Terrine is a wonderful dish that’s just as simple as it is tasty. There are a lot of layers to getting it perfectly right, though, which can mean a lot of work. Have you considered freezing it to ensure that your terrine is kept well for the long term?
Can You Freeze Terrine?
Yes, you can freeze terrine for up to 2 months. To freeze the terrine, let it cool, wrap it tightly in baking paper, and then plastic wrap. Place the entire assembly into an airtight container not much bigger than it is, and freeze.
Do Does Terrine freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Terrine? Yes
How to Freeze Terrine
Freezing terrine isn’t too difficult and follows most of the basic principles you use when freezing most foods:
- Cool: First, you must ensure that your terrine is entirely cooled. We recommend removing it from the container you’ve cooked it in and placing it on the counter until it is entirely cool.
- Wrap: When cooled, wrap the terrine tightly in baking paper, followed by a layer of plastic wrap. The reason for the two layers, in that specific order, is that the baking paper will allow for ventilation and condensation while also preventing frost from forming. The plastic wrap will prevent external moisture from getting to the terrine.
- Place Into a Container: Place the wrapped terrine into an airtight container that’s not much bigger than it is. This prevents the terrine from taking on that ‘freezer smell’ while also preventing too much liquid from the air in the freezer from getting to the terrine itself.
- Label and Freeze: Once in the container, label the terrine and store it in the freezer for up to two months.
3 Tips for Freezing Terrine
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing terrine to have the best results:
Think Carefully About Wrapping
Place baking paper against the terrine, followed by plastic wrap. This ensures that you can stop moisture from forming against the terrine. Instead, it will form on the plastic wrap, where it will be away from the terrine, preventing freezer burn.
Use Airtight Containers
Aside from being the kind of dish liable to absorb smells, it is also a dish that can be a little smelly. For this reason, keeping it in an airtight container is best to prevent smells from permeating your freezer.
Consider Contents
Red meat freezes a little better than fish or chicken, for example, so we recommend noting down your terrine’s contents.
How Long Can You Freeze Terrine?
You can freeze terrine for up to two months. Compared to some other foodstuffs, this isn’t that long overall. This isn’t as long as other things because terrine is quite a wet food when prepared properly.
Foods with a higher moisture content will be more susceptible to freezer burn since the moisture that damages food when frozen for a long time is already within the food itself.
If your terrine is a little overcooked and drier, it could perhaps have a slightly longer life in the freezer.
How Do You Defrost Terrine?
We would recommend defrosting terrine in the fridge overnight. We’d recommend doing it there because bringing meat, cheese, and other perishable ingredients to fridge temperature will allow them to thaw without potentially spoiling.
To cook terrine after it has thawed, we suggest baking it until it’s steaming hot all the way through, especially if it’s a chicken terrine.
Chicken is well-known as a dangerous object in the food safety world, so be sure that it’s steaming hot all the way through before eating.
Can You Refreeze Terrine?
Yes, you can refreeze terrine. The main barrier to refreezing different objects is the rate at which they’ll degrade from ice crystals forming on and around them. Because terrine is almost entirely protein and fat, the food won’t degrade through repeated freezing.
The thing that we would be concerned about, in truth, is the fact that you’ll likely end up cooking the terrine several times over. This could lead to the terrine itself becoming dryer and dryer over time, which would be severely limited to the dish’s texture.
Does Terrine Freeze Well?
Yes, terrine does freeze well. We’d say that it freezes well because after it has been frozen and thawed, it is typically in much the same condition as when it was fresh. Therefore, it hasn’t lost much, if any, of the original quality.
To ensure that the terrine freezes well, you need to prevent freezer burn as much as possible. To that end, we would wholeheartedly suggest wrapping it in two layers – the first of baking paper and the second of plastic wrap.
This will, essentially, create a situation in which any frost that may form will form on the paper rather than the terrine. This leads to a lack of freezer burn overall.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing terrine or terrine in general, then these may help:
Yes, venison terrine can be frozen. Once cooled, wrap it in baking paper and then foil or cling film before placing it into an airtight container and the freezer. This applies to any game meats including pheasant and pigeon.
Yes, fish terrine can be frozen. It is often made of smoked salmon with a cheese filling. However, you may find that the cheese filling becomes grainy once frozen and thawed. 
Once cooled & wrapped as instructed- can it be frozen in the loaf tin it was cooked in?
We recommend removing the terrine prior to freezing. However, it depends on what it was cooked in. You can freeze ceramic bowls as long as they have been marked as freezer-safe. Tin, on the other hand, typically results in more freezer burn. Also consider whether you want your cookware to be used for storage or cooking. Especially if it’s going to be frozen for quite some time.