When I first began to plan for this website, I knew that besides showing you the benefits of freezing food, there was one thing I really wanted to share with you.
It was how you could save money. Aside from the other reasons behind this site, there is always a real bonus when you can help someone save their hard-earned money by doing things just a little different.
The benefit of freezing food is that message. Whether you have a deep freeze, a second one out in the garage, or just a small one attached to your fridge, every freezer is beneficial when it comes to helping you store food. But what is it that makes freezing food so attractive?
5 Real Benefits of Freezing Food
Benefit #1: Buy in bulk
For me, one of the best benefits of freezing food is the ability to buy in bulk. Because when you buy in bulk, there is that little benefit I already mentioned above- you save money.
Buying in bulk is great when you visit your local farmer’s market. Do you know why? Because it’s the farmers themselves that operate and supply them.
Buying from your local farmer’s market doesn’t only save you money when you buy in bulk, but it also keeps the money you do spend locally. The money ends up in the pockets of the farmers in your community and promotes local commerce.
I always find that when I buy vegetables from farmers’ markets, they tend to taste a lot better, last a lot longer and have a certain quality to them when compared with supermarket varieties. If freezing wasn’t an option, then I wouldn’t be able to buy the vegetables in bulk, which means most would spoil long before I could use them if I did.
Benefit #2: Saving money
One of the many benefits of freezing food is that you actually save money another way, and I’m not talking about the benefit of bulk purchasing. But it does have a little to do with bulk purchasing.
You see, freezing food reduces waste. The food that you may not need today is safely stored away in your freezer until an appropriate time. The food stores in a suspended state until such time you see fit to use it.
By not wasting food, you reduce several things, all of which are beneficial to you. The first thing you reduce is the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. This has a very important benefit to the environment and that has to be good.
Another positive side-effect of reducing your waste is that you won’t need to replace the food as quickly. This means less time in the shops and less money spent on more food.
Another great thing you reduce is the time and energy spent replacing the food you wasted. Less trips to the shop mean more time to do the things you really want. And what’s so bad about having extra time on your hands?
Benefit #3: Freezing food longer
This benefit is perfect for those who have specific tastes that need meeting year-round. Can you guess what it is? It’s the fact freezing food makes it last longer. Not just a little longer, but a lot. Of course, isn’t that the point? Yes, it is, but now imagine how that can benefit you in other ways than just keeping those bulk purchases for later.
Are you a mushroom lover by any chance? How about morels, to be specific? Morel mushrooms only have a very limited growing season, one that only lasts around 6 weeks of the year.
But despite being one of the world’s most sought-after delicacies, they don’t grow commercially. And that makes them incredibly difficult to get a hold of. But imagine able to keep a few in the freezer, to use year-round, whenever you feel like eating one.
And it’s not just morel mushrooms. How about other seasonal fruits and vegetables, like cherries, mangoes, peaches, nectarines? Or how about finding some delectable seafood at half price? Buy the lot and freeze what you don’t use today for later. Could there be anything more perfect?
Benefit #4: Avoid rotting
Here’s a benefit your body will thank you for. Did you know that all fruits and vegetables have an optimal time when you should eat them?
Perusing any fresh produce aisle at the supermarket will show varieties in different stages of their growing cycle. It’s quite common to find green bananas, or ones spotted with black dots.
The benefit of freezing the fruits and vegetables is that you will pause the ripening cycle, giving you the benefit of more nutrient-rich food when you want it.
Buy a bunch of bananas and keep them in the fruit bowl. A couple of days later, those remaining look frightfully over ripe. But freezing is a great way to keep them in their perfect state. Scientists have even discovered that frozen foods and those stored in the fridge vary significantly.
And that is because frozen foods hold the nutritional properties in check.
Benefit #5: Convenience
The final benefit I have to add to this list is probably one of my favorites, apart from the first one. And that is convenience. Imagine having a whole supermarket freezer section right there in your own kitchen. No matter what you need and whatever time you need it, there it is, ready to go.
Frozen fruits for that first morning breakfast smoothie is a great start to any day. But what about the ready-to-eat meals you already prepared over the weekend for the working week ahead?
Each day’s lunch, whether a delicious home-made minestrone soup or a scrumptious lasagna, made just the way your grandma used to make.
There are so many reasons to freeze food for yourself and your family, the least of which will give you the opportunity to make things at will and give you back the time normally taken to organise a meal in the first place.
If you take a single thing way from this article, I hope it’s this. Time is something that will never return to you. Use it wisely while you have it. Freezing food will help you with this.
