Why does freezer burnt food so aweful? And what makes it different from regular frozen food?
In: Chemistry
Over time water migrates from within frozen items to the surface of the item. This is why when you dig out a really old popsicle or a really old steak from the back of the fridge it is covered in a surface crust of ice that is distinctly clear/pure water and not a mixture of the item itself with the water. The frozen item is essentially being slowly dehydrated by the freezer.
It’s also the reason the food tastes so awful. Freezer burned meat is tough and leathery. Freezer burned ice cream is missing enough water to have a sort of chewy texture that is unpleasant. We expect the food to taste the same or similar as the fresh version would, but instead we get a version where the water-to-solids ratio is off and it doesn’t taste right.
The water evaporates from frozen things just like dry ice evaporates (sublimates) from solid to gas. But, in a freezer, food becomes more absorbent when it loses water. So, it then starts to absorb the smells and water from other foods a little bit at a time, and then loses it again… so you get partially freeze dries food that also absorbed the tastes of everything else in the freezer.
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