Freezing food is an important kitchen technique and it helps you prevent your food from spoiling.
Freezing slows down the process of microbial growth and delays the movements of molecules.
This induces a dormant stage for the microbes preventing any enzyme activity that could spoil your stored meal.
As soon as the water or moisture around the food starts to freeze, bacteria no longer get favorable conditions to thrive and thus can’t do anything.
During this whole process, it’s extremely necessary to enclose your meals airtight, using a freezer tape.
Here’s all you need to know about freezer tapes and freezer tape substitutes that you can use in their place.
What is Freezer Tape?
Freezer tapes are special sticking tapes that work in freezing conditions.
They are most effective in adhering to plastic wrap, paper and aluminum kitchen foils.
Whether it’s a freezer or a microwave, freezer tapes provide tight moisture-free seals.
They are most useful for labelling and packing foods when placing them inside a freezer.
This sealing and packaging is very important for some foods who are sensitive to even miniscule moisture levels or require complete airtight conditions.
You can also use the freezer tapes to label the items you freeze.
The adhesive used in the freezer tape is excellent for handling lower temperatures and can adhere to bulky, uneven items very tightly.
Freezer Tape vs Masking tape
Freezer tape is designed using special adhesives and sticking material that enhance its life and durability in colder conditions.
It should be applied at or near room temperature when the item is completely dried in order to get the best results.
If you’re interested in labelling all the items in your freezer, it would be difficult to do so with the freezer bags.
What you can do is place a freezer tape on the items and then label them. They work great on films, aluminum foils and paper.
On the other hand, masking tape does not have the good, ingenious adhering properties as freezer tape does inside a freezer.
It doesn’t have the ability to stay intact at cold temperatures neither it is safe for defrosting in microwaves.
That said, freezer tape can’t match the adhesive properties of a typical masking tape under normal conditions.
Some of the freezing tapes can even work in temperatures as low as -20 F.
Where Can I Buy Freezer Tape?
Since freezer tapes are common kitchen-use products, you can easily find them at any specialized kitchenware store or in a supermarket nearby.
The kitchen market and niche are extremely vast.
There is so much competition in the market that you can easily get overwhelmed while making choices between different brands, types or even retailers.
It’s important to do a little research online and check what brands suit you the most.
Apart from physical stores, you can even try online avenues like Amazon or visit the websites of tape-making companies who offer deliver services as well.
Freezer Tape Substitute
No matter if it’s a fresh-cooked meal, vegetables and fruit or left-overs, freezing your food is the greatest way to prevent yourself from wasting food and keeping it stored for a long period of time.
In order to ensure maximum freshness and preserve the flavor of the food, you should use a freezer tape to seal the food in an airtight packaging.
Freezer tapes come in very handy because normal duct or masking tape usually wears off from surfaces due to poor adhesive properties in cooler conditions.
This makes duct tapes unsuitable for sealing or air-tightening bags or cartons.
The thing is that you won’t always have access to freezer tape.
It’s also not something you’ll have in your home lying around to fetch it. You’ll have to go get it from the market and more often than not, you’ll have to place orders online.
In the meantime, when you’re making arrangements to get the freezer tape, your food can go bad.
So, are there any substitutes to Freezer tapes?
Of course, there are.
Here we’ll let you know about a few options that you can use when freezer tapes aren’t available:
Glass bowls or jars
You can store your compote, soups, sauces, berries, puree or even herbs in airtight jars with glass containers or screw tops.
Glass containers are particularly useful because they’re easily available and quite simple to clean too later on.
One thing you must ensure is to keep a quarter of the jar empty if it contains any liquids.
Cans or stainless-steel containers
Just as you need to be cautious with glass jars, it’s also not sensible to fill steel containers up to the brim.
You’ll still have to keep a quarter of it empty. It’s important not to seal it tight before the food is frozen completely.
Using stainless steel containers means that you won’t have to worry about breaking glass.
Sealable Zip-lock bags
Sealable bags are one of the best alternatives to plastic bags that you usually seal using freezer tapes.
These zip-lock bags are an excellent way to store veggies, liquids, meat, fruits and bread, helping you store them in a mess-free way while also keeping your freezer or fridge tidy.
Reusable bags are very efficient in keeping your stored goods organized, clean and fresh too.
They also make the process of thawing frozen things faster for use in meals.
These zip-locks are what technically replaces the freezer tapes because they’re very good at sealing the bags off and are easier to label too.
Some seasonal foods are just better off in the freezer without packaging
You can even go without the whole packaging exercise with certain foods, depending on their properties.
For instance, fruits like berries etc. can do well without requiring any sealed packaging that requires freezer bags.
All you need to do is perform a simple google search to find out if that food can stand on its own without requiring any sort of airtight conditions or external packaging.
If a particular item checks out, make sure that you wash it clean first.
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