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Eggs And Other Foods You Never Thought You Can Freeze (And Some You REALLY Can't)

From eggs to wine, do you know how much more use you could get our of your freezer?

How many times have you over-bought food (thanks BOGOFs) thinking you're getting a great deal only to throw it out a week or two later when it's gone off and you didn't even manage to cook half of it?

Not only is it a tragic waste of food when so many are starving, it's a huge waste of money too. ut we've discovered that actually a lot more foods can be frozen than you might think. As long as you do it the right way...

Out of their shells, eggs will freeze (REX)
Out of their shells, eggs will freeze (REX)

Eggs

It never even crossed our minds that one might be able to freeze eggs, but how useful is that? No more using two and leaving the rest to languish for months in the box, slowly growing their salmonella.

You can't just stick them into the freezer as they are though, you need to crack them into a plastic bag or ice cube tray first. Then defrost in the fridge and use as normal.

Garlic

If your garlic is always getting yellow and shrivelled between cooking sessions, try freezing it to keep it fresh. It also keeps it flavourful and stops it stinking up your kitchen.

Chop it up first and freeze in small cubes (such as in plastic baggies or an ice cube tray) for easy cooking. Cook direct from frozen.

Bananas

Bought a massive bunch of nanas and don't know what to do with them? Panic not. They can be frozen, in their skins or peeled and used in everything from cakes to smoothies. Mash them up from frozen for an ice-cream alternative or in smoothies, or blitz them in the microwave for a few seconds to get a squidgy texture for cakes, muffins etc.

Crisps

Not quite finished that giant bag of crisps you bought for a party/BBQ/night in? Fear not. Just put the whole bag straight in the freezer. When you want to eat them, take them out and eat from the freezer. No defrost necessary.

Don't let the mice get your cheese (REX)
Don't let the mice get your cheese (REX)

Cheese

Not all cheeses should be frozen. Delicate flavours and blue cheeses are best left in the fridge - and they have a long shelf-life anyway. But blocks of milder cheeses - think some cheddars, red leicester, edam, emmental - are fine. Just freeze in a plastic bag or wrap and defrost outside the fridge completely to avoid it going crumbly.

Rice

Half-cooked rice can be frozen and finished off at a later date. This is particularly good for slower-cooking varieties and brown rice, which takes forever.

Wine

Waste no more wine! can't quite finish the bottle? The choice is no longer chug or chuck. Instead, freeze in a freezer bag or ice cube tray and use for cooking. This also avoids having a bottle of fast-vinegaring 'cooking' wine sat in the fridge for months.

But though you can technically freeze anything, not all things should be frozen.

Watery fruit and veg is a no-no, as they will go limp when you defrost, mayonaise splits so don't even both and fried foods lose ther crispiness that make them worth the fattyness, and taste a bit stale when defrosted.

Happy freezing!