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Some foods that seem simple are actually deceptively labor intensive. Prepare a salad together? Enjoy your new life’s work by rinsing and drying greens before you even start slicing and dicing all your other ingredients. Just fry an egg? Good luck going through a long list of Common Mistakes That Ruin Fried Eggs. The sauce is pretty much the same. You might think it’s more or less meat juices from a basic roast turkey doing most of the work. But obtain the ideal thickness of your sauce can be tricky, for example. Fortunately, though, unlike those laborious salads and fried eggs, you can freeze sauce quite successfully, as long as you store the right kind in cold storage.

First of all, we are obviously not talking about Italian Sunday sauce, also known as “red”, “pasta” or, in general, tomato saucewhich is practically made to be frozen. But you can also freeze much of the animal protein variety (and occasionally a plant-based version), as long as it doesn’t list any cream among its ingredients. Even a little. This is because the cream will separate during the freezing process and never mix properly again, instead taking on a grainy texture. It is the ancient battle between oil and water, which long to go their separate ways. So while you won’t want to freeze some of the creamier sausage sauces you usually serve on biscuits, those that are more likely to appear on the typical Thanksgiving table (and again those that are crucially absent from cream) hold up well when applied. ice.

Learn more: Storage Mistakes That Ruin Your Food

How to freeze your sauce (without cream!), and how to use it

Our friends from USDA Please note that if you don’t finish your sauce in less than four days, you can freeze it for up to six months. Not long enough to extend it from one holiday season to the next, but still long enough. We like to freeze lots of liquids in large ice cube trays, like this one OXO Silicone Tray with Lid for easy packaging. You can also wrap the whole thing in a few layers of plastic wrap if you intend to test the limits of the regulatory agency’s guidelines. And, of course, you can always just use a resealable plastic freezer bag or other airtight freezer-safe container.

Or, you can finish the job! To eat sauce, of course. You can mix it for richer, tastier soupsprovided you keep your consistencies fairly even. You can also add a dollop on top of foods like meatloaf and roast beef to help alleviate dryness when reheating in the microwave. You can even grab some cheese curds and fries and say thanks Canada by preparing the country’s beloved poutine.

Read the original article on Chowhound.