How to Refreeze Vegetarian Food
Many people think that vegetarian food is something special and must be handled differently than so-called normal food items. In most cases, this is not true. Especially when it comes to refreezing vegetarian food, the process is the same as refreezing any other type of food. Like most foods, freezing and refreezing is not recommended as it can affect the appearance and taste of the food. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Check to see if the vegetarian food item still has ice crystals. If it does, it is safe to simply put the item back into the freezer.
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Cook the item as you normally would. Once it is cooked, it can be packaged in freezer bags or other freezer safe containers and be refrozen.
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Make extra servings from those items that have to be completely thawed before cooking, such as the many meat substitutes available for the vegetarian marketplace. Once the meal is cooked, package and refreeze the extra servings for later meals.
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Remove only the thawed portion of the food if you have that option. If the center still has ice crystal, refreeze the unthawed portion.
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Tips & Warnings
Purchase a freezer thermometer and keep it in the freezer. A freezer thermometer will alert you to the need to cook certain vegetarian items and refreeze should the power go out or the freezer otherwise stop working. You can also use a freezer thermometer to determine if foods are safe to refreeze without any processing. Lay the thermometer on the package of the item in question. If the temperature is higher than 35 degrees, process the item before refreezing. Cooking and refreezing vegetarian foods into individual serving sizes makes quick meals an easy chore. Defrost and warm the food in the microwave. Use common sense when determining if vegetarian, or any type of food, can be refrozen without processing. If in doubt, cook it first.
