Can You Freeze Raw Sausages?
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Sausages are a staple in most British households. They make a quick, easy and cheap weeknight dinner and can be used in anything from toad in the hole to sausage and bean casserole. If you’ve bought more sausages that you need, you might want to know whether it’s safe to freeze raw sausages.
While most of us probably tend to use up sausages pretty quickly, there may well be the odd occasion we have too many to use before they go out of date. One option is, of course, to cook them. This prolongs their life for a few days and you can actually freeze cooked sausages too.
The other option would be to freeze raw sausages. But is this safe? And is there anything else you need to know before freezing them?
Can You Freeze Raw Sausages?
The good news is that yes, you can freeze raw sausages provided they are still within their use-by date.
You could place them in the freezer as they are, in their original packaging or you could choose to separate them out and flash freeze them first. This makes them easier to defrost and cook at a later date.
This can be applied to any type of sausages – whether it’s a cheap supermarket pack, chipolatas or super meaty ones from your local butcher – all of them can be frozen.
Can You Freeze Uncooked Sausage Balls?
Yes, you can freeze uncooked sausage balls. Use the flash freezing method listed below to prevent them from sticking together when freezing.
How To Freeze Raw Sausages
Freezing raw sausages is easy, just follow the method below.
- Take the sausages out of their original wrapping and place them a few inches apart on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Remember to wash your hands after handling the raw sausages!
- Place this tray into the freezer, ensuring it stays flat and freeze the sausages for 2-3 hours until frozen solid.
- Remove the tray from the freezer and place the now-frozen sausages into a freezer bag or other freezer-safe container.
- Label and date the sausages with the day they were frozen – you may also want to make a note of the original use-by date as this can help you determine how long the sausages will be safe to eat once defrosted.
How Long Can Sausages Be Frozen For?
Sausages can be frozen for around three months before they start to lose some of their flavour and texture so do try to ensure they are used within this time frame.
You can of course freeze sausages without flash-freezing first. Flash freezing is preferable as it means the sausages don’t stick together in one big clump, they will defrost more easily and you can remove one or two sausages from the freezer to cook at a time.
How To Defrost Frozen Sausages
If you want to defrost your sausages before cooking, overnight in the fridge is the best way to do this as it prevents the sausages from spending too long in the danger zone where they could become unsafe to eat. If you’re defrosting a large pack of sausages that haven’t been flash-frozen you may want to allow some extra time for this.
You could also defrost them in the microwave using your microwave defrost settings.
Sausages can be cooked from frozen, so depending on how you want to cook them, you may not need to defrost them at all.
How To Cook Sausages From Frozen
If you choose to defrost your sausages before cooking, then you can just go ahead and cook them as you usually would or how the recipe you’re following suggests.
There are also lots of ways to cook sausages from frozen, including deep frying them or cooking them in the air fryer.
The main thing to do when cooking any food from frozen or that has been previously frozen is to ensure it is up to the correct temperature before serving.
Food should be over 75°c for at least 30 seconds or 80°c for at least 6 seconds. If the food hasn’t reached this temperature, cook for a further few minutes. You can check the temperature using a digital food probe or digital food thermometer.
How To Freeze Other Raw Foods
Not all raw food can be frozen. For example, there are lots of vegetables that need blanching at a bare minimum before being cooked. Take a look at our guides below for further information on freezing uncooked foods.
Can You Freeze Raw Sweet Potato?
Can You Freeze Cured Chorizo Sausage?
