Roasted: How to freeze roasted potatoes?

Subject: How to freeze roasted potatoes?
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: Angela Faye Oon (ange at NOSPAM.iname.com)
Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 01:23:49 +0800
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I read on a recipe site that a woman freezes her oven-roasted rosemary potatoes and says that they are great when re-heated. I love roast potatoes, but they take quite some time to prepare, so the idea of freezing for eating later really appeals to me. However, I have two queries:

1) Do potatoes freeze well? I read on another thread here that potatoes in a stew form a "skin" and become awful, etc. when frozen and thawed again. Does this apply for roasted new potatoes?

2) I roast my potatoes in a lot of butter *blush*. Can butter be frozen? Doesn't fat turn rancid quickly?

Hope the experts out there could jump in with some answers -
TIA
Angela
From: Nancy Young (qwerty at mail.monmouth.com)
Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2001 13:20:25 -0500
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Angela Faye Oon wrote:
> 2) I roast my potatoes in a lot of butter *blush*. Can butter be frozen?
> Doesn't fat turn rancid quickly?

Butter freezes very well, I keep mine in the freezer with a stick in the refrigerator. Buy it on sale and freeze it, no problem.
From: penmart01 at aol.como (Sheldon)
Date: 08 Dec 2001 19:33:54 GMT
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Nancy Young writes:
>Butter freezes very well, I keep mine in the freezer with a stick in
>the refrigerator.

On the other hand though, potatoes do not freeze well.
From: judgmoore at cs.com (Judith Moore)
Date: 08 Dec 2001 20:17:30 GMT
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Angela Faye Oon wrote:
>1) Do potatoes freeze well? I read on another thread here that potatoes in a
>stew form a "skin" and become awful, etc. when frozen and thawed again. Does
>this apply for roasted new potatoes?

Judging by the number of potato things in the grocery store's frozen section, I'd say pieces the size of 'wedges' on down, with thoroughly cooked outside surfaces must be quite freezable indeed.
From: penmart01 at aol.como (Sheldon)
Date: 08 Dec 2001 22:45:44 GMT
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Judith Moore writes:
>Judging by the number of potato things in the grocery store's frozen section,
>I'd say pieces the size of 'wedges' on down, with thoroughly cooked outside
>surfaces must be quite freezable indeed.

The potatoes found in the frozen foods section are of many different *configurations* but are all of the same genre; process-fried... and none of those maintains a texture (or flavor) equal to that of never-frozen fries.
From: Arri London (biotech at ic.ac.uk)
Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2001 20:57:12 -0700
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Judith Moore wrote:
> Judging by the number of potato things in the grocery store's frozen section,
> I'd say pieces the size of 'wedges' on down, with thoroughly cooked outside
> surfaces must be quite freezable indeed.

But I think the potatoes are handled in a very different manner than a home cook could. Not to mention possibly being subjected to chemical treatments the home cook wouldn't use.
From: Thierry Gerbault (thierry_g_NOSPAM at worldnet.att.net)
Date: Sun, 09 Dec 2001 04:25:02 GMT
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Arri London wrote:
> But I think the potatoes are handled in a very different
> manner than a home cook could. Not to mention possibly being
> subjected to chemical treatments the home cook wouldn't use.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe that commercially frozen potatoes are "flash" frozen at many degrees below zero in a partial vacuum. This simply isn't possible with domestic freezing equipment.
From: Pat Meadows (pat at meadows.pair.com)
Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2001 20:54:25 GMT
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Angela Faye Oon wrote:
>I read on a recipe site that a woman freezes her oven-roasted rosemary
>potatoes and says that they are great when re-heated.

I just flat don't believe she freezes oven-roasted rosemary potatoes and that they are great when reheated. I think it's a fib. Or her idea of 'great' is very different from mine.

In my experience, potatoes turn into horrid cardboard when frozen. Horrid texture, no taste.

This is applicable to both home-frozen potatoes and commercial ones. I think the commercial ones are horrid too.

If I HAD to eat frozen potatoes, mashed potatoes freeze better than others, but still not very well.
Pat
From: Vinny Marinara (TheGoadfather at nunyourbiz.net)
Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2001 21:03:50 -0500
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If the woman on the recipe site says she freezes this recipe with success, I am unsure as to why you're questioning it. Use the type of potato she used. Follow the recipe. It's obviously worked for someone, why not you? You can freeze butter--it STOPS it from going rancid. I buy butter on sale and freeze it.
From: stan at temple.edu
Date: 14 Dec 2001 20:54:18 GMT
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Vinny Marinara wrote:
> If the woman on the recipe site says she freezes this recipe with success, I
> am unsure as to why you're questioning it. Use the type of potato she used.
> Follow the recipe. It's obviously worked for someone, why not you? You can
> freeze butter--it STOPS it from going rancid. I buy butter on sale and
> freeze it.

Me too. The person who raised the question about freezing roasted potatoes can certainly try doing it herself and see what happens. She is in a far better position to determine if she'll like the thawed reheated potatoes than anyone else certainly is since taste is a purely personal thing.