How To Protect Homemade Frozen Pizzas From Freezer Burn
Making a stack of homemade pizzas to stash in the freezer is an awesome way to save money. However, once you've got through all the rising, rolling, and saucing, it can be heartbreaking to pull a pie out of the freezer days later to find that it's got freezer burn. While freezer-burned foods are safe to eat, they can have an altered taste and texture. Luckily, you can protect homemade pizza from getting freezer burn by wrapping them twice; once in plastic wrap and again in aluminum foil.
Freezer burn occurs when the moisture inside foods freezes into ice crystals and is lost through sublimation — this is the technical term for when the crystals turn straight into vapor, completely bypassing the melting stage. This loss of moisture causes freezer burned foods to become dry, suffer color changes, and in some cases look shriveled. More crucially, it can have a negative effect on their taste and consistency.
To reduce the risk of freezer burn on your homemade pizzas you need to curb their exposure to the cold air. Wrapping your pies tightly in plastic wrap will help to save the base, sauce, and cheese from losing moisture as they sit in the freezer and prevent them developing discolored patches. However, as an additional insurance policy, wrap your pizzas for a second time in aluminum foil. This double wrapping trick will safeguard your Margheritas and meat feasts from "burning" in the cold temperature.
Freeze your pizza unwrapped first
If you're concerned about the plastic wrap sticking to the cheese and toppings, consider freezing your pies unwrapped on a tray first. Once the base and toppings have frozen solid, you can package them up easily without disturbing your rounds of pepperoni and shredded mozzarella. Another option is to place your pizza inside a large freezer bag (instead of using a sheet of finicky plastic wrap) and employing a simple drinking straw to keep freezer burn at bay. All you need to do is seal the bag, leaving just enough space to insert your straw, before sucking out the air that's inside. Then, remove the straw and seal the bag as quickly as possible to prevent the air from making its way back in.
If all this sounds like too much work but you're still keen to stock up your freezer with homemade food, consider investing in a vacuum sealer, like this one on Amazon that has a bag cutter included. Simply allow the machine to do all the hard work for you.
A well-wrapped homemade pizza should last for up to three months in the freezer. And the best thing is that you can treat it in the same way as a store-bought pie and cook it straight from frozen.