How to freeze soup

Most soups, with the exception of some seafood soups, freeze extremely well. Once frozen they can be reheated (see below) to give a very quick meal within a matter of minutes.

Some chunky soups, vegetable ones in particular may loose some of the texture of the chunky vegetables. Each soup is individual so try them out.

It may be best to puree the soup before freezing to ensure a good, even texture when the soup is de-frosted and re-heated.

STEP 1
When the soup is cooked, leave it to reach near room temperature before freezing. Depending on the amount of soup and the fat content, it should reach room temperature within one to three hours. If you have large volumes of soup to freeze then pour it into separate bowls to cool quicker.

STEP 2

When the soup is at near room temperature decide what portion sizes the soup will be used for.
Select containers which match the portion sizes you will use and pour the soup into them. Place the lid on the top and label them. A piece of paper selotaped to the container is fine.

Soup will expand ever so slightly when frozen so leave a small amount of room at the top of the container to avoid any spillage.

There are special freezer tapes especially designed for marking storage containers but they are costly. We have never had a problem with using normal Selotape and paper. Mark them with a normal pencil or pen.

STEP 3
Place the containers in the lowest (and coolest) compartment of the freezer where they will freeze quickest.

If you are freezing large quantities of soup (four pints or more) then it is probably best to only freeze three pints at a time. Freezing large quantities at the same time may cause other, already frozen, contents to suffer.

Frozen soup will keep for around four months, possibly only three months if it has a high fat content.

DE-FROSTING SOUP
Remove the soup containers you require from the freezer and leave them to de-frost in a warmish room. They don't need to defrost completely, just soften up. A two portion soup left for an hour at room temperature will be fine.

Having given the standard de-frosting advice, we normally place the frozen soup directly into a pan on a low heat with a splash of water. that works fine as well.

Heat the soup as normal. A small amount of water can be added to the soup when it is re-heating.

If you want to add a swirl of cream to the soup then do it when it is ready to serve in the bowl.

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