Hi all,
So, exactly what is freezer burn?

--
Raelene
xxx



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On Thu, 9 Dec 2004 09:47:19 +0800, "Raelene"
> wrote:

>Hi all,
>So, exactly what is freezer burn?

IIRC from an earlier post, ice will slowly evaporate and shrink in the
modern frost-free freezers which are *meant* to evaporate moisture so
ice doesn't build up. Even in fairly air tight containers, water
molecules can escape and the food dries out. What is really perverse,
IMHO, is that even the dried out, freezer burned food can have ice
crystals on it. *That* part of it I haven't figured out :-)

Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd
AAC(F)BV66.0748.CA


"If the soup had been as hot as the claret, if the claret had been as
old as the bird, and if the bird's breasts had been as full as the
waitress's, it would have been a very good dinner."

-- Duncan Hines

To reply, replace "spaminator" with "cox"

Raelene wrote:

> Hi all,
> So, exactly what is freezer burn?

Moisture migration.

Moisture leaves the cells of the food and condenses elsewhere, either
on the inside of the package, if wrapped, or on the walls of the
freezer or on the special coils in frost-free freezers that are
designed for the purpose.

As moisture either evaporates or sublimes from the surface, the
remaining moisture in the food tries to equalize and moves towards the
surface. That movement can be very slow in a conventional freezer that
isn't opened much to much faster in a frost-free that raises and
lowers the temperature often.

That lost moisture can't really be replaced by any soaking or cooking
techniques to reconstitute the food to anything approaching its
original texture and flavor.

Pastorio

Raelene wrote:

> Hi all,
> So, exactly what is freezer burn?

Moisture migration.

Moisture leaves the cells of the food and condenses elsewhere, either
on the inside of the package, if wrapped, or on the walls of the
freezer or on the special coils in frost-free freezers that are
designed for the purpose.

As moisture either evaporates or sublimes from the surface, the
remaining moisture in the food tries to equalize and moves towards the
surface. That movement can be very slow in a conventional freezer that
isn't opened much to much faster in a frost-free that raises and
lowers the temperature often.

That lost moisture can't really be replaced by any soaking or cooking
techniques to reconstitute the food to anything approaching its
original texture and flavor.

Pastorio