Don't Freeze Milk-Based Soups

Ok, so my blog revolves around suggestions for helpful hints in the kitchen.  Things to do that help make your life easier, or recipes that work.  Well, I'm beginning to think that posts about mistakes I've made might turn out to be just as important to you, so I'm going to start throwing those posts into the mix.

This post is about just that - a mistake I made that turned what used to be yummy food into something gross.  I decided to freeze a cheddar corn chowder.  Bad idea.

Freezing soup is a great way to save the food for later.  Normally, this works beautifully.  Not so with a cheese/cream/milk-based soup or chowder.  You see, what I found out the hard way, is that the freezing process causes the cheese/cream/milk to separate into chunky bits floating in the clear-ish liquid base.  Reheating did not fix this problem.  I tried.  It was more than a little gross and disappointing.

Bottom line - DON'T freeze a soup or chowder that has a cheese, cream, or milk base.  Make sure you finish it before it goes bad.  The freezer might be my friend, but it certainly wasn't my chowder's.