience. Fortunately, you can optimize rice and other grains with the freezer. Make a big batch of rice or any other grain and freeze them into portions inside vacuum-sealed baggies. Put them inside the freezer and they would stay fresh for a very long time. The next time you want to cook a meal, you can cut open a bag and heat up the grains.
3. Don’t throw away leftover wine – When it comes to any alcoholic drink, there are barely any leftovers, whether you’re drinking alone or in a group. However, if there is that rare occasion where you have leftover wine, fill up the ice tray with the rest and put it inside the freezer. Once frozen, they can be used in your cooking for making all kinds of dishes, sauces, and roux. If you leave the opened wine bottle in the fridge, it loses a lot of flavor and aroma, unlike the ice cube method.
4. Freeze that meat – If you’re not freezing meat inside the freezer, you’re doing it wrong. Meat kept in a sealed bag inside the freezer lasts much longer. Moreover, frozen meat is easier to cut into perfectly shaped and sized pieces. If you have a juicy cut of meat that’s difficult to cut into with your knifing skills, throw it inside the freezer for half an hour. The meat would be partially frozen and would be much easier to cut into perfect pieces. You can even cut it into razor-thin strips to make it super tender as soon as it touches the pan.
5. Smoothie packs – You may be a fitness freak who thrives on NutriBullets and smoothies. In that case, allow the freezer to make your life easier by freezing the ingredients that make those smoothies. Get a few sealable bags and fill them up with the ingredients you would use to make a smoothie. That way you can pop a bag into the blender and make a quick smoothie without wasting any time. Moreover, the smoothie also stays super cold and fresh. You don’t need to dilute it with ice.
6. Freeze bedding – There are several ways to kill germs and mites in your bedding. If you use conventional methods, you wash the bedding or use a steamer. While extreme heat does a great job at killing mites, you’ll thank yourself for killing the germs with extreme cold. Fold all the bedding and seal them inside leak-proof bags. Throw them in the freezer for around 24 hours and you have a germ-free set of bedding that would feel amazing during the hot summer months.
7. Freeze berries – You can easily find frozen summer berries at the local supermarket. They contain strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and other berries that are usually available during the summer season. However, berries from other seasons are not available during the hot months. You can change that with the freezer. Buy seasonal berries like cranberries, tayberries, and boysenberries and put them inside bags in the freezer. You can pile up a big stock and use them at different times of the year.
8. Remove chewing gum from fabric – If you’ve got gum on your clothes, you know getting rid of it is a herculean task. You’ve tried all the tips and tricks and all of them have failed to save your favorite clothes. Thankfully, the freezer won’t betray you. Just pop the gummy fabric inside the freezer and let it become as hard as a brick. After that, you can simply pop out the solidified gum with ease.
9. Freeze pasta – Pasta turns into a gooey mush after it’s cooked. However, tightly wrapped pasta responds well to freezing and can stay fresh inside the freezer for up to 60 days. The next time you cook up tightly wrapped pasta like ravioli, you can freeze everything that’s left over instead of keeping it inside the fridge.
10. Coffee cubes – If you’re a coffee lover who is short on time, the freezer is here to preserve your caffeine kicks. Brew up coffee as strongly as you like and pour it into the ice tray. When the coffee is frozen into cubes, you can put them in a glass with milk to make an iced latte. You can also use those cubes with coffee liqueur and vodka to make some espresso martinis.
Conclusion
Freezers are a vital part of the refrigerator. However, the above-mentioned hacks allow you to optimize their use and make the most of your money and the available space. That’s why homeowners panic when their refrigerator breaks down and try to find an ice box for the items inside the freezer. If your refrigerator breaks down, you can search for “refrigerator repair near me” and hire pros to fix it.
