Rules To Observe When Freezing Foods; Frozen Food Storage; Helpful Hints; Thawing-Out Frozen Foods - Zanussi ZVF 190 R Instruction Booklet

Rules to observe when freezing
foods
All products to be frozen must be fresh and of
excellent quality.
Each freezing package must be adjusted to the
family's consumption quantity in order to be used just
once.
Small-sized freezing packages allow a more rapid and
uniform freezing.
Do not forget that once frozen foods have thawed out,
they spoil rapidly.
Low-fat content foods are better conserved in the
freezer than those with higher fat content. Salt
(whenever present) reduces the duration of
satisfactory conservation.
Foods to be frozen must be enclosed in air-tight sacks
or containers especially indicated for this purpose.
Close these sacks or containers tightly to eliminate all
air.
Never place bottles or cans of carbonated beverages in
the freezer. These might explode.
Never introduce hot foods or liquids.
Never fill the freezing sacks or containers with covers
to the brim.
Do not consume certain products (popsicles, etc.)
immediately after removing them from the freezer,
because their extremely low temperature might cause
burns.
Indicate the freezing date on every sack or container
as a means of controlling conservation times.
Never open the freezer door or introduce new foods to
be frozen whenever a Quick-freezing phase is already
in progress.
A special card is located in the holder on the inner
door of the freezer compartment. On the upper part it
shows pictures of different types of food followed by
a figure. These figures indicate the maximum storage
time, in months, for each type of food.
Details of food being stored, can also be written in
pencil on the lower part of the card.
Important
When electrical current happens to be cut off, the
freezer door must not be opened. If the power failure
is short (up to 6-8 hours) and the freezer is full, there
is no risk that the food will spoil.
If the power failure lasts longer, the food must be
consumed as rapidly as possible, or otherwise cooked
and re-frozen again.

Frozen food storage

When the freezer is being turned on for the first time,
or after a prolonged period of disuse, turn the N/S
knob to the Quick-freezing position and then wait at
least two hours before introducing the food to be
conserved.
You may then return the knob to the «N» position.
This two-hour waiting period may be avoided if the
freezer has already been in operation.

Helpful hints

Always check the preparation date indicated on the
frozen foods you buy and respect the expiration time
provided by the producer.
Do not open the freezer door too often and leave it
open only for the minimum time necessary.
Unnecessary increases in temperature will notably
reduce the duration of the frozen food conservation.
Make sure that all frozen food packages are intact;
otherwise the food may have spoiled.
If such packages present signs of swelling or
humidity marks, this means that the food has not been
conserved correctly, implying that the product has lost
some of its original quality.
When buying frozen foods, carry them in a thermally
insulated shopping bag whenever possible. In any
case, always purchase frozen foods at the end of your
shopping. Wrap the frozen foods in newspaper and
then put them into the freezer as soon as you arrive
home.
Always check the frozen foods you buy carefully at
the moment of purchase, because even partially-
thawed foods must not be re-frozen but must be
consumed within 24 hours of purchase.

Thawing-out frozen foods

Frozen foods must be allowed to thaw out before use
either in the refrigerator (meat, poultry, fish, etc.) or at
room temperature (all other foods) according to the
available time.
Frozen products which come in small-sized or
separate packages may be cooked directly without
thawing; obviously, in this case, the cooking time will
last a little longer.
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