Freezing soup

[paulraphael]

I'm preparing a meal that's going to be served on an island in Maine, where facilities are limited to a wood-burning stove and a propane-powered fridge. I'm preparing a lot of food in advance, either sous-vide or frozen. One idea is a cucumber gazpacho that I'd like to freeze. It's a simple recipe with cucumbers, shallots, garlic, herbs, yogurt, and olive oil. Everything's pureed (the original idea includes smoked salmon, which I'm not including this time. I based the soup on an awesome version at café Boulud years ago). 

 

Is it true that I could have issues with the yogurt developing grainy textures when it's frozen and thawed? Is this from the emulsion breaking? Synerisis? Anything that can be done about it? I'm wondering if anything like xanthan gum in very small quantities could help hold it together.

[Smithy]

I've had yogurt develop a grainy texture when frozen and thawed by itself.  I can't remember whether the fat content mattered.  I don't think I've ever tried freezing something that contained yogurt as an ingredient.

 

This doesn't answer your questions, but may provide a workaround:  could you, perhaps, freeze the rest of the gazpacho and then stir the yogurt in just before serving?  Then you could carry the yogurt separately in a sealed container suitable for the refrigerator or an ice chest.

[paulraphael]

Any thoughts on the shelf-life of yogurt in a sealed container in a bad fridge? Like around 45-50F?

[Smithy]

Any thoughts on the shelf-life of yogurt in a sealed container in a bad fridge? Like around 45-50F?

I believe I've lived with a bad fridge in past lives, and had no issues with yogurt going off as long as it was sealed. For that matter, I've kept yogurt (refrigerated) long past its supposed expiration date with no problems, as long as the original seal hadn't been broken. Unfortunately that's qualitative information, not quantitative, and it was for my own purposes.

How long do you need to keep things in this bad fridge? If this is a matter of a few days, I wouldn't worry about it. If you're planning for a month-long woods retreat, you may need to use the short-shelf-like items early in the trip..

[paulraphael]

I need to keep it fresh for a solid week, which will include a couple of travel days in a cooler. You're probably right that it will be fine. I just have to be careful, since there's no place to go shopping if I mess anything up.