Look What I Found in the Freezer Today!

[Sartain]

A couple of weeks ago I had to clean out the freezer so that my 1/8 of a grass-fed cow can find resting spots. After odd frozen waffle and ice-encursted sausage, I pulled out a whole pile of offal that must be, oh, two years old? I had a frosty tripe, a frozen heart, and a cold stiff tongue. Also a mess of chickens feet that was once meant for a long-consumed stock.

No pictures though. Tossed the whole bunch after ocnsulting the great Internet and determining that the freezer suspended animation only lasts 3-4 months.

[MSRadell]

Actually I've found that using a wax pencil is the best from marking stuff going into the freezer. They will write on wet or dry and don't come off very easily. They are relatively inexpensive and you can actually buy them in different colors if you want. Another advantage is they don't try out like a Sharpie can sometimes.

[Dave the Cook]

Great idea, MSRadell! Despite having spent eight years of my life using these on a daily basis, I'd completely forgotten about them -- and how fun they are to peel.

For those of you not familar with wax pencils (aka china markers), look here.

[HungryC]

Great idea, MSRadell! Despite having spent eight years of my life using these on a daily basis, I'd completely forgotten about them -- and how fun they are to peel.

For those of you not familar with wax pencils (aka china markers), look here.

That's what I use: the good ol' china marker. It will write on plastic containers (and rubs off for re-use), plastic bags, freezer paper, ceramic, glass, etc. I can label the various flours stored in my fridge by writing directly on the glass storage jars.

[Aloha Steve]

I use this sealer, thanks to the folks in a thread here on EG.

A sharpie writes clearly and permanently on the bag, and food really does last longer when frozen in a airtight environment.

Its great for marinating in the fridge too.

[Sartain]

Slightly off topic, but can someone tell me whether it is ok / advisable to freeze goose fat? I have this huge tin of it and would love to portion it off and freeze.

[snowangel]

Fat freezes well.

[JAZ]

Yes, one of the things I found in my freezer today was a container of duck fat. It's been there for months since the last time I took it out to fry potatoes. It lasts a very long time.

[Sartain]

Thanks! I'll crack that tin open this weekend and portion away.

[OliverB]

my freezer is just a couple months old and I still pretty much know what's in there, but since we're sharing feet, I have 5 pig's feet in there too! 4 of them off a Berkshire pig, skin and hair on. As I have no good idea on how to get the hair off yet, I vac and froze them for now. Should I just throw them in hot water for a moment? Pour boiling water over them? A project for a rainy day, which we don't seem to have any of in our near future right now.

[Tri2Cook]

I lied! There are still no surprises in my freezer but there is something I forgot to label. It's a box and I know what's in it (six 1lb. blocks of rendered chicken fat that were each dated as added to the box) but I did forget to label the box. That has now been corrected.

[sparrowgrass]

I know that somewhere in the chest freezer in the shed is a mangled squirrel that I took away from the dogs last summer. I didn't want it in the garbage can in the heat, so I figured I would freeze it and put it in the can on garbage day. Many garbage days have come and gone, and the squirrel appears to have migrated to the bottom of the freezer.

It is triple bagged, by the way. If it ever surfaces, I will take a picture. If you want me to.

[MattyC]

I know that somewhere in the chest freezer in the shed is a mangled squirrel that I took away from the dogs last summer. I didn't want it in the garbage can in the heat, so I figured I would freeze it and put it in the can on garbage day. Many garbage days have come and gone, and the squirrel appears to have migrated to the bottom of the freezer.

It is triple bagged, by the way. If it ever surfaces, I will take a picture. If you want me to.

I think you win with 'strangest thing in my freezer'. Pretty sure mangled squirrel beats my trotters any day

[JAZ]

No pictures, but I discovered a couple duck breasts (boned, with skin) dating from last March and a container of duck fat. Seared the breasts and sauteed some potatoes in the fat. Not bad for a serendipitous freezer meal.

[David Ross]

Among other frozen bits and pieces;

-Sweetbreads I bought from D'Artagnan. Date of purchase, unrecorded but estimated to be in the freezer for 9-12 months. The label says "U.S. Inspected and Passed by Department of Agriculture, est. 2745." Lord only knows if the little nuggets are burned beyond compare or are still salvageable-

-Frozen Pink Gooseberries that I bought this Summer just North of Salem, Oregon, in the Willamette Valley. They will be delicious in a holiday pie and a conserve for roast turkey and pork-

-A bag of frozen fruitcake batter, date of creation unknown but most likely 1-2 years old. While the mix is still quite good, (its got a whole lotta booze in it), I'm actually a bit late for turning this batter into this season's fruitcakes. Good fruitcakes, really, really good ones, take at least two years stewing in brandy to be good-

[Kouign Aman]

Looks like you are just in time for fruitcake 2011, then.

[velveeta]

For labeling, I now use 3x5 cards written with big marker and inserted into a ziplock bag. The super finicky can get tricky and categorize with different color cards. The ziplock just holds the label and independently wrapped item together. I reuse the ziplocks because they get no food ju-ju on them.

[Lan4Dawg]

I know that somewhere in the chest freezer in the shed is a mangled squirrel that I took away from the dogs last summer. I didn't want it in the garbage can in the heat, so I figured I would freeze it and put it in the can on garbage day. Many garbage days have come and gone, and the squirrel appears to have migrated to the bottom of the freezer.

It is triple bagged, by the way. If it ever surfaces, I will take a picture. If you want me to.

I sincerely hope you have that labeled else wise I see a catastrophe in the making.

"Gee honey, what are we having for dinner?"

"I am not certain but it was in the bottom of the freezer and I think it is left over chicken."

not to say there is any thing wrong w/ squirrel per se but after being "mangled" by the dogs and sitting in the freezer for a while I can think of more pleasant dinner choices.

[sparrowgrass]

Oh, no, no label--the fur identifies it pretty well. I live alone, so no worries about someone else being surprised.

(But wait--I am having knee surgery in December and my sis will be staying with me a while. I will have to find that squirrel and put it near the top, just for her. )

[jgm]

I know that somewhere in the chest freezer in the shed is a mangled squirrel that I took away from the dogs last summer. I didn't want it in the garbage can in the heat, so I figured I would freeze it and put it in the can on garbage day. Many garbage days have come and gone, and the squirrel appears to have migrated to the bottom of the freezer.

It is triple bagged, by the way. If it ever surfaces, I will take a picture. If you want me to.

Posts like this one are the reason I am addicted to eGullet.

I have a question and a tip. First the question: I tend to freeze small amounts of leftover wine (for cooking), logs of herb butter, leftover tomato paste, and other well-intentioned items. I'm trying to figure out what kind of container to use to toss them into, since they so easily become lost. Plastic often breaks when frozen. I have some storage bins that are plastic-coated wire, but the openings between the wire are pretty large and there would no doubt be escapees. Any other ideas?

The tip: My mother's freezers are a nightmare. She's good at labeling, but never includes the year. She also never remembers what's in there. Three-year-old leftover pizza, anyone? Anyway, from time to time I make her favorite entrees, and to make things easier for her and any helpers who have to figure out what to do, I print out instructions from my computer, laminate them, and put them into the package in a place that makes sense. Sometimes the dish just needs to be placed in a 350-degree oven for 45 minutes after thawing, which is simple; but sometimes cheese or shrimp, etc. need to be added during the last 10 minutes or something. Mom tries to keep these laminated instructions, and I usually manage to get about half of them back. No problem to print out more; instead of laminating, they can go inside a ziploc bag, if necessary.

[SheenaGreena]

I found a bunch of frozen lavender in there yesterday. I got it as a gift and didn't know what to do with it, so I threw it in there. Unfortunately I don't bake and have no idea how to use it in savory applications other than making my own herbes de provence. I heard that it's good thrown into the spice grinder along with some salt and/or sugar. Any other suggestions?