Why Food Gets Freezer Burn Without Any Heat
A freezer keeps food below freezing point. The damage called freezer burn is not burning at all, but drying.
A freezer holds food below the freezing point of water, usually around minus eighteen degrees Celsius. Freezer burn, despite the name, involves no heat: ice on the surface turns straight to vapour, leaving grey dry patches. The food is safe; it just tastes of nothing.
- An appliance for freezing food. *Put it in the freezer.*
- The freezing compartment of a fridge. *The freezer needs defrosting.*
- Deep freeze — a large chest freezer, or a long cold spell. *A three-week deep freeze.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | freezer | A chest freezer. |
| Verb | freeze | It will freeze solid. |
| Past | froze | The pipes froze. |
| Participle | frozen | Frozen peas. |
| Compound | freezer burn | Freezer burn on the steak. |
How it is used in a sentence
- There is a loaf in the freezer.The appliance.
- Label everything before it goes in.Standard advice; frozen food all looks alike.
- The meat had freezer burn after a year.A quality problem, not a safety one.
Freezing terms worth knowing
- Flash freezing — freezing very fast, so ice crystals stay small
- Blast freezer — the commercial machine that does it
- Defrost — remove ice build-up, or thaw food
- Thaw — return frozen food to above freezing
- Refreezing — usually discouraged once food has thawed fully
From *freeze*, Old English *freosan*, plus *-er* for the machine. Domestic freezers only became common in the 1950s and 1960s, though ice houses did the same job for centuries.
Is freezer-burnt food safe?
Yes, if it stayed frozen. The texture and flavour suffer, but it is not dangerous.
Why does food need wrapping tightly?
Because air lets surface ice evaporate. Tight wrapping is the main defence against freezer burn.