How to freeze baby food puree

Those who choose the second option eventually realize that they cannot do without blanks, unless you are a robot or you have a bunch of helpers. How to prepare baby food for the future? Belgorodskiye Izvestia collected practical advice, and pediatrician Antonina Zayeva told how not to harm the baby and make food as healthy as possible.

Purchased no worse than

Contrary to established beliefs, doctors recommend feeding young children with commercially prepared complementary foods, because the chemical and microbiological safety of their composition can be guaranteed. In such products, the degree of grinding of raw materials corresponds to the age of the child. Also among the advantages are a long shelf life, homogenization and a wide range.

“If a mother decides to prepare food for her baby on her own, then the food must be prepared with the maximum benefit for the child. In frozen foods, the chemical composition practically does not change, but the amount of vitamins and minerals decreases. And the organoleptic properties also change: taste and smell, cellular structure. With conventional freezing, about 35% of the original quality of the product is lost, and with shock or acoustic freezing, 10% is lost,” said Antonina Zayeva.

She notes that it is better to freeze food in vacuum packaging: this way their taste will suffer less. It is also important to write the date of freezing and observe the terms and conditions of storage.

Vitamins for all seasons

In summer or early autumn it is useful to freeze vegetables for the winter, especially if they are grown in your own garden. But if it is not there, then it is quite possible to buy and freeze it. In any case, vegetables will cost more in winter. In the cold season, their assortment is smaller, and the taste is worse. Most often, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, green peas, bell peppers and tomatoes are frozen for children. This is usually done in plastic bags, after washing the vegetables and cutting them into pieces. It is better to freeze in small portions, so that later it is convenient to get and cook. You can also freeze various berries. They are convenient to use for making fruit drinks and compotes.

“Frozen vegetables can be stored for an average of 6 to 12 months at -18°C. At -12 ° C, the shelf life is reduced to 30 days, and at -8 ° C - to 7. You can also freeze ready-made vegetable puree. But you have to use it within a month. Quick-frozen fruits are stored for no more than a year, and berries - 9 months," said Antonina Zayeva.

Meat is always at hand

For a child who already chews well, you can make semi-finished products and store them in the freezer. These can be meat or fish cutlets, meatballs, meatballs, in which, in addition to meat, vegetables and cereals are added if desired. They will always be at your fingertips, all you have to do is get them and cook them.

Cooking meat can be frozen in advance in small pieces. Put it in bags and sign it so you don't forget what's in it. You can also store ready-made meat in the freezer, dividing it into the portions you need in terms of volume.

“However, it lasts longer if it is frozen in large blocks. So, it is recommended to store a chicken carcass at a temperature not higher than -12 ° C for no more than 8 months, and divided into parts - 1-3 months. Beef is stored at -12 ° C for 8 months, but pork is only 5 months. The lower the temperature, the longer the food can be stored. Fish at -18 °C can be stored for 6 to 10 months. Frozen ready-made meat dishes are stored on average up to 30 days, and semi-finished products from 1 to 3 months,” said Antonina Zayeva.

Puree to eat immediately

— How long can freshly prepared vegetable, fruit and meat baby food be stored?

— Refrigerated for up to 24 hours. During this time, the growth of pathogenic bacteria is minimized. You can freeze vegetable broths to make a quick soup or dilute porridge. But meat is not recommended until 1.6 years, because when cooking from meat, chemical and biological active substances, fats, salts, traces of feed, antibiotics that were given to the animal get into the broth. When using such broths, the child's enzyme system may fail. Try rich bone broths from pork, lamb, beef after 3 years, advises Antonina Zaeva.

She notes that food must also be defrosted according to certain rules: do it gradually and on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Then too much juice is not released and the maximum amount of useful substances is preserved.

- Is it worth it to roll up jars of mashed potatoes yourself?

— I do not recommend canning baby food at home, because sugar, salt, vinegar are usually added as a preservative, and these substances are not used to feed children. It is also impossible to ensure sterility at home, - says Antonina.

Really, you should not compare homemade puree with store-bought. After all, it is closed in jars using a certain technology. At the factory, the puree passes through brewers, is sterilized, and rolled up with lids in a vacuum seamer. The jars are sterilized or pasteurized, and then quenched. It is impossible to repeat all this at home.

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How to freeze baby food - Encyclopedia Baby food

Knowing how to freeze baby food, you can prepare and store whole batches of homemade baby food, a real boon for busy parents.

Table of Contents:

There are several ways to freeze baby food - they all work equally well - but may take up different amounts of freezer space.

... homemade baby food must be prepared and then cooled as quickly as possible to prevent bacterial growth. Any food left at room temperature for more than two hours is not safe for a child to consume and should be thrown away.

To cool cooked food quickly, you can try putting it in a shallow container - you can even dip the container in a pot of cold water to help speed up the process.

Thoroughly clean the ice mold and the spoon that will be used in filling each section. An ice tray with a resealable lid is ideal as it protects food from frostbite or picking up any odors from the freezer. If there is no mold with a lid, you can cover with food-safe plastic wrap. Some people use foil, although we don't recommend it as some of the foil will remain in the food!

Place the filled ice tray in the freezer, and - after completely frozen - place them in ZIP bags that take up less space in the freezer.

This method produces small portions of baby food that are ideally sized - typically around 30 grams or so. One cube per meal may be enough for a child to start with, but as they grow, you may need to increase the number of cubes at a time or increase the ice cube tray.

You can also make many different flavors of baby food by mixing and matching different fruit and vegetable cubes, for example, the combination of apple puree cube with carrot puree cube, delicious!

Some ice cube trays are specifically made for baby food and do not contain potentially hazardous chemicals - but a regular ice cube tray can be used, or a silicone mold may be advised, or even stainless steel trays, although the regular plastic version will work if there is confidence in the quality of the workmanship.

Same as method 1, since the process of freezing baby food is the same, only silicone cupcake molds are used instead of an ice mold! Their flexibility makes it easy to remove food portions - plus, of course, their use is beneficial when the baby starts to eat more baby food!

If no suitable freezer containers are available for baby food, baking paper can be used (although a little more freezer space will be needed initially).

Simply spoon the cooked baby puree onto the baking sheet to form small mounds (though note that this will not work if the puree is too thin). We cover the baking paper with cling film, freeze, and then mix the servings of food into bags, as before.

Another good way to freeze homemade baby food is to divide the puree into freezer 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 has specifically stated that freezing is safe and possible.

Jars that are freezer safe must be properly labeled and distinguished from other tins (including commercial baby food tins) that are not strong enough to withstand the expansion of food that occurs during the freezing process.

This means that the jar may burst or, even worse, there may be small microcracks that cannot be seen with the eyes, but which will allow tiny pieces of glass to get into the baby's food.

Probably the most popular way to freeze homemade baby food is to use freezer trays or jars for baby food, there are so many options to choose from!

Manufacturers, recognizing the growing trend of parents to freeze baby puree, offer special forms for baby food that make life easier, well, because there is a lid! What's more, these molds are free of potentially harmful chemicals, which is something some plastic trays for general consumption are guilty of.

Most types of baby food - especially puree - freeze perfectly. Sometimes you will have to experiment with texture, since the freezing process itself consists in the fact that the water in the product expands when it freezes, destroying the cell walls. This is especially noticeable when the whole food is frozen, for example a frozen banana will be very soft when thawed.

To reduce the hassle of freezing baby food here are some helpful tips. ..

- Do not puree too thin before freezing. Keep in mind that many foods become watery when thawed (especially fruits and vegetables), adding extra liquid before freezing will then add too much cereal 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 after the food is defrosted, just before heating.

- Baked foods - like homemade nuggets or fish fingers - are best frozen when almost cooked but not fully done. This is because the structure of the food when frozen and thawed can behave negatively.

— When freezing yoghurt, remember that it may be too thin when defrosted. Sometimes stirring it well is enough to solve this problem - but in some cases, the resulting yogurt is too thin to eat with a spoon, so such yogurt can be used in a smoothie!

- A good result is obtained from freezing rice and oatmeal, which is good if the morning is like a nightmare and there is no time to organize a full breakfast. Only cereals should not be made too thin before they are frozen .

- Many fruits - especially apples and pears - can look very brown when frozen and thawed. This discoloration is a natural and harmless result of the fruit being exposed to air, but if it's a concern, mixing lemon juice and fruit puree before freezing can solve the problem. Please note that citrus fruits can cause an allergic reaction in babies, so you can use it with a changed 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's worth trying freezing in ice cube trays or baby food trays, as discussed above - then the ideal size of small portions will be in the freezer to use as needed.

- If baby food has been frostbitten, fortunately food safety is not affected - simply thaw and then cut or spoon away the affected areas.

The safest and easiest way to defrost baby food is to put it in the refrigerator overnight before feeding.

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