General Food Preparation - Zanussi DV 35 Instructions For The Use And Care

GENERAL FOOD PREPARATION
Fruit and Vegetables
Fruit and vegetables should preferably be frozen
immediately after picking or purchasing or kept
in the refrigerator for no longer than 24 hours.
For perfect result fruit should be just ripe, and if
any show signs of being damaged, then it should
be thrown away. Most vegetables and some fruit
need to be blanched before freezing.
Blanching
Where necessary, plunge vegetables into boiling
water for the specified period, and time from the
moment they return to the boil. Drain and cool
immediately in iced water before packaging and
freezing.
Meat
Freeze joints in handy sizes after trimming the
fat and removing bones if necessary. Game
must be cleaned before being hung for the
required period.
Poultry (Fresh)
Gut, singe and wash birds thoroughly. Tie
legs and wings to the body before placing
in the freezer, or cut into joints for packing
separately. Giblets should be packed
separately.
Fish
All types of fish should be preferably frozen
within 24 hours of being caught. Any superflous
scales should be removed along with the fins,
then the fish gutted and washed clean in cold
salted water before being frozen.
Ice Making
First, make ice cubes by filling the ice tray with
fresh drinking water to the top of each ice cube
compartment and placing on the freezer shelf.
When the ice cubes have formed, hold the tray
upside down and twist the tray along its length,
allowing loosened cubes to fall into a plastic
container or polythene bag. Store in the freezer
and use when required.
Prepared Food
These freeze well, but remember that seasonings
may become stronger during frozen food storage.
Salt shortens the storage time of frozen food so
add a little more if necessary during preparation
for eating. Semi-liquid food has a tendancy to
thicken, so should be made up with a little more
liquid than normal. Highly spiced and aromatic
dishes should ne wrapped thoroughly, so the
flavour does not transfer to other frozen food.
Always cool prepared food quickly and freeze
immediately.
How To Cool Food Quickly
Hot food should not be put straight into the
freezer because it will raise the temperature in
the cabinet, make the freezer work harder, thus
increasing the energy consumption. Therefore
you should always cool food quickly before
placing it in the freezer.
You can cool food quickly by placing it into a
cold container and stand it in a sink filled with
cold water. Regularly stir the food to help reduce
the temperature. Once the food is cooled,
transfer into a container suitable for freezing and
place it into the freezer.
Open Freezing
This method is commonly used to freeze fruit
and vegetables. After preparation place the food
in a single layer on foil covered backing sheets,
trays or special fast freeze trays, ensuring that
the items do not touch each other. Freeze the
food uncovered until hard (usually 1-2 hours),
after which it can be packed into polythene bags.
Open freezing is also useful for delicate food
which could become damaged during packing,
e.g. decorated cakes, flans and pastries.
Packaging
It is important to use the correct packaging to
preserve the quality of frozen food. All food
should be wrapped in moisture proof material
and be completely covered. Heavy gauge
polythene bags or sheeting; plastic containers
with tight fitting lids, aluminium foil containers
and waxed cardboard containers are types of
packaging that can be used.
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