Help! Freezer Burn?

[Tyler]

I've been noticing lately that I seem to get a lot of freezer burn. How does freezer burn occur and is there a way to prevent it?

I first noticed that I get a fair bit of freezer burn several months ago when I lived in my old apartment. I thought it might have been the freezer's temperature settings. However, I've since moved, and my new fridge seems to do the same thing too... although it's hard to tell since most of my food in there was transported from my old place.

Also, could it simply be because I keep stuff in there too long? I notice the freezer burn mostly on my frozen vegetables. And being 23 and male, I try to avoid those vegetables as much as humanly possible, so my frozen corn hibernates in there for quite a while. Could I be getting freezer burn because I keep my corn in there for 6-8 months at a time?

Thanks in advance.

[momof2]

Hi Tyler,

I am not an expert on freezer burn, but here are the things I have noticed. If there is any air in the bag or package, the food is more likely to get freezer burn, so wrap those foods up as tightly as possible. And yes, keeping things in the freezer too long also seems to lead to freezer burn. I do not know what the time line is for frozen vegetables, but I tend to keep mine quite long too. If you make sure you remove as much air as possible before putting them back into the freezer, that should help. Another thing I noticed is that some older appliances tend to give off an odor in the freezer, and that would make your food have a peculiar smell/ taste to it as well. Hopefully that wouldn't be the case in your new place. Good luck!

[Tyler]

Hi,

Well, it must be from keeping the food in too long then, as this happens with bags of frozen corn, peas, etc. that I haven't even opened yet, which should negate the option of it being from trapped air.

I've noticed it more with food where there are a bunch of small entities, like peas or corn for instance, but much less so on big hunks of meat. I wonder if that has something to do with it.

That's a lesson to be learned. Meat = good, vegetables = bad.