Episode 421 – Why an Organised Freezer Changes Everything with Kate Hall

Ingrid: On this podcast, we talk a lot about decluttering, organising, using up items by making the most of what we already have. But there's one area that often gets overlooked, the freezer. organised freezer can make such a difference, helping with meal planning, cutting down on food waste, and saving money too. why we're so excited to be chatting with Kate Hall from the Full Freezer Method today. Kate is a best-selling author and TV food waste expert who has helped people worldwide waste less, save money, and take the stress out of everyday cooking. can't wait to hear what she has to share

Ingrid: Hello and welcome listeners. I'm Ingrid.

Lesley: And I am Lesley. Now, if you are here for the very first time today, or you've been listening in for ages, we want to say a huge thank you we have a little favour to ask.

Ingrid: If you like what you hear, be sure to hit that follow or subscribe button. Share us with your friends or leave us a review. It makes a huge difference to us.

hello Kate. Welcome to the podcast. We're so happy to have you here today

Kate @ The Full Freezer: Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here

Ingrid: You know what? You've been on our list for ages, and I was planning ahead a little bit and I thought, "Yes, we need to do a podcast about the freezer," because first of all, we've never talked about it before. I then dived into all of the things you're doing, and I thought you're like the perfect guest for this podcast because food waste, saving money, using up what you have.

It, like, ticks all of the Declutter Hub boxes. So, welcome, and thank you for being here.

Kate @ The Full Freezer: Yeah, no, it's great. I think, yeah, it is as you say, the freezer gets so easily overlooked, and I think it's almost like, the appliance clutter drobe or junk drawer of our kitchens, isn't it? I think we're all so guilty, and I know I have been in the past. I know if people look at my freezer now, they won't believe it.

But in the past, my freezer was very much you just chuck it in and, you'll come back to it. So it's exciting to share how I've gotten out of that habit and actually how shifting how you use the freezer can make just such a huge difference

Ingrid: It's absolutely s- it's, absolutely fascinating because I was like, of c- of course I was reading your book and kind of planning ahead. I was like, "Yeah, what have I got in my freezer? A bunch of leftovers, chips,

some peas,

Kate @ The Full Freezer: maybe were on

bottom of the drobe for a lot of people, I think, you know

Ingrid: Definitely. Some bread. We, I do go to, like, to the bakery to get fresh bread, so I freeze bread, which is fine. But, and we are good, thankfully, at doing, like, a leftover buffet every couple of weeks. We're like, "Okay, what's lurking this freezer?" But you are taking it to a whole next level, right? So happened? Why did, you go from, "I'm just a busy mom with two young kids and my freezer is, like, just all these random bits of leftover stuff."

W- what happened? Tell me the story.

Kate @ The Full Freezer: So I actually, I was big on batch cooking prior to the Full Freezer Method. so I'd cook the random stuff from the supermarket that so many of us have. but I would also have a lot of home-cooked meals. so that started when I was in my 20s. I was actually quite ill. I had bloo- blood clots in my shoulder, and my mum, bless her, came and filled a little tabletop freezer with all these batch cook meals.

And it was like this light bulb moment of, I can have, like, lovely home-cooked food even when I'm not feeling very well and I don't feel up to cooking. And that lasted for a good decade through, recovery and working and young love, moving in with my now husband, and both of us working long hours.

And, like, batch cooking was the thing because it was like, when I'm feeling good, I'll stock the freezer up, and then when we're busy and tired, we'll eat from the freezer, and jobs are good then. and that worked all the way through, you know, those various different stages of life, and, you know, I was avid fan of it until we had our second child, and we'd moved house when he was five, maybe six weeks old.

So the freezer was empty. It wasn't a great one.

Ingrid: No

Kate @ The Full Freezer: so thankfully we didn't move far, but of course, the freezer was empty, and I would keep on buying fresh food with good intentions. That it's "Right, this week I'm gonna fill the freezer. This week I'm gonna cook fresh, and I've got a two-year-old," and by that point we're talking, you know, a couple of months old.

and it would just always go horribly wrong. It would just always be, you know, the toddler's crying, the baby's crying, I'm crying. Like, can we just get a takeaway or a slinging meal? And all that food that I would have stocked in the fridge with good intentions would just end up going off, and it would just be me feeling guilty that once again I've, spent all our food budget, and now we've gotta go out and, buy more food

And it was only really with the threat when I got to, the n- ninth month of my maternity leave, and I was on statutory.

And my husband and I had the conversation that was basically, "Look, either you're gonna have to go back to work now, or we're gonna have to cut some bills, because we can't afford for you to be off for three months without anything coming in at all." And sitting and thinking about, what can we cut?

Where can we trim and get money back?" And the food bill was the obvious thing. Like, I knew that we were being wasteful. At that point, I had no clue that it was really bad for the planet as well. absolutely, totally unaware, oblivious at that stage. And it was with that pressure that I just had this light bulb moment that was like, hang on a minute.

If I can freeze a batch-cooked meal, why can't I just freeze the pepper that's gonna end up in the bin, or the courgette, or whatever it might be?" and so it s- I started to pull on this thread and read more and experiment more. Did food safety training, because I was terrified. I was the person that would put chicken in the freezer, and it would never come out again, 'cause I was like, "I don't know how to defrost it.

How do I defrost it without killing us?" and I was also, I have always been the person who cannot meal plan to save their life. So whilst they look at me and go, "Oh, she's so organized," I do what I do, and I stock the freezer how I stock it now because I don't, I, don't do organization when it comes to food.

my brain cannot cope with making a meal plan, because I know if I make the meal plan, I will not stick to it. so it would actually lead to more waste if I tried to meal plan. So now, basically, what I do and the way the Full Freezer method has developed is I teach people how they can build a stash of ingredients Which are essentially made up from things that otherwise would've ended up going in the bin.

So there'll be some stuff in there as well that's your normal, you know, I've got fish fingers, I've got chicken nuggets, I've got a seven-year-old, so, you know, it's a given. but the things that previously, you know, I would've used half a tin of or part of the pack of the veg if I could only buy it in a bulk pack.

Now, instead of those things ending up in the freezer, sorry, in the, food waste bin, they get prepped very quickly, and they go into the freezer, and it creates this filing cabinet of food almost where I can go in and just go, what do I fancy?" And just pull out the ingredients that we need.

And most stuff can be cooked straight from frozen. So I don't have that planning thing that would get in the way in the past where it was like, "Oh, I didn't get the meat out to defrost the night before." so the, full freezer method, whilst it is about teaching people how they can freeze these individual foods, it's also the bigger picture of making sure that your freezer is cleared down from, if it's currently in devastation, like, let's get that cleared out.

and then getting the foundations in place so that, you can build it back up and then, getting, you know, figuring out like, okay, these are the things you can actually freeze. This is what's most useful to you. Prioritizing what works for you and what actually there's no point putting in the freezer 'cause you're never gonna use it anyway, so it's just gonna stay in there forever.

and then actually using the stuff that you've got in place. So it's, about the food safety as well. It's about the cooking for quality. 'Cause so many people will say to me, I've tried freezing X and it was horrible, so I'm not doing it again." But it was 'cause they didn't necessarily know how best to use that food after it's been frozen 'cause it just behaves a little differently.

So it's, yeah, it's been a very organic sort of a process. but just been a game changer for me because of my natural way of working and now there are over 100,000 people who are on board with it and, you know, the book and the course and all the bits and pieces. So, yeah, it's nice. The, I mean, the best thing is when somebody messages you and says "Oh my God, this is, this has changed the game for me, thank you.

'Cause my brain didn't work the way that everybody said it should as well."

Ingrid: Yeah,

Kate @ The Full Freezer: so it's, yeah, it's big

Ingrid: Indeed quite interesting that because so just to get clear, the full freezer method is actually different than just batch cooking. So with... What I understand is when you, for example, make a spaghetti bolognese and you make like a red sauce, and you think, "You know what? I'm gonna make a really big pan

Kate @ The Full Freezer: Yeah.

Ingrid: so I can actually make five.

Eat one this evening and put the other stuff that's left over into four plastic containers. I'm gonna put it in my fridge so I can just pull it

Kate @ The Full Freezer: Mm-hmm.

Ingrid: cook pasta," and that, so that's batch cooking, right?

Kate @ The Full Freezer: That's

Ingrid: have I understood that correctly?

Kate @ The Full Freezer: Yeah. So I think with batch cooking it, yeah, it would be very much that of you've got your ingredients, and you know, you make a big batch of stuff. And that's what I used to do, that it would be like I've got four portions of chili, I've got four portions of curry, and I would do two-day batch cooking sessions, roping my mum in, where we'd do 10, 15 different meals.

which was actually really bad, 'cause you should not put that much fresh food in your freezer all at once. It must have taken days for it to freeze. I would not recommend doing that at all. The best thing to do really, in terms of a convenience perspective, and something that I do sometimes do, is if you want to double up what you're cooking anyway and then freeze the excess, then that is, you know, that's a really efficient and effective and safe way of doing it as well.

the difference where the full freezer method comes in

is I know, for example, when I was batch cooking, I might cook this big batch of whatever, but I would still have seven cloves of garlic,

Ingrid: Yeah

Kate @ The Full Freezer: two chilies left out of the pack and some herbs. And full freezer method is where you go, "Okay, I know I can freeze the garlic, I can freeze the chili, I can freeze the herbs," and they go in the freezer to be used for a different meal.

And so it... they can work together, the concepts of batch cooking and the full freezer method can totally work together. Alongside meal planning, it can complement each other. But equally,

Ingrid: Great

Kate @ The Full Freezer: you can, you know, as you can just do batch cooking and then be good at using the stuff up in your fridge.

Also, just be really into the full freezer method where it's like everything lives in the freezer. My fridge is not that full. My fridge is mostly full of drinks and milk and such, and cheese. but you know, anything that is at risk of going to waste, instead it goes into the freezer. And it's not a case of, God, your freezer must be enormous.

Like, your freezer must be endless. Because the objective isn't to freeze the thing forever, the objective is to just press pause on it. So I might freeze some ham today because I know I'm not gonna use it in the next two days,

I might use it at the end of the week when, you know, it's okay, it's, it, would've been in the fridge open for five days.

the packet says that's not a good idea, and it's not a good idea from a food safety perspective, so I'm just gonna press pause on it, and then I might use it in a, matter of days rather than it being weeks and months and, you know. That's, the thing I find a lot that people will say to me like, "Oh, Oh, that's interesting. I can freeze that thing. How long can I freeze it for?" And the response from me is always How long do you need to freeze it for? when's the next time you're likely to use it? Chances are it will be fine in that amount of time, whether it's months or years. For most stuff it will be fine.

But actually, the thing I challenge people to do is look at the freezer before they buy more fresh. Can they use the frozen thing before more fresh? Just, you know, that's how you save money, and how you avoid waste really

Ingrid: Yeah. I find it fascinating because that sounds very organised, Kate. But then on the other hand, you say to me, really am not good at meal planning." And I'm like, is that possible? Because it sounds to me that you're very organised with your freezer. So how come you find meal planning so tricky then?

Because it's, almost feels like an extension of wasting food and using the freezer and batch cooking. It's so closely linked, meal planning

Kate @ The Full Freezer: I think it's... I mean, I think there's definitely some neurodivergence in my family. So I definitely have a whole thing, and I've only learnt this in the last sort of year or two.

Ingrid: Mm-hmm.

Kate @ The Full Freezer: but, I believe the phrase or the term is, demand avoidant which is essentially you tell me to do something, and I don't wanna do it anymore.

And with meal planning, I take that to the extreme because I tell me, "We're having, I don't know, sausages on Monday," and me on Monday goes, "I don't want sausages. I don't fancy sausages. I want chicken."

I cannot explain it. I, just... And I know, you know, it's like this in- internal voice. And I think because I get so much joy from my food, and especially nowadays, getting joy from my food is a big thing 'cause I was a hideously fussy eater growing up.

so, there is a, there is just something within me that's like I just, I want to enjoy every meal as much as possible. So I want to cook something I enjoy cooking and eat something that I'm craving, and there are so many different things that can impact that. So, you know, the weather will change what the meal is that we fancy.

How tired I am will change what I'm up for cooking. So to be able of an evening to go, "Oh, this i- this is what we had last night," so I'll think about largely the carbs and the protein that we had the night before. I don't wanna have the same thing two nights in a row, so it'll be something different to that.

And then this is what we've got in the freezer. What do I fancy? Yeah, okay, we'll go for a different carb, a different protein of some sort, and then whatever veg feels like it goes with that. and I think it is just i- it allows me to get more creative because it gives me more breathing space.

So whereas when I'm just... If I were trying to meal plan from the fridge, I would look at things and go, "Oh, I've got..." You know, I'd... Like last week, case in point, I was going away, and we'd got a, jar of Dijon mustard with two tablespoons taken out of it that my husband had used. I know he's not gonna cook a lot whilst I'm away.

He might do a barbecue or something, but he's not gonna think. and I know that jar is just gonna sit there and if I was at home, if I went, "Oh, the logical thing would be like, let's do sausages with mustard and this and that." But actually I'm not that big a fan of mustard, so I'd rather use it in small quantities.

So I need to do something to stop it going to waste. So the pressing pause just lets me step back and go, I've got time," rather than forcing it or rather than as you know, I know for a lot of people, the meal planning, the joy is like we're using this stuff You know, we're using this stuff up and we're having to buy this stuff, but that means next week we'll be using this stuff and then we'll be buying...

I don't like that. I feel that's a lot of pressure that it's but I don't, I just... I know there'll be people listening who are like, "What are you talking about? Just eat the food. That's the food that's going off, so that's the food you eat." But I know there will also be some people going, "Oh my gosh, yes, that's my mind."

So, you know, it's, I think both are, perfectly fine. but where the meal planning feels like, I think for some people it will feel like a huge relief. We've got a plan. I know what we're doing. for other people it feels like a cage.

And it's that thing of going it's okay for both of those things to exist, and it's okay to have a loose meal plan.

for me is if I had a loose meal plan that was from the freezer, and I've done this recently 'cause I was clearing the freezer down, I don't have to eat the meal. Like I'm not bound to it because it's frozen, so I can change

the plan a bit,

or change our mind. But it's, yeah, it's...

I think so much of it is just about having flexibility, and not having the guilt that I'm wasting things, just because of the way my brain works or because life got busy, or the kids decided they didn't like something anymore, which, you know, happens a lot.

Ingrid: Yeah oh my gosh, I have so many more questions, I wanna definitely talk about your 5C freezer clear-down that you describe in your book. so let's go for a quick break, and then we come back, that's what we're gonna get started with. so listeners, stay with us because I think we can learn a lot more from Kate

Hi, everyone. Welcome back. I'm chatting to Kate Hall from the Full Freezer Method, and I've already learned loads, and her example of a Dijon mustard with two tablespoons out, ah, I had a bit of a, "Oh, that's me as well." So, listening, keep listening, Ingrid, and take Kate's advice on board. Now, Kate, you wrote a book called The Full Freezer Method.

Kate @ The Full Freezer: Yeah

Ingrid: I have read it, and I'm fascinated by your 5C freezer clear-down because, of course, we are a decluttering podcast, and we love clearing out, and we love decluttering. And, we often do, actually, a kind of around October time, we do a little challenge with our members in our membership to say, you know, s- "Use up some of the food you have to save some money, to, make some space because the holiday, the party season is coming, so you're gonna be...

You know, you need to freeze more stuff and have more space in your fridge and have more space in your larder." So, that's definitely something we do. So, I think it would be good to talk through your 5C freezer, clear-down. So, take us through the 5Cs, Kate

Kate @ The Full Freezer: Sure. So obviously when it comes to our freezers, so, a lot of people's will be just absolutely rammed full, and you're like, "Where do I even start?"

so this is why I separated it down, because I think it just makes it easier to tackle. so the first C is the clear out, which is literally just grab a drawer or a bag full of food or a shelf full of food.

I like using a laundry basket if you've got a shelf. and just a bit at a time, so it's not like everything out all at once. And then going through and identifying the things that are just taking up way too much space. So things like unnecessary packaging, where you might be able to trim packaging down, and just, you know, maybe hold on to cooking instructions or allergens if you, need them.

moving things into freezer bags if it's helpful to you, so you've not got food falling out and everything. and looking for things like, you know, do you have a massive bag of ice left over from, like, the summer party that actually you don't use, that could, you know, that could go? Or do you have ice packs, that could live somewhere else?

You know, maybe one or two in the freezer, but the rest in the picnic bag, picnic baskets. I had someone who did, I do a free challenge around October as well, and, there were, I think the record is 14 ice packs in the freezer and, you know, she was like, "I don't know why I don't have any space.

Oh, there we go. I've got loads of space now." and then obviously as well, tackling the food that realistically if there is food in there that is not gonna be eaten, if it's that it's just something you don't like, whether it could be gifted to a neighbor, family member, whatever it might be, would someone else like it?

If it's something that you're just like, "No, this is just inedible. It's been in here five years," then I give people a, pass and say, "Let's just let it go. Let's put it in the food waste. You know, let's dispose of it responsibly, but it needs to just go. It's not a good use of space." and then also looking at those foods, that are maybe not looking great, but actually helping people to, know that actually most food will still be safe.

So often just flagging up that, like, if something's freezer burnt, so if it's got ice on it, if it's a bit mottled, it might not look very appealing, but it's a quality issue. It's not a safety issue. Because all freezer burn is, just the dehydration of the food. So it's just the moisture coming out of the food, moving to the surface, then moving out to the coldest parts of our freezer.

So if you've got meat that's freezer burnt, if you want, you can trim off the affected bits. But also just using it in things like a curry or a casserole where it's not as noticeable, is, the best thing. And vegetables, make a soup, you know?

gonna know. so that thing of looking at those foods that really need using up, and, you know, being brave that it's no, it is okay as long as your freezer's not been, like, massively fluctuating in temperature- And as long as it was safe when it went in, it should be absolutely fine.

I then get people, once they've done that initial clearing process, to capture what they've actually got. So I know a lot of people love lists, and they might have, notes in their phone and things of like what's in the freezer. I know people are big fans of the big whiteboard or like writing with a pen on the door.

All absolutely great methods if they're working for you. but I have gone through this process of trying to... My thing was always trying to keep a spreadsheet, which was totally impractical, 'cause I'm not gonna go and turn my laptop on to take something off the list. and I would inevitably cross things off and then forget to cross things off and so on and so forth.

the way that I tackle it now is I get people to capture what they've got with a photograph I have actually, I did this for two, three years, literally just in the camera roll of my phone with folders and albums. So people can do it that way. But of course, it does mean that you've then got loads and loads of photos of food on your phone

And you try to find that cute photo of your child, and it's hang on, I've just gotta get past all these vegetables. so because of that inconvenience, I, I have worked on and developed an app, that's just currently on iOS at the moment. But the My Full Freezer app basically allows you to go through this process of you take the photo and, it will, if it's got writing on it, if you've labeled it will pick up the writing and fill in the field for You can add, you know, best befores and things if you want to. but otherwise it just logs the date that it's in the freezer. And the reason that I love photos is because it tells you so much in that brief moment of looking at it, that you can see exactly how much you've got, you can see exactly what it is, you can see what condition it's in.

And that, to me, is such useful information, and it's so quick to do. So taking a quick snap of each item and just getting it back in the freezer. and then the third step is to categorize. So you've cleared stuff out you don't need, you've captured what you've actually got. Then looking at those photos and going, "Okay, what categories does this food fall into?"

Because usually when I, you know, you open a person's freezer and it is just absolute free reign , like

ice lollies next to steak, next to ice cream, next to peas. And what I encourage people to do is organize in categories. So whether you've got drawers or shelves or you're in a chest freezer, you know, having containers that are suitable for the freezer that you've got and that are freezer safe.

and separating up that space. So that's the fourth step is containing. So you've got your categories like vegetables, might be raw meat and raw fish or proteins. you've got your fruits or your sweet treats for ice cream and things like that. And even if you're having to carve up the space in specific drawers, you know, using drawer dividers or getting containers.

And I saw a brilliant tip, which I'm sure you've probably shared yourselves, of getting a big piece of paper or a piece of wrapping paper and crush it, crushing it into the drawer space and drawing round, trimming it, and then going into the shop and going, I'm unfolding my piece of paper.

These containers will fit." Obviously noting the height as well. But

thing of going, okay, I like that. and yeah, getting those containers that will fit in so that you can space out. So it's okay, this is my herbs, and these are my veggies, and they, you know, can live by each other. But it's that sort of- Getting things contained so when you go into the freezer, you can actually find things.

'Cause if you can't find it, you can't use it, and

just gonna buy fresh instead.

Ingrid: Yeah

Kate @ The Full Freezer: and then the fifth step is to actually consume what you've got. So to look at, okay, these are the things I now know I've got. You can look at that in the photos all organized into your categories.

and what I tend to encourage people to do, particularly as part of the challenge, is to just come up with three things. So whether it's a meal or a snack or a pudding, whatever it is, but, look at the things in the freezer and go, I'm deciding three things that we're gonna eat." Jot them down literally just on a Post-It note, but stick it to the fridge and have, that visual reminder that there is food in that freezer, and it will be more convenient than going to the shop, so let's just use it.

And just saying, "Try and use those three things within a week." And, I talk about eat, delete, repeat. So, you know, eat the meal, delete the photos of what you've used up, and repeat the process. Come up with another three things and another three, and just get it organized and cleared down so that you can then start to use the freezer if you want to save other foods.

'Cause the big thing that I recognize is, you know, people might see what I do and go, "Oh, that's brilliant. I can freeze garlic or Dijon mustard or whatever." But they go, "But I don't have any space." So this organizing part is what I take everybody through first. And those steps are all f- available for free in the app as well.

People can... There's a 14-day free trial for sort of the inventory bit, but the videos are there for people to, tap into if they want those steps in more depth. so clearing that space is just, yeah, is really important.

Ingrid: So is there a difference then? I mean, this was not a question I was planning to ask, but now I'm invested. when you buy freezer storage, is some freezer storage good and other freezer storage not good?

Kate @ The Full Freezer: You definitely do need to be wary of quality, because getting something ... Just because something's affordable, you know, I've done, I've made the mistake before of buying kind of the containers that are maybe £2 or £3 from the sort of bargain shops. and they just break because the plastic is not made for the freezer.

So it doesn't mean that you need to buy super expensive stuff, but just making sure that whatever you buy says that it is freezer safe. That's,

Ingrid: Aha

Kate @ The Full Freezer: the key thing really. and I've got containers, the trays that I use for open freezing, which is where I freeze things spread out so they don't stick together before I move them to freezer bags, those trays I've had for six years and they're still going strong and I won't need to replace them.

they just, they're suitable for the purpose. So it's ... And they're like £9, they're not crazy expensive. So

Ingrid: Yeah,

Kate @ The Full Freezer: just-

Ingrid: So, okay, oh God, so much. right, so let me then first ask you, what are things that you can freeze that people wouldn't even think about freezing? mustard being already a perfect example, but, what are... like, where do you start? I mean, you... I mean, I freeze raw chicken because we buy a multi-pack. We, when we s- when we've been to the shops, we, before we even put it away, one portion goes into the fridge to eat the next couple of days.

Kate @ The Full Freezer: It's, yeah

Ingrid: The rest goes into the fr- so that makes sense to me. But what are things that people go, "Gosh, I had no idea"?

Kate @ The Full Freezer: I mean, my favorite one, is probably lettuce because of course you can't make a salad. Like, you're not gonna put lettuce leaves, b- lamb's lettuce, rocket, things like that, you're not gonna put that in the freezer and get it out and make a salad, obviously.

Ingrid: And,

Kate @ The Full Freezer: But

Ingrid: yeah

Kate @ The Full Freezer: what you can do is freeze those salad leaves and then make a pesto And that

Ingrid: Ah

Kate @ The Full Freezer: is super handy, especially when you can also keep pine nuts in the freezer.

So that's another favorite, is nuts in the freezer.

Ingrid: Okay

Kate @ The Full Freezer: so when we open, there are some nuts that this applies to more than others. but talking generally, basically when, you open the bag of nuts, you are opening up them, opening them up to the elements, obviously. but the key thing is that they contain a lot of fat, which can become rancid, and with the way that the temperatures fluctuate in our kitchens, it's going to increase the speed, and especially with the hot weather we have been having, it will speed up the speed at which, the nuts start to go rancid.

So keeping them either in the fridge or if you're not gonna eat them relatively quickly, in the freezer, is a really good step. you can also, with the whole pesto thing, you can have your Parmesan cheese in the freezer. You can ga- grate it. If you have a block of Parmesan, you can grate it straight from frozen with a microplane grater.

you can also grate it up and have it ready grated in the freezer just to put into stuff. you can freeze your lemons and your lemon juice. all sorts of things. lemons, any citrus fruit, if it's gonna go to waste, I will either freeze it in slices or in wedges, for... And instead of ice, I will use slices of lemon or lime or oranges, whatever.

and I will, use the wedges in cooking. You just have to be careful when using citrus fruits because obviously there's sort of the bitter pith, and because the cells break down when you freeze it, that bitterness can travel through if it's just left. Even if it's just left to defrost, you'll get this bitterness coming through.

So it's important that you use it straight away, drop it straight into your drinks, drink your drink. and if you're using it for cooking, thaw it and squeeze it out and don't over squeeze it. but if you don't wanna risk that, literally just squ- you know, zest the fruit, freeze the zest, freeze the juice in ice cubes.

You can just chuck that into your cooking. there was another one. Oh, in the hot weather as well, flour is a really important thing, to have in mind. You don't necessarily need to keep it in the freezer, but if you buy a new bag of flour and, you want, if you want to avoid weevils

Ingrid: Yes.

Kate @ The Full Freezer: in your flour, then put it in the freezer for two to three days.

you can leave it in the original bag, but just put it in a freezer bag whilst it's in the freezer so you don't get any moisture in there. and then you can take it back out again, but with the hot weather we've been having, it highly increases the likelihood that you're gonna get things hatching that otherwise might not hatch.

Which I know always grosses people out, but it's yeah, I'm sorry, it's just the reality of flour

so basically it will kill off any eggs that are lurking, and stop them getting through your cupboard. and yeah, there's loads of pantry items where you open, so I said at the start about, half a tin of something.

Coconut milk, ever use half a tin of coconut milk and then it goes back in the fridge, and you're

Ingrid: Yeah.

Kate @ The Full Freezer: like, "I've got to use that." Instead, freeze it flat in a bag. I use compostable ones for wet things, 'cause they do tend to leave a bit of a residue. And, that can just then be defrosted in a dish of cold water, and then just added straight to your food, or just even run under the cold tap, broken out, and just straight into your food.

dairy products as well, milk, cream, all those things. You just might find that the fats and the water separate, so sometimes it can be a bit off-putting, 'cause things turn a bit yellowy, 'cause the fats come to the surface. but it's just a case of thawing it, recombining it. You know, sometimes it can make

If you put it into, like, pasta sauces and things, it can be a little bit grainy, but it's not, a safety issue. and if you continue to mix and apply heat, it tends to smooth out. So there's literally, the list ... the, book has over 700 foods in that you can freeze. So there's a lot. Like, there's not a lot you can't.

Ingrid: so let me ask you another question then. Are there things you're like, "Okay, there are three things, Ingrid, that you really shouldn't put in the freezer." Is there anything

Kate @ The Full Freezer: Yeah, I mean, there are definitely things that will not, they'd be fine for a safety perspective, but they're not gonna behave very well. so mayonnaise, like emulsion sauces, I wouldn't recommend because it's gonna separate, and it's not something you're really gonna be able to save. So whereas creams and things might separate and y- you know, you can tend to blend and cook, with an emulsion sauce, it's gonna be tricky.

also if you've got, like hard-boiled eggs, that kind of thing, it's, you're gonna end up with a very rubbery yolk. It's not gonna be very nice. however, you can freeze raw eggs, so you can break them out of the shells, and either freeze just the yolk with a bit of salt or sugar, to stop it going too kind of gloopy and gelatinous, and freeze the white separately.

Or you can whisk it all up and freeze the actual eggs, and they do tend to thicken, which can be a bit off-putting, but they are ... Once you cook them, you would not know they'd been frozen. another one, Jelly will not freeze well, because when you thaw it's not gonna be jelly.

However, again, as with so many things, it's like with the lettuce, I have that caveat of, but actually if you were making jelly and, you'd got, you know, you're like, "I don't wanna make lots of tubs of jelly to be in the fridge. I don't wanna make one big one." ice lolly molds. You can make jelly ice lollies.

which, you know, leave them to thaw as you would a minute or two, a normal ice lolly and then just eat them straight from frozen and actually they're quite nice, quite pleasant, a novel for the kids.

and then, yeah, really, I mean, they're the, main sort of things. Again, like salad you can't freeze and expect it to be a salad, but, you know, as I said, the lettuce, all of the things that go into the salad can be frozen.

So I tend, in the summertime if we're having a barbecue or something, I will freeze-- sorry, I will, serve up a deconstructed salad. So I'll have the cherry tomatoes in a bowl, the peppers in a bowl, cucumber, everything. And actually cucumber's a good one that people think you can't freeze. but again, slices of it, perfect in a drink.

but also just snacking on it straight from frozen, just it's, you know, it's not gonna be nice if you defrost it, but it's perfectly fine for you to eat it as is. You can make it into a sorbet. You can, if you wanna get a bit retro, make it into a soup, or add it to other soups. it, there's just-- when you shift sort of the perspective,

Ingrid: Yeah

Kate @ The Full Freezer: of how you're gonna use it and,

Ingrid: Mm-hmm.

Kate @ The Full Freezer: so much of what I do is about freezing things in a way so it's easy to use at the other end of the process.

As I've said, you know, my meal planning sucks, so being able to go at half past 4:00, 5:00, "What do we fancy for dinner?" And then have a meal on the table at half past 5:00, quarter to 6:00 that I've not had to go to the shop for. sometimes it'll be quicker than that if it's a stir fry or something. But it, you know, it's that thing of, "Ah, okay, I can reimagine how I use that thing."

Ingrid: Yeah.

Kate @ The Full Freezer: know, the internet's a wonderful thing now with all the technology we've got. it's something that you can be so creative, with what you've got saved. So it's, yeah, it's good fun.

Ingrid: totally fascinating. I've actually learned a lot. now, I have one burning question. How do you defrost chicken?

Kate @ The Full Freezer: Ah, that's a brilliant question. so first thing, and I apologize to anyone who's listening who's gonna absolutely hate me now, 'cause I do have a friend who was like, "I can never forgive you for sharing this information." but if you are defrosting it at room temperature, please don't. Please, don't.

Ingrid: Okay

Kate @ The Full Freezer: and that goes for pretty much everything except for, like, bread or cake that, you know, as long as it's not cream cake. but most foods should be defrosted either in the fridge overnight, which is obviously the organised person's, you know, meal planner's way, which is great. Keep it away from any ready-to-eat foods.

the second way, which is my Sort of favourite method overall, is in a dish of cold water. So obviously in freezer bag, wrap, whatever it might be, a sealed container, and you just submerge it in a dish of very, cold water. We don't want warm water, we don't want hot water. We're not trying to, warm the food up.

We're trying to draw the ice out of it. So the reason for putting it in cold water is because water is a better heat conductor than the air. So when we leave stuff on the, side at room temperature, we're basically putting the food into, an environment where bad bacteria loves to breed. So referred to as the danger zone between eight to, 63 to 65 degrees C.

Room temperature is just like your bacteria is just going crazy. Just going, "Yeah, I'm back. You froze me, but you didn't kill me." and it will continue to grow on the food. What ... And when we cook as well, whilst we can kill bacteria off, what happens is the bacteria can have, a sort of, I've lost the word now.

Basically with spores, that's the word. it'll have spores within the bacteria which contain toxins, which are heat resistant. So whilst we might be able to kill off the bacteria, by just putting it hot enough, we don't necessarily kill off the toxins and the spores, that are within it. So this is why it's really important when we're defrosting food, we're keeping it cold.

so the water, the idea with the cold water is you're drawing the ice out and you're keeping your food as cold as possible. If it's not defrosted within half an hour, you freshen it up, you put more cold water in. just keep it, make sure it's very chilly. Sometimes what I actually do is actually put the food in a dish in the fridge in cold water so it'll stay

I know it's safe, I know I can forget about it, but it's still gonna defrost faster than it was just in the fridge in a dish. 'Cause I know so many people are like, "Oh, I took it out and it got to dinnertime and it was still frozen.Like, what happens now?" and in those instances, the water, water bath method can help to speed up that defrosting process.

Also, the third safe thing you can do is, use the microwave, and I know some people are very resistant to it. I totally get it. I was the same. basically the rule with the microwave Is you need to use the defrost setting. It needs to be low and slow so you don't start cooking things. It's a good idea to be checking on the food every sort of

it depends what the food is. Every few seconds or every few minutes, depending on what you're defrosting. and, turning it because the sort of h- you know, the microwaves are gonna be hitting certain parts of the food in the same spot over and over again. So if you turn the food, if you don't have a turning plate, which I don't, then that can, help.

But even with the turning plate, just rotate, or if you've got a lump where you've got a mound of food, break it up, make sure you're spreading it out so everything's being hit. and then the really key thing is cooking it immediately because when you're microwaving it, you are bringing it into that danger zone, and the key thing with the danger zone is it's not just about the heat, it's about the length of time.

So the reason the microwave is considered safe is because it's a relatively short period of time where you've defrosted it's taken five to 10 minutes, and then you've got it in a hot pan. Whereas if you are defrosting at room temperature overnight or for the whole of the day, it is just sat out at that, you know, in that danger zone for hours and that's where

Ingrid: yeah

Kate @ The Full Freezer: problems occur.

And whilst there might be some people I know who will go, "I've been doing it for 30 years, I'm absolutely fine," and I get that. I would also say it's a little bit like wearing a seatbelt. Like you're fine until you're not, and more importantly than that, e- even more importantly, if you're cooking for other people or if you're going through different phases of life, there are different people who are at more risk.

So if you're cooking for your grandchildren who are under five, they are at higher risk. If you are cook-

for your pregnant daughter or daughter-in-law, they all ... sister, they are at risk. You know, the, more elderly people, somebody with a lower immune system,

Ingrid: Mm-hmm.

Kate @ The Full Freezer: who is in a risk category, please, make sure that their food is defrosted safely and that it's always only reheated once as well.

Cooked food shouldn't be reheated more than one time, again, because of that danger zone going in and out. So, you know, it's ... I know it's ... Like my friend, when I said, "You can't just get your food out in the evening and put it on a plate on top of the microwave and defrost it," and she was like, "You've ruined my life."

I was like, "I'm so sorry. I just don't want you to get sick. Please."

Ingrid: Yeah

Exactly

Kate @ The Full Freezer: know, it's, you know, every- everyone's free to do what they choose to do in their own homes, but just I think knowing that it could put family members at risk, I think, is just good to know. Just good to know

Ingrid: Yeah, Definitely. So I think we can safely say then, Kate, to wrap up this podcast, have staved a lot of food from going into waste, and you probably have saved a lot of money, doing this as well, because we waste a lot of food here,

Kate @ The Full Freezer: Yeah. it's

Ingrid: we're not organized enough, sometimes because we're like, you know, I'll just indeed get a takeaway, can't be bothered." Sometimes by overbuying, sometimes by just not thinking about it. And think it has really shown how you can use your freezer to really put a stop to all the wasting of that food, because it's a big problem, isn't it?

Kate @ The Full Freezer: It is huge, and, you know, we waste, so we waste about a third of all food that's produced in the UK, which of course isn't actually even just produced in the UK. It's been flown across the world and everything as well.

it comes to about, for our households, UK households, it's about 4.4 million tons a year, which if I remember correctly, it's, around 90 Royal Albert Halls.

So it's a lot of food.

and families, households, there was a study done by the Waste Resources Action Programme. They found that a, standard, average family of four wasting over 1,000 pounds a year. It was about 1,000, 1,030 pounds, buying food and then it going in the bin, and that's not, you know, sort of eggshells and this and that and the other.

It is the glasses of milk, the crusts off our toast, you know, the, all those bits and pieces, that sometimes we can't control. Like, I'm not saying to anybody that they should be zero waste because it's not realistic for a lot of people. You know, I've got kids. I know how it is with their food, and as well, I'm gluten free.

so I can't even eat the stuff off their plate that's left. Like, their dad has to come home to, like, Hoover things up. it's not The whole idea of the full freezer method isn't about ze- being zero waste unless that's your objective. It's about

you to be able to look at the things that are going to waste

and just say to yourself basically "Oh, could I freeze that instead?"

And when you start to see just how much you can freeze, and then start to see the savings, 'cause that was the thing that, you know, with my husband, he was a bit like, "What are you doing? why are you freezing a pepper? Like, we'll just get another one. It's fine." But that was before the price of food went up.

what I have interestingly seen since I started this, you know, I started six years ago, and that stat of 1,030 pounds when I started was 730 pounds.

the amount of food we're wasting has risen roughly in line with f- with inflation of food.

so we're not changing our habits despite the cost of food going up, aside from perhaps changing what we're buying.

but it's still, it's costing us so much money, and I think as you know, the fact it has such a negative impact on the environment as well. So for anybody who's going, "I really wanna do something. You know, I'm worried about the hot weather and climate change and what's going on," food waste, there was a, project, done about seven, eight years ago called Project Drawdown, which looked at the top 100 things we can do to reverse climate change, and reducing food waste was number three.

So it's ... of a plant-rich diet. So if you're not, you know, if you're someone who's "Oh, I've cut down on meat, but I'm not quite there for going vegetarian or vegan," like just stop wasting the food. And if you are somebody who's made that jump into changing your diet, i- you know, for the planet, for animals, like that is phenomenal and brilliant.

But like the next step is just don't let any of it go to waste because actually you're doing such an amazing, wonderful thing, in changing your life and your habits. And if you can make sure that those things also aren't going to waste, not from a judgy, "You need to do this" perspective, but from a, "Hey, this is possible."

Like, actually, you can freeze the half tin of chickpeas. You can freeze the leftover potatoes, granted not raw, but cooked. but you know, there, these are things that you can do, and use your freezer as that pause button. Use it how you want to suit your family, your lifestyle. Y- if you're, if you live on your own, like it is, it opens up so many doors.

One of the ladies from my course I remember her saying to me, "Oh my gosh, I've just had a roast dinner on a Wednesday night. Like, I live by myself and I could just do a w- I came home from work and I went, 'Oh, I really fancy a roast dinner,' and I could just do it, 'cause everything was just there in the freezer.

Like,

Ingrid: Yeah

Kate @ The Full Freezer: And you know, it's, it... I don't think the impact that food has on our lives can be underestimated in our mood, in our wellbeing. so to me, I know some people will have hesitations about the freezer, they'll have nervousness, they'll be judgy of the freezer and like, "Ooh, does the food taste as good?"

But when you know how to use it in the right way, it is a tool that can give you so much flexibility, so much freedom. and it's all about just using it for your purpose, like what works for you. If it doesn't work for you, that's fine. Try it out. If it doesn't work, do something else. but it's, it's just, it's such a clever tool.

It's so clever. And it's so simple, like that's the best part of it

Ingrid: brilliant, Kate. I'm feeling totally inspired. I don't know about you listeners, but I'm like, we need to get on this." can you share the website where people can find more about the, your, the app and your book? Is it thefullfreezer.com?

Kate @ The Full Freezer: Yes, just the, thefullfreezer.com and I'm mostly on Instagram as The Full Freezer

Ingrid: Okay

Kate @ The Full Freezer: people want to check out free content and everything. there's lots over there

Ingrid: Perfect. So listeners, let me know, are you, h- have you been glued to this podcast as well thinking, "Wow, had no idea. Oh, I can't now no longer defrost my chicken on my side in my kitchen counter. Ooh, I did that," or, "Wow, I'm gonna try and freeze a couple of things," and, "Yes, I need to look at my food waste." Tell us how has this conversation inspired you? I would love to know. Kate mentioned, thefullfreezer.com website gives you more details. and thank you so much, Kate, for this really inspirational, podcast. It's been a pleasure having you, so thank you so much

Kate @ The Full Freezer: Thank you so much for having me. It's been really good fun. Lovely to chat to you

Ingrid: Well, listeners, that was it for this week, and we look forward to seeing you next week again