I froze chili in quick freezing mode

[SEEING-TO-BELIEVE]

when thawed the sauce was thin.
ia there a way ariund it so sauces stay good?

 

[tovy]

A few suggestions:

1. Thaw it slowly e.g. in fridge - now that it's happened
2. Thicken it before and after thawing. Can use water and corn starch

 

[GotGarlic]

Ice crystals from freezing break the cell walls in foods and release water. Stirring and simmering while heating it up should fix it.

 

[dragnlaw]

Do it very slowly (simmering, same, same, I know) or perhaps use a diffuser between pot and burner. Once it starts to get warmer you can gently raise the heat.

 

[blissful]

I've seen chili recipes that use masa corn flour with cold water, and add that paste by the tablespoon to simmering chili, for thickening.

I have a quick freeze button I was totally unaware of until we had the power outage for 2 days this past month. It says quick freeze but I don't understand the point of it on an upright freezer. There is a digital temperature on the outside of the freezer where the button is.

 

[SEEING-TO-BELIEVE]

thanks for the ideas..
can i put some cornstarch mixed with some cold water in the plastic container and mix with the beans, then put in the fridge again.. then, when i want some of it i will warm it in the microwave?

because i don't want to use more pots. i want to warm part of it in the microwave..

for some reason i'm very lazy when it comes to washing pots

 

[pepperhead212]

I was also going to suggest the masa, for thickening, not only for flavor, but also, if anything, it tends to get thicker, when frozen, then thawed, or even just refrigerated - I actually add a tb or so of water. Things like cornstarch tend to loose the thickening just sitting - you'll find that in Chinese food. Tapioca starch is a little better, and wheat starch - if you can get that in an Asian market - is the best I have found, as it gets slightly thicker, as it sits, like when you let white sauce cool off.

 

[SEEING-TO-BELIEVE]

can i find masa in israel? i need to check that

 

[jennyema]

thanks for the ideas..
can i put some cornstarch mixed with some cold water in the plastic container and mix with the beans, then put in the fridge again.. then, when i want some of it i will warm it in the microwave?

because i don't want to use more pots. i want to warm part of it in the microwave..

for some reason i'm very lazy when it comes to washing pots

No. Definitely don’t do that. Cornstarch only thickens when it’s heated to basically boiling. Plus cornstarch isn’t a great choice for thickening chili.

Put it in a pot on the stove and thicken it by
1. Reducing it
2. Adding Masa if you can find it or smashing up tortilla chips and cooking them into the chili

or both

 

[dragnlaw]

ahhh, Seeing, poor you, you're still going to have to wash that pot! I feel your pain, I try my darndest to use as few pots as absolutely possible.

Occasionally I just won't do a recipe as not so much the steps, but all the extra pots and pans.