Storing your homemade baby food

By preparing your own home-made food you know exactly what goes into it. It’s cheap to prepare and there is very little waste if you prepare and freeze a batch of meals. However, your time is precious so don’t waste it by preparing individual puréed meals.

Here are the steps involved in the correct cooling, freezing of baby foods:

After cooking is complete transfer your food into BPA free Babypotz and portion out into individual sizes for future use.
Allow food to cool for no longer than two hours from completion of cooking.
Transfer to the fridge and allow the food to reach 10 degree C before transferring to the freezer. This should take 30 minutes.
Place the pots in a zip-lock bag and label the bag with date and contents.
The food is now safe to transfer to the freezer, the temperature should reach -18 degrees C.
For optimal quality and nutrient retention, keep frozen food for a maximum of 3 months.

How to defrost baby food pots:

There are three methods to defrosting food. I would recommend defrosting overnight in a fridge as then you have the option to heat as much or as little as you wish. Never defrost food on the counter top, as bacteria will grow. Here are the best ways to defrost your baby food:

In the cooking process – for example a frozen leg of lamb.
In the fridge overnight – it takes 24 hours to defrost 2 ½ kilos.
On the defrost programme in the Microwave – you must use food straight away when defrosted and reheated.
In a steamer – a very safe way of reheating and defrosting but you must use food up straight away.

*Note: Once defrosted use within 24 hours. Defrosted food cannot be refrozen unless it has been cooked first.

Babypotz are a Mummy Cooks product and are the perfect solution for storing your homemade baby food. Our starter pack of 50 pots and lids, they come in five different sizes to suit each developmental stage: