Learn how to freeze food successfully and avoid unnecessary food waste.

Reviewed by registered dietitian Annie Nguyen, MA, RD

I recently went to town on my freezer, throwing out all kinds of frozen packaging, from vegetables to meat to leftovers. I filled my 13 gallon trash can, then quickly took it to the dumpster for collection. I felt incredibly guilty about how much food I was throwing away, but some of it seemed more like a science experiment than something I was actually going to eat. I vowed to take a better inventory of the things I store in my freezer, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of wasting so much. Was it really necessary to throw away all that food?

So I looked into the myths and facts about freezing food and found some surprising information that will help me be a little more frugal in the future. Here are six common freezing myths, debunked so we can get the most out of the food in our freezers.

Myth #1: You can freeze any food

While it’s true that most edible products freeze well, some should never see the inside of your freezer. Delicate vegetables like lettuce practically disintegrate when frozen and then thawed. Frozen creamy sauces may separate and “break” or curdle when thawed. Even coffee should not be stored in the freezer, especially dark roasts. The oils that make them so special break down in freezing temperatures, allowing the coffee to easily absorb bad aromas. The Department of Agriculture does not recommend freezing canned goods or eggs in their shells. (But you can freeze canned goods if they are removed from their original packaging, as well as eggs as long as they are removed from their shells.)

Myth #2: You can freeze food indefinitely

While this may be somewhat true from a food safety perspective, the quality degrades as foods are frozen longer. Here are some guidelines from the USDA for how long to keep foods in your freezer (at 0°F) for optimal freshness:

Of course, how you store the item will extend or shorten its freezer life. Air combined with moisture is the enemy of frozen foods (think freezer burn), so if you can keep both of these elements out, you’ll extend the life of your frozen foods. That’s why I like it vacuum sealer. It draws air out of the packaging so that food lasts longer than if it were simply stored in plastic bags or in its original packaging.

Related: Is it safe to eat freezer burned food?

Myth #3: Freezing kills bacteria

Freezing food renders bacteria inactive but does not kill anything. This means that if your food entered the freezer contaminated, once thawed it will still harbor the same harmful bacteria. Cooking it to the recommended temperature is the only way to ensure the safety of your food.

Myth #4: Frozen foods contain fewer nutrients than fresh foods

In fact, the opposite may be true. Frozen fruits and vegetables can be even healthier than some fresh produce sold in supermarkets because they tend to be processed when fully ripe, a time when, as a rule, they are most nutrient-dense. If you are concerned about nutrient loss, eat your frozen fruits and vegetables shortly after purchase: over the months, the nutrients in frozen vegetables inevitably degrade. Finally, steam or microwave your products rather than boiling them to minimize loss of water-soluble vitamins.

Myth #5: Once thawed, food cannot be refrozen without cooking it first

You can freeze and refreeze as you wish as long as the food has not been left out of the refrigerator for more than two hours (or one hour at 90 degrees). A point to take into account is that refreeze anything rawespecially meat, will degrade quality due to loss of moisture during the thawing process. So while it’s technically safe to eat, from a culinary standpoint it’s best to avoid refreezing if possible.

Myth #6: You can store frozen foods anywhere in your freezer or anywhere it’s cold

The freezer door is a convenient place to store frozen goods, but not necessarily the best place for long-term storage. The temperature near and on the door fluctuates each time the door is opened. Although the food may remain frozen, the freezing process could be slowed down, which could cause larger ice crystals to form inside the food and destroy its integrity. To avoid this, keep frozen foods toward the back of the freezer, where a consistent 0°F temperature is more likely to be achieved, and use products stored near the front or on the door sooner. What if the power goes out? Do not open the freezer door! According to the USDA, a full freezer should stay frozen for two days. And if you’re tempted to store your freezer overflow in a snow bank, don’t do it. Even if the temperature is very cold, the sun can still heat your frozen food to dangerously high temperatures.