The faster you freeze food the better it tastes.
It's all down to ice crystals. And how big they are.
As food drops below freezing-point little ice crystals form in – and between – each and every cell, of whatever it is you're freezing.
But the slower the food is frozen the bigger those crystals grow. And, as they get bigger, the more damage they do to the walls of each cell.
And that's important for something like beef which is 75 percent water. Puncture those cell walls and you lose a lot of the juiciness when it's defrosted. It all ends up in a puddle, under the meat.
So, the trick is to freeze most food – especially meat – as quickly as you possibly can.
It's called “blast freezing”.
And here's how it works... your freezer should operate at –18°C but ice crystals form between –1°C and –4°C. And the longer food stays in that temperature zone the bigger those ice crystals get.
Blast freezers bypass this crucial zone as quickly as possible. The food freezes so fast it barely has time to even develop crystals. So the cells stay undamaged.
And that means the food keeps its flavour and freshness. And it keeps more of its nutrients than slow frozen food.
Most important of all, it also retains its texture.