How to freeze baby food - Method 1
Thoroughly clean the ice tray and spoon that will be used to fill each section. An ice cube tray with a locking lid is ideal as it prevents your food from getting frostbite or picking up any odors from the freezer. If you don't have a mold with a lid, you can cover with food-safe plastic wrap. Some people use foil, although we don't recommend it as some pieces of foil will remain in the food!
Place the filled ice cube tray in the freezer, and - once completely frozen - place them in ZIP bags, which take up less space in the freezer.
This method produces perfectly sized small portions of baby food - usually around 30 grams or so. One cube per meal may be enough for a child to start with, but as he or she grows, you will need to increase the number of cubes at a time or increase the ice tray.
You can also make many different flavors of baby food by mixing and matching different fruit and vegetable cubes, for example combining a pureed apple cube with a pureed carrot cube, delicious!
How long should I keep baby food in the refrigerator or freezer?
For optimal quality and nutrient retention, store frozen baby food cubes in the freezer for no more than 1-3 months. Frozen baby food is safe to use if kept in the freezer for about 3-6 months without thawing again. However, it is more reasonable to use them in the area of 1 month to 3 months inclusive. Due to the amount of water crystals that accumulate in baby purees, and the fact that nutrients and important substances can leach/evaporate when thawed due to these same water crystals, it is wiser to use up your frozen baby food products as soon as possible. – no more than 3 months of storage. However, it is best to use within the first month after freezing, we recommend.
Most sources advise storing fruits and vegetables for 8 to 12 months in the freezer. This is generally true of whole foods that are frozen in their natural state. This is also provided that the refrigerator compartment remains at a constant temperature below zero. Storing food in a deep freeze is best if you want to keep frozen food for a long time. However, it should be remembered that instructions and recommendations for freezing foods for long-term storage do not imply that the fruit or vegetable has been boiled and pureed.
How to freeze baby food - Method 3
If you don't have any suitable containers for freezing baby food, you can use baking paper (although you'll need a little more freezer space initially).
Simply spoon the prepared baby puree onto the baking sheet to form small mounds (although please note that this will not work if the puree is too runny). Cover the baking paper with cling film, freeze, and then mix the food portions into bags as before.
How to freeze vegetables for the winter to feed infants
There are simple ways to freeze vegetables for complementary feeding for the winter - we have prepared tips on what to do to preserve their taste and beneficial properties.
If the introduction of complementary foods falls during the winter months, it is worth preparing for it in advance. Freezing is the easiest way to preserve vitamins in vegetables.
If you are planning to start introducing vegetable complementary foods with zucchini, then you will find useful tips on how to freeze this tasty and healthy vegetable for feeding your baby.
Then the baby is introduced to cauliflower and broccoli. Our tips will help you figure out how to freeze cauliflower for feeding your baby.
How to freeze baby food - Method 4
Another good way to freeze homemade baby food is to put the puree into freezer-safe glass jars and place them in the freezer.
However, please note that you should never freeze baby food in glass jars unless the jar manufacturer specifically states that freezing is safe and possible.
Cans that are freezer safe should be labeled accordingly and distinguished from other cans (including commercial baby food cans) that are not strong enough to resist the expansion of food that occurs during the freezing process.
This means that the jar could burst or - even worse - small microcracks that cannot be seen with the eye, but which allow tiny shards of glass to get into the child's food.
How long can I keep baby puree in the refrigerator?
It is not recommended to store fresh pureed homemade baby food in the refrigerator for longer than 24 hours. This restriction ensures that the growth of pathogens in the puree is minimized and that the food does not acquire a “fridge taste”. This “rule” applies to vegetables, fruits, meat, etc.
If you do not plan to freeze homemade baby food, then prepare baby food for your baby every day if he is too small until he is 8-9 months old, or every other day if he is older than the specified age.
How to freeze baby food - Method 5
Probably the most popular way to freeze homemade baby food is to use baby food freezer trays or jars, there are so many options to choose from!
Manufacturers, recognizing the growing tendency of parents to freeze baby purees, offer special forms for baby food that make life easier, well, just because there is a lid! What's more, these forms are free of potentially harmful chemicals, which is common in some plastic trays for general consumption.
Frozen vegetables or fruits are safe in baby food
You can freeze fruits and vegetables. Using frozen fruits and vegetables is the second best option to eating fresh produce. The process of flash freezing (food is frozen at a very low temperature very quickly) actually preserves nutrients optimally. Cooking destroys more important nutrients and nutrients than freezing food. Contrary to myth, freezing food (particularly fruits and vegetables) does not destroy 100% of the minerals and vitamins. The freezing process, subject to storage conditions at a constant temperature of zero degrees, does not contribute to the complete loss of nutrients and important substances - if this is so, then the majority of the population is malnourished, since in winter we eat a huge amount of frozen foods.
Frozen vegetables that are not cooked when packaged should be cooked before eating. Please remember to read the labels on frozen bags, as some brands of frozen vegetables may be pre-cooked.
One of the most frequently asked questions is: “Can I use frozen fruits or vegetables to make baby food and then freeze the puree?” Since there are no studies that show that re-freezing is negative and/or can have a negative impact on health. The problem is that you need to cook food from products that have been frozen once. But the reality is that a frozen product, going through all stages from a fresh appearance to a frozen product in the refrigerator in a store, can survive several defrosts and freezes, as it was written earlier that nutrients are lost through water crystals. Therefore, store-bought frozen vegetables and fruits must be carefully selected, and we would not recommend preparing baby food from them for subsequent freezing of baby purees. It is clear that sometimes parents have no choice and have to start complementary feeding with store-bought frozen food products, so we carefully select the packaging and manufacturer, without holes, without pieces of ice.
For example, from frozen vegetables (homemade or a good quality store-bought bag) that were raw when frozen, prepare a roast; we freeze the rest of the roast and use it for its intended purpose next time, but you should not freeze the roast after the last defrosting.
We track the finished product
Most baby foods - especially purees - freeze well. Sometimes you will have to experiment with texture, since the freezing process itself consists in the fact that the water in the product expands as it freezes, destroying the cell walls. This is especially noticeable when a whole product is frozen, for example a frozen banana will be very soft when it thaws.
To reduce problems when freezing baby food, here are some tips that will be useful...
— Do not make the puree too liquid before freezing. It's worth considering that many foods become more watery when thawed (especially fruits and vegetables), adding extra liquid before freezing will mean adding too much flakes to thicken!
— Herbs and spices tend to lose their flavor in the freezer. If a baby food recipe calls for them, it is best to add them after the food has been thawed, just before heating.
— Baked foods—like homemade nuggets or fish fingers—are best frozen when they're almost cooked, but not completely done. This is because the structure of food can behave negatively when frozen and thawed.
— When freezing yogurt, remember that it may be too runny when defrosted. Sometimes stirring it well is enough to solve this problem - but in some cases, the resulting yogurt is too runny to eat with a spoon, so this yogurt can be used in a smoothie!
— A good result comes from freezing rice and oatmeal, which is good if the morning looks like a nightmare and there is no time to organize a full breakfast. Just don't make porridge too liquid before freezing it.
— Many fruits—especially apples and pears—can appear very brown when frozen and thawed. This discoloration is a natural and harmless result of fruit being exposed to air, but if it is a concern, you can solve the problem by mixing lemon juice and fruit puree before freezing. Please note that citrus fruits can cause an allergic reaction in infants, so you can use them with a different color!
— If you want to make your own stock of vegetable or meat broth, which is convenient, you just need to prepare a large batch at a time and freeze it. It’s worth trying freezing in ice cube trays or baby food trays, described above - then the ideal size of small pieces will lie in the freezer to be used as needed.
- If baby food has been frostbitten, fortunately this does not affect the safety of the food - simply defrost and then cut out or spoon out the affected areas.
Fruit puree. Freezing and pasteurization
Fruit puree. Freezing and pasteurization
02/28/2019 We decided to devote this article to fruit puree for two reasons:
1. We are waiting and cannot wait for the new arrival of Boiron. The importer cannot arrange delivery, since the entire shipment is being checked by customs. The story is familiar, we ourselves faced the same problem when both you and we were waiting for the Chocolate World uniforms in the fall, and they stood at the border and were checked by the valiant customs officers.
2. While there are interruptions with Boiron, we offer an alternative - Ponthier freezing or Bonne and Ravifruit pasteurization. Taking this opportunity, we decided to understand the strengths of pasteurized and frozen products, their fundamental differences and understand in which cases one is better suited and in which the other is better.
Processing of raw materials, sugar content and taste differences:
Frozen puree
Deep-frozen puree can be equated to a fresh product, since the raw material goes through a flash pasteurization process, adapted for each fruit, very quickly - once and done. We are talking about the process of cold pasteurization. In this case, repeated heating to low temperatures and sharp cooling occurs. As a result, the taste and color of the fresh product are preserved.
In this production process, sugar is sometimes added in a minimal amount to help preserve the product. For example, Boiron “Strawberry” and “Guava” purees contain 14% invert syrup, “Blackberry” purees - 11%, and “Calamansi” and “Banana” do not contain sugar.
Pasteurized puree
According to importer Bonne, the fruit is processed by heating the puree once to 80°C for 2-3 minutes, which allows it to preserve taste, color and achieve long-term shelf life of the product even at room temperature. It is not necessary to add sugar, so this puree can indeed be sugar-free.
Storage
Deep-frozen puree, such as Boiron, is stored at a temperature of -18°C; after defrosting, the product is stored in the refrigerator for no more than 5 days, as fresh at a temperature of +2°C/+4°C.
Pasteurized puree can be stored unopened at room temperature, preferably until the specified date; if opened, it can be stored for about a week in the refrigerator. Such puree is convenient to transport without the risk of loss of quality, as can happen in the case of defrosting and re-freezing the same Boiron.
Confectioners' opinion
We asked our pastry chef friends for their opinion and received the following answers:
Yulia Skokova uses both frozen and pasteurized puree, but prefers freezing. Yulia explains her choice by the convenience of working with a frozen product - you cut off as much as you need, and the rest is successfully stored in the freezer until next time. This way one package can be used for a longer time. This will not work with pasteurization - once you open it, use it to the end. However, Yulia considers pasteurized puree more flavorful and notes that with it you certainly do not risk getting a product that was once defrosted and then re-frozen.
Olga Evgrafova is also more inclined towards freezing, because it is convenient to work with and can be stored for a long time. Although, according to Olga, she is not very principled in this matter.
Katerina Markova also prefers freezing, since the shelf life is longer and it is more convenient to store.
Attention, this is not a conspiracy of freezing lovers! We interviewed three pastry chefs from those with whom we actively communicate, and it was a coincidence!
How to defrost baby food
The safest and easiest way to defrost baby food is to place it in the refrigerator overnight before feeding. Frozen baby food cubes will take 8-12 hours to thaw in most refrigerators. Thawed baby food should be used within 24 hours.
Never, ever refreeze thawed baby food as this poses a risk of food poisoning to your baby.
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On our website Encyclopedia Baby Food there is useful information on the nutrition of your children, which is useful for everyone, and we update the Encyclopedia Baby Food website constantly and try to search and write only excellent, verified and necessary information for you and your children.
Disclaimer #1: It is necessary to understand that the author of the articles on the Encyclopedia Baby Food website is not a medical professional, “I am not a doctor.” The information I share is based on my own experience. My goal is not to teach you how to eat or feed your child, but to tell you about what we did, what new things I learned or read. This allows you to expand your knowledge about baby food, allows you to see the whole process so that you can decide whether you like it or whether it’s worth doing the same.
Disclaimer #2 : However, the above does not replace visiting your pediatrician. Before you start complementary feeding, you should seek his professional opinion on the best way to introduce new foods to your baby. Please also note that you need to look at the original date of published articles, as some “best practices” may have changed. Always consult your child's pediatrician about complementary feeding and his or her health.
Disclaimer #3: Keep in mind that every family is unique, and every situation is completely unique. There are no universal solutions. Only you can find what works best for you. Certain goals require certain sacrifices and priorities—not everyone wants to make those choices, and that's GREAT! Just know what you want to achieve and be ready to get to work doing your best!
Disclaimer No. 4: The Encyclopedia Baby Food website uses photos from books on baby food with attribution for a more complete understanding of the information (Article 1274, paragraph 1, part four of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Literature on baby nutrition was found freely available on the Internet.
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Can baby meat puree be frozen?
Some parents believe that this product cannot be frozen and may lose its beneficial properties or even deteriorate, but it has been proven that freezing meat purees for a child can only be done by adhering to certain standards.
If you follow the rules that allow storage in the refrigerator, then it will not lose its properties and can be easily reheated and eaten.
In addition, it is extremely convenient. Mom, who already has a lot of troubles and things to do, will not have to constantly run for food for the baby, since she already has it at hand.
IMPORTANT: if a product has spoiled after being in the refrigerator, this means that it was not of very good quality initially or that the technology for freezing the product was violated.
