Can You Freeze Meat Juices?

How To Freeze Meat Juices

Freezing meat juices is pretty easy to do. You don’t need to do any prep at all. What you do need, is some containers or good quality freezer bags. You need containers that you trust not to leak in your freezer.

How to Freeze Leftover Meat Juices

1. Cool
   Allow the meat juices to cool completely. You need to ensure it isn’t hot as putting hot food into your freezer heats up the air in there and can cause other food to defrost. Try to avoid the meat juices sitting at room temperature for too long because this is the perfect temperature for bacteria to grow in.
2. Portion
   Grab your container or freezer bags and ladle a portion of meat juices into each one. Seal the containers or bags tightly. Add a label with the date and contents.
3. Freeze
   Pop these into the freezer and freeze.

How to Freeze Meat Juice as Stock Cubes

If you want to have your own homemade stock cubes to use as a base for recipes then you can do this fairly easily!

1. Make Stock
   Find your favourite stock recipe and make this using the juices you have. Let this cool completely. You’ll want to reduce this a little further than you normally would when making stock or use less water initially so that the stock flavour is more concentrated.
2. Portion into Ice Cube Trays
   Next, you need to grab some ice cube trays. Fill each section of the ice cube tray with the meat juice stock. Leave a gap at the top to allow the juices to expand as it freezes.
3. Flash Freeze
   Pop the trays into the freezer and let the cubes freeze completely.
4. Place in Bags
   When the meat juices have frozen you can take the trays out of the freezer and transfer the meat juice cubes from the tray into a freezer bag.
5. Final Freeze
   Seal the bag and label with the date and contents. Now, whenever you need to add some sublime flavour to a dish you can grab out a meat juice ice cube or two and pop it into your recipe.

3 Tips for Freezing Meat Juices

Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing meat juices to have the best results:

• Label with the Meat – If you’ve frozen the juice from different meats then make sure you label it with the meat and not just as meat juices. 
• Reduce for Freezing – If you’re going to freeze it then keep it simmering over a medium heat until it reduces down into a thicker consistency. It will pack a punch and take up less room in the freezer. 
• Add to Gravies – You can pop a cube of meat juices into a homemade gravy to give it an extra layer of meatiness and body. There’s no need to thaw it beforehand!

How Long Can You Freeze Meat Juices?

We would recommend that you keep the meat juices in the freezer for up to about three months. After this, you may find that the flavour and quality deteriorates and you do run the risk of foods being too long in the freezer and spoiling.

You Can Freeze Meat Juices for Around 3 Months

How Do You Defrost Meat Juices?

If you are adding meat juice ice cubes to a recipe then you can use them right from frozen. Just pop the cubes into the pan you are cooking in and allow it to defrost as it mixes with the dish.

This should be safe to do so as the meat juices are being heated up quickly and not sitting at the optimum room temperature for bacteria to grow.

If you do want to fully thaw out the meat juices before using then the safest way to do this is in the fridge.

Put the meat juices into a bowl and place them in the fridge for several hours. You need to allow them to defrost fully before using.

The reason this is the safest method is that while in the fridge the meat juices are unlikely to reach a high enough temperature for bacteria to start growing.

If you do need to speed up the process you can pop the meat juices into the microwave and thaw out on a defrost setting. If you are using a microwave, then you will need to use the meat juices straight away to avoid any bacteria growth from forming.

Can You Refreeze Meat Juices?

No, you shouldn’t refreeze meat juices once you have thawed them out.

It isn’t recommended to do so as you do run the risk of allowing too much bacteria growth which could make you sick! You would are also likely to find that the quality and flavour suffers so it really isn’t worth it at all.

Do Meat Juices Freeze Well?

Meat juices do freeze well! They freeze so well that there is very little deteriorating in flavour or texture and once it has been added to a meal in the cooking possess you won’t even be able to tell the difference.

Other Questions about Meat Juices

Below are a few of the other common questions we have come across when it comes to meat juices – some related to freezing and some not. If you’re still sat there with a question or two about meat juices then drop a comment at the bottom of this article and we’ll aim to help out as much as possible.

Can You Freeze Beef Dripping?

Beef dripping brings a whole new level of flavour to roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and gravies. But can you freeze it? You certainly can! The best approach to take is to pour it into an ice cube tray, flash freeze and then pop the cubes out to freeze for the longer term.

Can You Freeze Bacon Fat?

Fat, in general, will freeze really well. The same can be said for bacon fat. You can freeze bacon fat for around a year. All you need to do is pour it into a freezer-safe container and place in the freezer. If you want to freeze small portions then use an ice cube tray. When you want to use it, thaw in the fridge overnight.