Despite your best efforts, glass might break when you put it in the freezer. Or, place it in the container first and then allow it to cool. When taking a container out of the freezer, allow it to thaw at room temperature before trying to defrost it with any heat.
Any container that has a shape like this can create stress points. If you do use jars with shoulders, make sure you leave a large gap for the contents to expand. This will help reduce the pressure. When you freeze food, particularly liquid, it will expand.
So, when freezing food, make sure you leave a gap at the top of the container to allow for this expansion. This will help prevent pressure from building up in the container. Another thing that can cause glass containers to break is if they bump against one another. The clinking of glass can make the frozen containers break much more easily. To prevent this from happening, keep some space between containers when they freeze.
Pyrex glass is safe to put in the freezer as long as you take certain precautions. Warm and cool it slowly, avoid containers that are shaped in a way that could create pressure points, leave space at the top for expansion, and leave space between your containers. There is always a chance that glass might break in the freezer.
But, there are things you can do to prevent it from happening. Warm and cool the glass slowly, avoid shaped containers, leave space at the top for expansion, and leave space between your containers.
You can use glass jars to freeze food, but you should take a few steps to prevent the glass from breaking or cracking.
Specifically, you should try to avoid jars with shoulders and leave space at the top to allow for expansion. You should also leave space between jars to prevent them from clinking together. Welcome to our blog! We have a home, but not much time. Lastly, you want to prevent any glass breakage from the expansion of liquids. Here are 7 steps to get started.
This will freeze the food more quickly. It will help the food to stay fresh. When food freezes slower, bigger ice crystals form and cause freezer burn. This may seem counter-productive to the first step of freezing as quickly as possible.
However, putting hot food in the freezer causes more moisture to escape, which is the cause of freezer burn. The hot container in the freezer also will warm up the other food in your freezer, increasing the chance that those items will get freezer burn.
When glass goes through a rapid temperature change, it is more likely to crack or break. Small containers and batches of food will freeze faster than larger portions in large containers. The faster your food freezes, the fresher it will taste after you thaw it and cook your meal.
The freezer is most efficient when it is full. You still do not want to stuff the freezer completely full, because this will prevent the air from circulating. Not all glass containers are freezer safe. When purchasing containers, always choose something that is tempered glass or freezer-safe.
This will ensure your food stays fresh and protected while your glass container remains in one piece. Click here to buy Vallo piece freezer-safe containers on Amazon. The food in your container being exposed to air is the cause of freezer burn. You can add another layer of protection by wrapping your food or putting it in a plastic bag before you place it in a glass container.
Remove all excess air inside the bag or wrap it before placing it in your glass container. Ziploc bags can provide extra protection. Water expands when it freezes. If you are freezing something with high liquid content, like soup, then it is vital to leave extra space to accommodate that expansion. Pyrex containers are made to be oven- and freezer-safe. If you prefer, you can stick with glass jars that are designated freezer-safe.
These tend to be the brands also suitable for canning — they are designed to withstand extremes of temperature. Your memory will not be as good as you think it is. A date is useful as well as labelling the contents. The reasons most jars break in the freezer are putting hot contents straight into the freezer, overfilling the jar, using a narrow jar — or all of the above.
My biggest mistake was trying to freeze stock in a passata bottle. But it had to be discarded. Lesson learned — these things need room to move!
Heating frozen glass such as plunging into a bowl of hot water will make it crack. Or, you can put in the fridge to defrost overnight. Jars, less watery things, and pieces with more surface area, will defrost more quickly in the fridge.
Cold water is still warmer than ice. Depending what it is, you can add cold water to the frozen item pour cold water into the jar — this is how I thaw my frozen chickpeas. It separates them, which means I can get them out of the jar. It would work for frozen veg, like sweetcorn. Pyrex tapers out slightly, as do Weck jars, as do my all-time favourite, Bonne Maman jam jars. What this means is, as soon as the food starts to defrost, which will happen from the edges inward the centre will be the bit that thaws last , the frozen food will slide out of the jar.
Take out of the freezer, sit in a bowl of cold water, wait 10 mins or so and then empty the frozen lump into a pan or bowl, or whatever you are going to use to heat up your food.
I use a low heat and a lid on the pan, and stir to separate the thawed bits from the frozen core. Readers have told me that they put frozen glass jars in a microwave to defrost. But apparently it can be done. I hope this answers all of your freezing-in-glass-jar related questions! As always, any thoughts, suggestions or ideas that you have, please share with us in the comments.
Very practical informative ideas and some things I never knew about freezing glass — Thanks! As always, very useful information presented with a spot of humor. I freeze in jars already but am grateful for the information on jars with separate, stamped bottoms. I did not know that was a thing and will watch out for them in the future.
Haha, thanks Debi! But some are clearly two pieces, and they are definitely ones to avoid. I work as an engineer design molds to make glass jars. The line you shared a picture of is where two mold components come together. You are correct that a heavy or an offset circle can sometimes create a stress point and cause the glass to break when excess stress is applied aka freezing an overfill jar. Thank you so much for this. Any jars even canning jars designed for the freezer can break if they have been jostled in the kitchen or during moving… I had some issues with canning jars that were boxed up during the move.
Good tip! Ugh, that must have been so annoying for you! Thanks for the tips — I have been contemplating all these issues for a few months, but have not yet been brave enough to try it. The jar selection tip re using jars that have previously been heated is particularly useful!
Regarding microwave use: I would probably use the microwave for a minutes on medium power lid off to loosen the sides instead of the bowl of water and then transfer into a microwave-friendly container for full reheating. Hi Ellen and thanks for your comment. Be brave!
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