Customer Reviews

Can I Freeze It?: How to Use the Most Versatile Appliance in Your Kitchen

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A disappointment. From the description, I was expecting advice on how to freeze everything from raw produce to prepared casseroles containing various ingredients. This is primarily a standard cookbook, and an outmolded one, at that. Overall, the author's emphasis is on "rich" (perhaps the most frequently-used adjective in the text), high-calorie items that are almost entirely useful only for entertaining, not for everyday, family meals. Beautiful color pictures of these meal items take up much of the space. The bit of advice on freezing could have been found on the web, without the expense of buying the book.

Cookbooks in my collection from the 50's and 60's occasionally described how one might roast one cut of meat at the beginning of the week, then make several different meals using it as a base. Possibly useful to some readers, this book has a section with the same sort of progression.

'can i freeze it' by Suzie Theodoru has one of the most accurate, informative, and catchy subtitles I've seen on a cookbook, which more than makes up for the catchy but less than accurate main title. The subtitle points out that while there are stacks of books on how to cook with blenders, food processors, slow cookers, pressure cookers, rice cookers, and sloppy cookers (See Martha Stewart's Housekeeping Manual), not everyone has a food processor, slow cooker, pressure cooker, or rice cooker. But, virtually EVERYONE has a freezer. And, I'll guess that only a minority really know all the tips and pitfalls of freezing.

My issue with the title is that a scant 10 percent of the book (the first 22 pages, in chapter entitled `Perfect Freezing Every Time') actually deals with the techniques of freezing. The remainder of the book realizes the subtitle to a tee, in giving one both common and relatively uncommon techniques with which to use the freezer (or freezing compartment of a dual refrigerator - freezer).

`Perfect Freezing Every Time' begins with a section on how freezing works, in order to explain why certain techniques work and why certain practices cause frozen food to go bad. Next is `freezing tips and techniques, which may be just a bit thin for the novice. I think a few good picture series demonstrating some basic techniques would have done well here. Next is `containers', which may offer information which is foreign to most people. I'm just a bit surprised that the author doesn't give a stronger warning against using water in glass in the freezer. In spite of the fact that I, Mr. Smarty Pants chemist for 10 years, have used due care in putting water in glass in the freezer, the glass busts virtually every time! Ms. Theodoru's advice is sound, but there should be a black border around being careful with glass and freezing. (Oils in glass, such as bacon fat, do not have the same problems, as fats do not, like water, expand on solidifying). In `organizing the freezer', Ms. Theodoru gives us possibly the two very best pieces of advice. One is that it is a `good thing' to keep the freezer almost full (75 percent). And, be careful about real freezer temperature (especially if your freezer is an automatically defrosting model). `maintaining the freezer' addresses manual defrosting and maintaining frost-free freezer units. `thawing' is a very nice reference on this procedure which may be hazardous to your health if done incorrectly. `how to choose the right freezer' is very nice, especially in its discussion of `integrated freezers', which can be built into a line of cabinets and opened like a drawer. I would have liked to see a picture of such a model, and know who manufactures them. The five pages from 17 to 22 give material which reflect the title of the book, and may be the most disappointing section. It deals only with a few very general categories of foods. A major improvement would have been a glossary covering freezing dos and don'ts for a large number of specific foods. Ironically, there is a glossary at the end of the book, and entries say little or nothing about the freezability of foods cited there, such as cracked olives, miso, and preserved lemons.

When I got to this point in the book, I was enlightened, but not impressed. Then, I turned the page to the first chapter on cooking techniques using the freezer to assist in prep work. Here begins what may be the real value of the book to people who know their way around the kitchen. The first major suggestion was the technique for combining the marinading and freezing for future use steps in preparing meats for stir-frying. This same theme is carried out for roasting, grilling, and broiling. If I were to suggest one basis on which one may wish to buy this book, it would be the eight meatball recipes, a perfect food preparation mode that has special heath risks the freezer can help to prevent.

The `cook once, eat twice' section is just a bit thin, and is covered in a host of other books, to which this book is a very worthy supplement.

Another very interesting chapter is the one on `Rice', which is notorious for going icky after the initial cooking, followed by refrigeration. Predictably, the first recipe for leftover rice is fried rice, but the introductory method on freezing rice is worth the price of admission.

`Crepes' are almost an expected subject, as freezing crepes is a part of virtually every good recipe, at least since Madame Julia Child's influence made itself felt.

`Cooking for a crowd' is also a natural subject for this book. Many of the recipes, such as Coq au Vin (Chicken braised in a wine sauce) are old war-horses, it's good to have expert freezing tips on these standards.

`Pastry' and desserts in general are also a natural freezer subject, even if you never get to do ice cream. This chapter opens with those two great Swiss Army Knife frozen pastry products, Phyllo dough and Puff Pastry, with far better than average introductory techniques. Choux pastry is another natural, as finished pastries are delicate and do well with freezing.

No surprise that the book ends with true frozen desserts such as sorbets, meringues and icebox cookies. Just a bit surprised that there is no treatment of ice cream makers, but then, that's another book.

The very reasonable price makes this a winner, even if you own lots of other cookbooks. It is especially worthwhile if you own few cookbooks and like to cook ahead.

I probably have more than 100 cookbooks, but this one will be kept in the kitchen. The freezer is the one mystery appliance left in my kitchen and I'd been searching for months for good guides to using the freezer and cooking from the freezer. The Once-A-Month Meals books were helpful with menus but they weren't specific enough about the process of taking food from hot to cold and back to hot. It sounds simple, but I spent plenty of nights delaying dinner by 45 minutes to cook the center of a dish. Thrilled with this book!

As previously stated, the title is misleading. The book never FULLY answers the question which it ask in the title. The chapter "perfect freezing every time" is the only part of the book that covers; can I freeze it? The rest of the book is a standard cookbook. The only difference is the author explains at the end of the recipe how to freeze that particular item. If you have something that you did not make from this book then you are out of luck. I can not believe that during the editorial process someone did not say: Let's make a chart at the end of the book with 400-500 common foods with simple column like food, storage container type, can I freeze it (yes, or no), and most important how long will it keep in the freezer. I repeat, this is the most important information you need if you are going to freeze food.
Because the truth is 99% of foods can be frozen, but the storage times are vastly different. That was the only useful part of the book. In the previously y mentioned chapter the author gives "keep times" for various foods but it is random and incomplete. Like she mentions bread loves, and slices freeze well and in the next paragraph she says to slice up the loaves before freezing. ???? Why did you just tell me that loaves freeze well?
There are other inconsistencies like that, I would have overlooked if the book was complete thorough in answering the title question.

i was very disappointed in this book, and i think the title is to blame for being misleading. It is called "Can I freeze it?" and i assumed from this that it would give lists of which foods freeze well and which don't. I was looking for this information.
Unfortunately the book only covers this in about one page, and mentions only a handful of foods (and then, rather sloppily. Eg she says you can easily puree watermelon and freeze it. But what about actual watermelon? that isn't answered. also, she talks about making raw hamburgers and freezing them, but does not say whether making cooked hamburgers and freezing them would work as well). The rest of the book is recipes.
I would not have bought it if I had known this. If anyone knows of a good book which will list lots of foods and whether you can freeze them, please post here!

It is 90% recipe book and 10% introduction on freezing and thawing meals/produce/staples. I can't vouch for the recipes since I just glanced through for types of meals that freeze well. Some of the tips were new to me but your mileage may vary. On the whole, if you're trying to simplify your life because of an expected baby, this book probably won't do much for you because you'll just want simple, nutritious, and efficient foods. However, if you want to impress your friends though for the occasional dinner, then it might be a slam dunk since you won't be cooking from 5 am that morning! It also seems to be on the conservative side regarding how long frozen meats will keep.

In the freezer-cooking genre, there seem to be two types of cookbooks: the simple, workhorse, how-to-make-stuff-and-freeze-it variety, and the more "gourmet" variety. The former generally includes a lot of high-fat, uninspiring recipes like meatloaf and cream-of-mushroom soup-based casseroles, and the latter typically involves complicated recipes with fancy ingredients that most families with small children would never serve.

Susie Theodorou's "Can I Freeze It?" strikes a lovely middle ground. I especially enjoyed a chapter on meatballs that features several inspired variations, such as a Chinese noodle soup featuring chicken meatballs, and another chapter featuring several variations on gyoza (pot stickers).

Freezing techniques are thoroughly explained for each recipe, with specific details about how to get the item from freezer to table (including clear notes about which recipes can be cooked from frozen).

The one disappointment in this wonderful cookbook was the complete lack of nutritional information provided for the recipes. Given that this book was published in 2007, I was pretty shocked that this standard information was not provided.

I had thought this cookbook was about what you can freeze and what you can't. It really has nothing to do with that. It's a freezer concept cookbook and gives recipes for preparing then freezing meals in advance.

I'm not saying this isn't a helpful cookbook to have but the title of this cookbook leads you to believe there would be lists of things you could freeze, how to prepare them to freeze and then how long they will last. It's not about that at all.

But I would still recommend Don't Panic: dinner's in the freezer, or Super Suppers instead. This book does have some nice photos though.

And in its' cook once eat twice section I would recommend the Betty Crocker Cook Once Eat Twice cookbook instead.

This is one of the best freezer books I have and I have many. It is not to teach you how to freeze the unfreezable. In the introduction it clearly states it is not meant to be encyclopedic. It explains what you can and can't freeze well. It has many tips on containers, storage, how long different things can be frozen, etc. The recipes are very good as well since I like variety in my meals.

As other reviewers have mentioned, this is not a book about what can and cannot be frozen. That said, the recipes are wonderful and it has been so convient to be able to make dinners (other than the all too common casseroles) ahead of time that freeze and reheat perfectly. Paticularly good are Her recipes for pot stickers (she gives 3 varities), salmon cakes, meat balls and her chicken and leek pot pies are simply amazing. Yum! Most of the recipes in this book are perfect for entertaining- and it makes it so much easier as a hostess to prepare some or all of the courses in a dinner party in advance. If you are pressed for time in the evenings but want a homemade dinner every night, this book is fantastic.