Food - Drink
The Quickest Way To Cool A Casserole Before Freezing
By KAREN HART
Casseroles are the perfect low-effort dish to make when you need to feed lots of people, and they also hold up very well as a prep-and-freeze meal. One of the only tricky parts of freezing a casserole is that they stay hot for a long time after coming out of the oven, so you'll want to know this simple trick to cool them down way faster.
Cooling your casserole before freezing can stop the casserole from cracking, in addition to preventing bacterial growth. The traditional way to cool a casserole is to put the dish on a cooling rack, but if you're in a hurry, just cut the casserole into smaller pieces and store them in a freezer-safe container to cool off.
Additionally, Lancaster Farming recommends cooking your casserole in a shallow dish to help it cool quicker, since it provides a larger "surface area for the heat to escape" than a classic deep dish casserole pan. If you plan to bake a casserole for the sole purpose of freezing it, try a shallower dish and save yourself some time.