Confusing Groceries: Frozen Food

Part 17 in a series about the most confusing items to shop for in the grocery store covers frozen food

[DCReviews]

I can tell you as a Kroger meat department employee we take the frozen bags of shrimp thaw them and put them in the display counter

[halifaxsteppenwulf]

You left out the best example of all: frozen vegetables. They’re often times *fresher* than fresh veggies because they were flash frozen at peak ripeness mere hours after harvesting.

[saxassoon]

As someone who grew up incredibly close to the coast and could actually get the "yea i caught this 6 hours ago" seafood, most places are simply too far away for that level of freshness for their seafood. The frozen stuff is the way to get that level of quality to your kitchen without your intestines revolting in protest. Its still good, i promise you.

[JBlazingit]

Flash freezing sea food has been one of the best inventions. You wind up with safer food and no deterioration to taste. It’s simply a win-win.

[bigredradish]

i think half of WHY people are like "frozen isn't as good" is because they probably grew up like me where bags of frozen veg were just thrown in a microwave and came out soggy and bland. tactical use of the mixed veggie packs in a stir fry will rock your world, trust me

[awezomnezz]

i’m a frozen vegetable lover for life. they never go rotten and they’re so easy to throw into a dish

[tomv]

"freeze the frites" "all of my favourite french fries come from the freezer" - the alliteration in these sentences tickled my brain.

[pumpkinhead]

I know you've dabbled with the short form video with the 21 Tips and Trick Video but I really think you've hit the nail on the head with this series. Great work.

[arterca]

Also it takes such an insignificant amount of time to thaw shrimp. The only time I could find it necessary to buy unfrozen would be if I somehow forgot I needed shrimp in like 5 minutes.

[kas]

Frozen fruit is the game changer for me. Fruit spoils so quickly and is so expensive when not in season. Yes, sometimes you need fresh. That's fine and you can buy fresh for that. The rest it just makes sense to buy frozen!

Also frozen fruit makes nice and cold smoothies and "nice"cream

[wesleycampbellcaretto]

Frozen peas are such a lifesaver. I could be putting together the worst kind of struggle meal, but once I dump a serving of peas in a small bowl, microwave for a couple minutes, and then season them GENEROUSLY, suddenly a worst case scenario has been turned into a (semi)balanced meal

[OctagonalSquare]

Modern flash freezing is incredible! The water freezes so fast that it doesn’t expand as much and therefore doesn’t break as many cell walls (still happens a little). Plus it’s done in a relatively dry environment and then bagged immediately so that large ice crystals don’t form.

Unless you’re buying cheap frozen goods, odds are you’re not going to tell the difference between fresh and frozen on most items

[PanAndScanBuddy]

More Schwarzenegger impressions! "Let off some steam" would probably work in a cooking video, but "I'm the party pooper" from Kindergarten Cop is a personal favorite.

[morgantremble]

Every. Single. Person. That I have said the “sushi fish is all flash frozen for safety anyway” has argued with me. It rocks their world. “It can’t be true! My sushi is fresh! FRESH!!!”

[Mister_DM]

I love your content for one simple reason.
You are one of the few people who don't shame cooking ingredients/techniques/tools.

There is so much garbage out there, but its not as simple as fresh is good, or all organic or any matter of other simplified statements.

Its not that these labels are good or bad, its about knowing what they mean and the pros and cons of each.

Cooking is an Ancient practice that evolved alongside every culture on the planet, and is still evolving with us.

No culture is better or worse than another, the same goes with cooking.

[patriciatriplet]

I have told so many people in my life this! They seriously don't believe me. Lots of grocery stores actually have it listed on labeling that it is thawed for your convenience. That seems to be the only way to get people to believe me. Thank you for sharing this with all that watch it

[alysoffoxdale]

The veggies I grab out of my garden and put on the table the same day are definitely superior to frozen ones, but the things I grab from the grocery store and sit around in the fridge until I feel like washing and chopping again assuredly are not! Frozen foods fan for life!

[wethefreeproductions]

Love me some frozen fries. Honestly so far this has probably been one of the series that I’d recommend to anyone I got tired of answering questions about groceries or ran into unknown territory.

[AnnaMarina]

As someone with chronic fatigue, while I would love to shop daily and pick out fresh veggies for roasting, that's not my reality currently. Frozen veggies are a life saver and can be chucked into any recipe or cooked anyway.

[David.]

It's standard practice in the meat/seafood business to flash freeze their product as soon as possible to maintain maximum freshness. So when frozen meat/seafood arrives at the store, employees thaw the product to make it look nice to the customers.