There is very few things in cooking more frustrating than freezer burn. We use the freezer to preserve our food and when the freezer ruins it, cooks all over the world tend to take it personally.
Can freezer burn hurt you? No. It is harmless. It just ends up making the affected food look and taste funny.
How does freezer burn happen? It mostly has to do with the way modern frost-free freezers work. Modern freezers are designed with a kind of dehumidifier to keep food frozen and dry in order to prevent frost from building up on the food and walls of the freezer. If an item is not packaged correctly, the cold, dry air in the freezer will cause the water in the food to evaporate, leaving the food dehydrated.
Freezer burn can also happen when there is poor air circulation in a freezer. Poor air circulation occurs when the freezer is overstocked.
Freezer burn can be prevented several ways. The first and most important is to make sure that your food is wrapped in as air-free of a way as possible. Make sure that freezer bags have as much air as possible pushed out of them. Make sure foil wrapped food is wrapped as tightly as possible.
Another way to prevent freezer burn is to make sure your freezer is packed efficiently but not tightly. If your food is thrown in the freezer in a big jumbled mess, take it out and repack your freezer. Leave a bit of space at the top or add a shelf to allow air to circulate a little better. While freezer burn can be frustrating, it isn’t something you have to accept.
Just spending a few seconds preparing your food before freezing it can go a long way towards keeping freezer burn from ruining your meals.