How to freeze, thaw, reheat S.A.’s fave foods

Freezers are the safest, easiest and most reliable way to prevent food from spoiling, but come time for dinner they can create something of a culinary roadblock. When frozen solid, a few quarts of chili, a batch of carne guisada or even formerly fresh salsa will take time to thaw — and there are safe and not-so-safe ways to do that.

This week we’re turning to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for guidance on the best methods of safely freezing and thawing foods nearly every San Antonian makes in larges batches — barbecue, chili, salsas and more — so you can heat a meal without putting you or your family at risk of food poisoning or sacrificing any more quality than necessary.

Stewed beef dishes such as chili and carne guisada are the easiest to both freeze and thaw with minimal change in quality. Because those meats are already well-simmered and have released most of their moisture into the surrounding stew, the texture won’t change appreciably when thawed and reheated.

While you can freeze these dishes in any kind of container, you’ll get the best results from something that minimizes the food’s contact with air. Heavy zipper-top freezer bags are perfect for this and have the added benefit of allowing you to freeze food in flat squares that will thaw more quickly than in a deep container.

To thaw chili and carne guisada, plan ahead and place them in the refrigerator, or if you’re in a hurry, use the defrost setting on your microwave to soften the food while it’s still inside the plastic bags — just enough to transfer to a microwave-safe bowl or a saucepan on the stove to finish reheating.

Thawing nonstewed cooked meats and preserving their texture can be particularly challenging. When food freezes, ice crystals form in any water molecules and can slice-and-dice protein strands into mushy ribbons.

For smoked brisket — a staple on every Texan’s table — your best bet is to freeze whole, unsliced slabs of meat well wrapped in plastic and thaw those in the refrigerator when it comes time to nosh. That’s both the safest way to thaw large pieces of meat and the best way to retain as much moisture as possible.

To reheat brisket, place it on the top rack of a roasting pan with a cup or 2 of water, cider vinegar or other liquid in the pan below; cover with a heavy layer of foil; and bake in an oven at 325 degrees for about an hour or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. The brisket should not be sitting directly in the liquid, only receiving steam from below as it heats.

Pulled pork and shredded chicken can be a little more challenging. Both have a tendency to dry out and become leathery, closer to dental floss than the glorious smoked meats of their former lives. The best bet here begins with how you freeze it: ideally in a plastic bag with as much air as possible removed.

When it comes time to heat that meat, the process is fairly simple. Place the thawed meat in a saucepan with a little liquid and heat it through. However, the direct heat of the saucepan can cause the meat to toughen and the extra water will dilute the flavor.

For better results, dunk the sealed bags of thawed meat into a pot of simmering water until heated through. The gentle heat of the simmering water will help prevent the meat from drying out or getting stringy. This can take as little as 10 minutes for a pound of pulled pork.

Salsa can freeze and thaw well, but with some conditions. Canned or jarred salsas have already been cooked and will handle the freeze better than fresh with fewer noticeable changes once thawed.

With fresh salsas, be ready to sacrifice some quality for preservation. If you want to preserve as much fresh salsa flavor as possible, drain off the excess liquid released from the vegetables when they thaw. The downside to this is the once-fresh vegetables will have lost much of their texture and become mushy in the process.

For better texture, place the thawed salsa in a saucepan and bring it to a simmer, letting the excess water cook off until the desired thickness has been achieved.

The downside here is that it will no longer have that fresh vegetable flavor, instead tasting more like something from a jar at the grocery store.

And bad news, y’all — there’s no great way to freeze guacamole and preserve its delicate texture. Your best bet is to store leftover guacamole in the refrigerator covered tightly with a layer of plastic directly in contact with the food for up to a day or two.

IStockphoto According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the safest way to thaw frozen food is in the refrigerator.