Beans. Good for the soul, good for your Full English. We all love beans, but do we really love them enough to eat a whole tin in one day? In fact, in one week?
You don’t want to force feed baked beans down your throat, but you also don’t want to waste any either. An age old dilemma with a simple solution.
Baked beans - Can you freeze it? Why, yes you can, dear reader. One just simply needs the correct methodology.
But how does one freeze this delicious tomatoey goodness? In this guide, we’re going to cover how to freeze baked beans, in addition to how to defrost baked beans and other things that you need to know before freezing.
How to Freeze Baked Beans
So, how does one freeze baked beans? As it so happens, it’s a fairly simple process.
First of all, once you’ve cooked your beans you should give them a little time to cool. This is because the container can expand if you put hot beans into the freezer, and this means that there is a higher chance of the container cracking or exploding. The beans could also burst open.
Now we’ve got that out of the way, grab yourself a freezer safe container and put the beans inside of it. Make sure that it’s tightly closed to ensure that the food doesn’t spill out. If the beans have meat inside then you should make sure that you cover the meat with sauce. This will stop the meat from drying out when it’s in the freezer. Try not to over fill the container with the beans. It’s important that there’s a little room at the top.
Write on the container, stating the date and what the contents of the container are. This will allow you to see how long you have until the beans will spoil in the freezer.
Finally, put your prepared baked beans into the freezer. You should try to eat them within 6 months of freezing them, though the sooner the better.
How to Defrost Baked Beans
It’s finally time to eat your baked beans. Now what?
To start with, grab your baked beans from out of the freezer. You should then place the container of beans into the refrigerator. Ideally, you should put them in the refrigerator up to eight hours before you intend to eat them. This will allow the beans to defrost properly before you cook them.
That’s not the only way to defrost baked beans, however. You can also pop them in the microwave and use the thaw function to cool them down. Then all you need to do is cook them as you usually would for around 10 minutes in a suitable pan.
If you really don’t have the time to wait for your baked beans to defrost, there is one more option. Put the baked beans right into the saucepan without waiting for them to thaw, cooking them immediately. With that being said, it should be noted that the beans will have a mushy texture this way that isn’t appealing to everyone. They can also look somewhat watery.
The most important thing to remember is that once you have frozen the beans, you have to reheat them only once after they have defrosted. This may not be easy to do if you bulk store the beans, which is why it’s important to portion them out properly before you freeze them.
Factors to Consider Before Freezing Baked Beans
The first thing you need to ask yourself is do you really need to freeze your baked beans? Usually baked beans come in tins, so if they aren’t opened then the chances are that they can last a number of months in your kitchen cabinets.
In short, the only circumstance where you should ever need to freeze your baked beans is if you have leftovers that you’re confident you can’t use up in one day or week.
Also, it’s important to remember that your beans may not come out of those frozen depths the same way that they went in. Beans can sometimes get a little mushy when you freeze them, and the taste and texture certainly isn’t to everyone’s taste. If you can, it’s best to use the beans as soon as you open them.
You can leave your baked beans in the freezer for up to 6 months if you wish to do so. With that being said, if you have made the baked beans from scratch rather than from a tin, then they may not last that long in the freezer.
The beans also are not going to taste as nice if you leave them in there for longer amounts of time. For this reason, it’s best not to leave them in the freezer for longer than 3 months if possible.
Above all else, don’t stick your tin of baked beans in the freezer. It may seem like a tremendous time-saving idea at the time, but the last thing you want is for baked beans to explode all over your freezer. It will also be a nightmare trying to extract the beans from the tin. It’s a no from us.
Summary
Freezing your baked beans is a fantastic way to ensure that they don’t go to waste once you have opened them. Without freezing, it’s all too easy to waste hundreds a year on leftovers spoiling because there was no use for them immediately after opening the tin.
Whether you want to add your beans to another dish or use them for a delicious Full English, freezing your baked beans is a great solution to the potential waste issue.
As long as you make sure that you are correctly freezing and defrosting the beans, you will have meals for months to come. Bring on the tomato!