Storing Soup

[arnold]

Do any of you make soup ahead and then freeze it into individual portions? If so, what kind of contains do you use for storage?

[Cindy in FL.]

I use the Lock & Lock plastic containers. I like them because they seal well and I can microwave them.

[Chris in VA]

Just quart sized plastic freezer bags. Usually I put two portions in, but you could do just one. I squeeze all the air out before closing (or close most of the way then suck it out with a straw, if I'm feeling particularly paranoid about it).

[Laurel]

I use mason jars. (I use mason jars for just about everything...) Also easy to microwave (just take off the lid), and I don't have to worry about microwaving plastic.

[lavender's green]

I use quart bags or the plastic freezer mason jars.  Quart bags are nice because you can fit a bit more (good for my family of two adults and a toddler) and if you freeze them flat you use space very efficiently.

[Kathryn]

Another quart bag vote.

[plansrme]

You can get packs of those plastic containers Chinese restaurants use for take-out soup. I have seen them at Sam's, but restaurant supply stores also carry them. The lids on those babies are extremely secure. But I also have frozen soup in bags.

[Beth in OH]

I bought some extra large silicone muffin cups--like these, but larger.  Once they freeze, I pop them out and store them in a gallon ziplock.  One servings is approximately two extra large "soup cubes".

[kbutton]

I use paper milk and cream cartons for broth when I can get them. They use space pretty efficiently, and we've broken too many glass and plastic containers when they are frozen (the plastic gets really rigid). Plastic bags are a little unsettling for me with liquids, but I use them for other stuff. If you aren't worried about reusing the milk cartons, you can just peel them away and toss the chunk of soup or broth into a pot.

[Chris in VA]

BTW, I don't nuke in plastic. I peel off the bag and nuke in a nuke-able container.

Or a pot on the stove.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

I use freezer safe canning jars.

[Guest]

I use quart bags and make the soup a lot thicker than I would if I was going to eat it right away, so a quart of frozen soup becomes a half gallon of thawed soup--just enough for me and the kiddo but we can stretch it if company drops by. :D

 

When you take the bag out of the freezer, put it in a bowl of hot water until the bag pulls free and then nuke it in pyrex or heat it on low on the top of the stove. Chris in VA is absolutely right about plastic not being safe in the microwave.

[justasque]

Quart yogurt containers are a very nice size.  I use a Sharpie marker to write the contents on the outside of the container.  I also use all kinds of plastic containers that other things came in.  I don't microwave the containers.

In a pinch, you can run the container under hot water to melt the outside a bit so you can push the frozen block of soup out of the container.  Otherwise I just put in the fridge or on the counter to defrost.  

Sometimes, for larger amounts, I put the blocks into a crock pot and let it heat up there.

[Miss Tick]

For my freezer it doesn't work too freeze the bags flat. I put the bag into a large Tupperware thingy and freeze soup "bricks".

[mathnerd]

I put it in freezer ziploc bags (the ones branded as "freezer bags") and squeeze out the air and freeze them flat. I write labels with a sharpie on them and arrange them one on top of the other in the freezer. I take one bag out in the morning and put it in the refrigerator. It is thawed by dinner time and then I heat it in a saucepan on the cooktop.

[Erica in OR]

Our local restaurant supply store has paper-based soup cups (like the ones grocery stores use for take-out soup in the deli) that you can buy in packs, then buy separate lids either in paper or plastic. I like the paper ones because we feel okay microwaving them.

 

Erica in OR