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Cooking Basics

Food Yields
Apples 1 pound = 3 medium = 3 cups slices
Bananas 1 pound = 3-4 medium = 1 1/2 cups mashed = 2 cups sliced
Beans (dry) 1 pound = 2-2 1/2 cups (dry) = 6 cups cooked
Bread crumbs 4 slices bread = 2 cups fresh crumbs = 1 1/3 cups dry crumbs
Butter, margarine or shortening 1 pound = 2 cups
Cabbage 1 pound = 6 cups shredded = 2-3 cups cooked
Carrots 1 pound = 3 cups sliced = 2 1/2 cups shredded
Cheese 4 ounces = 1-1 1/3 cups shredded
Coffee 1 pound = 40-50 cups brewed
Cornmeal 1 pound = 3 cups (dry) - 12 cups cooked
Eggs (medium) 1 dozen = 2 cups
Egg whites (large) 8 eggs = 1 cup
Flour, all purpose 1 pound = 4 cups sifted
Flour, whole wheat 1 pound = 3 1/3 - 3 3/4 cups
Graham crackers 12 squares = 1 cup crumbs
Ground meat (beef, pork, turkey) 1 pound = 2 cups ground
Lemons 1 lemon = 2-4 tablespoons juice
Macaroni, spaghetti 1 pound = 5 cups (dry) = 8-10 cups cooked
Milk, evaporated 6 ounce can = 1 1/2 cups reconstituted
Oatmeal 1/2 cup dry = 1 cup cooked
Onions 1 pound = 3 large
Oranges 1 orange = 6 tablespoons juice
Potatoes 1 pound = 3 medium = 3 1/2 cups sliced = 2 cups mashed
Raisins 1 pound = 2 3/4 – 3 cups
Rice, regular white or brown 1 pound = 2 1/2 cups (dry) = 7 1/2 cups cooked
Saltines 22 crackers = 1 cup crumbs
Sugar, white-granulated 1 pound = 2 cups
Sugar, brown 1 pound = 2 1/4 cup (firmly packed)
Yeast (active dry) 1 packet = 1 tablespoon
(From Jane Brody's Good Food Gourmet, 1990. W. W. Norton & Co., Inc.)

FN-W615
North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota 58105
AUGUST 2005
Food Freezing Basics:
Freezing Poultry and Fish
Julie Garden-Robinson
Food and Nutrition Specialist
■ POULTRY
Chill home-slaughtered poultry in
the refrigerator below 40 F, 6 hours
for broiler-fryers and 24 hours for
older birds. If refrigerator space is not
available it can be chilled for two to three hours in a
large tub of ice water.
Packaging
Wrap giblets separately from bird. Arrange poultry to give
a compact, flat package. Tie the wings and legs closely to
the body on birds frozen whole.
Poultry may be wrapped in freezer wrap or placed in
freezer bags. Remove as much air as possible. Plastic
freezer bags conform to the irregular shape of poultry. A
good way to remove air is to place the bird in the bag and
then plunge the bag in a pan of cold water. This forces
air to the top. Quickly twist the top in a goose neck and
secure. Dry bag thoroughly.
Warning: Do not stuff birds before freezing. The time the
stuffing takes to cool in the bird before freezing and to
thaw and reheat it may be long enough to permit growth
of food spoilage and food poisoning bacteria.
Pink Meat – Dark Bones
Sometimes the meat around bones of young fryers or
broilers looks pink or raw even though thoroughly cooked.
This color is thought to come from hemoglobin in the
bones of young birds. It usually shows up more with long,
slow cooking or in chicken that has been frozen. The meat
is safe to eat.
Bones in cooked chicken sometimes become a dark
maroon color. This color usually shows up more in frozen
chicken and is due to hemoglobin. It does not affect the
safety of the chicken.
■ FISH
Improperly frozen fish develops a
bad taste and becomes dry and
tough. A number of alternative
methods are available for freezing fish properly.
Keep fresh fish as cold as possible. Clean them
immediately and freeze at once.
Clean fish as for immediate use. Wash thoroughly. If slime
is a problem, rinse fish in a solution of one teaspoon
vinegar to three quarts of cold water.
Leave the fish whole or in large pieces if it is going to be
stored longer than three months.
Pretreating
Fish are categorized as either fat or lean. Fat fish include
mullet, mackerel, trout, tuna, salmon and whitefish. Lean
fish include flounder, cod, whiting, snapper and most
freshwater fish.
Pretreating before freezing improves the quality of fish
stored for more than four to six months.
Place fat fish in an ascorbic acid dip for 20 seconds
(2 tablespoons ascorbic acid to 1 quart cold water) to
decrease rancidity and flavor change. Wrap and freeze
immediately.
Immerse lean fish in a chilled salt brine of ¼ cup salt to
1 quart water for 20 minutes. This treatment firms the fish
and reduces drip loss when thawed.
Packaging
One of the best methods is to wrap fish with a cling plastic
wrap and then overwrap with a freezer wrap. Squeeze out
as much air as possible.
Fish may be placed in freezer bags. Submerge the bag
in a pan of cold water to force the air out. Do not let
water flow into the bag. Seal the bag by twisting and a
goose neck.

■ ALTERNATIVE FREEZING METHODS
Glazes
Ice - Freeze unwrapped fish. Then dip frozen fish in
near-freezing ice water and return to freezer. Repeat this
sequence until the glaze is c to ¼ inch thick. Be careful
not to break the glaze when handling the fish. Wrap glazed
fish for storage.
Gelatin
To prepare the glaze:
• Measure ¼ cup of lemon juice into a pint container.
Fill the rest of the container with water.
• Dissolve one packet of unflavored gelatin in ½ cup of
the lemon juice-water mixture.
• Heat the remaining liquid to boiling.
• Stir the dissolved gelatin mixture into the boiling liquid.
• Cool the mixture to room temperature.
Dip the fish into the glaze and drain it for several seconds.
The glaze will be enough for about a dozen medium-size
fillets. Wrap glazed fish and freeze.
Water
Place fish in a container and cover with water. Too much
water and large containers will draw out nutrients, cause
fish to freeze slowly, and cause a soft texture in the fish
because of pressure from the ice.
You should freeze fish first and then add cold water and
freeze again. This hastens freezing and reduces pressure
on the fish flesh.
Smoked fish may be refrigerated for two to three weeks.
Do not store smoked fish in airtight containers in the
refrigerator. For longer storage, the fish may be frozen
immediately after smoking. Use within three months. Use
within a few days after thawing.
Shrimp can be frozen, cooked or raw, with shells on or off.
For maximum storage life and quality freeze shrimp raw
with head and dark vein removed, but shells still on.
Shrimp may be placed in a shallow pan, covered with
water, frozen and wrapped.
Be sure to wash and drain shrimp if frozen uncooked.
Quickly chill cooked shrimp.
Oysters should be fresh and live. Shuck oysters and wash
meat in fresh salted water (½ cup salt to 1 gallon cold
water). Drain, package and freeze.
 

■ THAWING AND PREPARING -
Meat, Fish & Poultry
Frozen meats, poultry and fish are best when thawed in
the refrigerator in their original wrapping on the lowest
shelf in a container. For faster thawing, place the meat or
fish in a waterproof wrapping in cold water. Change the
water as needed so it stays cold. You can thaw these
foods in a microwave oven. For best quality, cook thawed
meat and fish immediately.
You can cook meat, poultry and fish from the frozen state,
but you must allow additional cooking time. The amount of
additional time depends on the size and shape of the
product. Large frozen roasts can take 1½ times as long.
Small pieces of frozen fish may take twice as long to cook
as fresh or thawed.
When you plan to bread and fry frozen meat, poultry or
fish, they should be at least partially thawed first for easier
handling. All poultry to be stuffed should be thawed
completely for safety.
For more information about food preservation, contact
your local office of the NDSU Extension Service or visit
our food preservation Web site:
www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/food.htm
NDSU Extension Service, North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Science, and U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. Duane Hauck, director, Fargo, N.D.
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