How to Freeze Meatloaf

Meatloaf is a wonderful culinary ingredient because a variety of nutritious and delightful recipes can be prepared from it. You can prepare the loaves easily at home and then store them for future use. They also come in prepackaged form and you can treat yourself instantly with some scrumptious baked dishes.

Meatloaf is basically frozen for two purposes, viz. to increase its shelf life and to improve its consistency. So how to freeze meatloaf? Have a look.

Before you come to know the different processes of preserving it, we share the most simple meatloaf recipe with you. You can use any type of meat for the purpose of making the loaves. If you are using one pound of meat, then you need to adjust the quantity of the rest of the ingredients accordingly. Use three teaspoons of milk, half cup bread crumbs, a pinch of black pepper, one egg, half cup flour and chopped onion.

First beat the egg and then mix all the ingredients uniformly to make a dough. Roll the dough and cut them into square shapes, resembling slices of breads. The loaves are ready. It's now your choice whether you want to freeze or bake them immediately for relishing hot.

Raw meatloaf is nothing but the freshly prepared loaves that are waiting to be baked. After you have prepared the meat loaves, you can store them inside the refrigerator. Take a little extra care so that their shelf life is increased and you get the same flavor of a freshly prepared loaf. However it's always better to have the frozen raw loaves on the same day or on the next day.

We explain you the method of freezing raw meatloaf over here.

• Transfer the loaves onto a stainless steel box. You can cover the loaves with an aluminum foil also.
• Place the loaves inside the deep freezer if you want to use it the next day.
• You can store them simply inside the freezer for half an hour to enhance the compactness of the loaves.

Cooked meatloaves are frozen in the same manner. Allow the loaves to cool down completely before freezing or else they might get spoiled. Do not garnish the loaves with sauce, cheese and butter, because these substances tend to mar the taste of the loaves when you cook them after taking out of the freezer.

Cooked meatloaves should also be consumed within a day or two to get the best taste and flavor. When stored for weeks after weeks, they form substrates for growth of fungus and bacteria.

• Cover the loaves with an aluminum foil after cooling them completely.

• Stack them inside an airtight steel box or a freezer bag.
• Store them inside the freezer and do not take them out unless you want to eat.

These were the basic methods of freezing meatloaves at home. However, it's always advised to buy prepackaged loaves if you want to store them for a longer time period. They are processed and packaged industrially, that further increases their shelf life.

Take the frozen loaves out from the freezer and keep them at room temperature at least for an hour before cooking. You can re-heat the cooked and frozen meatloaves in a microwave and then serve with sauce and dipping.