Can You Freeze Kielbasa?

Can You Freeze Kielbasa?

If there’s any Polish food that I really love, it’s definitely kielbasa. To me, this Polish meat sausage trumps other kinds of sausages because of its unique garlic flavor and its coarse texture. Usually, I’d spice up my plate of kielbasa with some baked potatoes and fruit salad. There are other kielbasa recipes that can be used to prepare quick meals for the family from time to time; such recipes are very easy to follow.

Without taking much of your time, I’d like to address a certain question that I once used to ask.

There were times when I had leftover kielbasa and I was looking for how to preserve it till a later date; I really don’t like wasting food. Apparently, you can leave an opened pack of kielbasa for almost 2 weeks without it getting bad. However, I needed to preserve the kielbasa beyond 2 weeks.

So I started asking: can you freeze kielbasa? Well, the answer to that question is definitely yes! When kielbasa is properly packaged in a sealable freezer bag and kept frozen, it can last for up to 6 whole months.

This knowledge changed my kielbasa preservation game for good.

Leftover kielbasa is not the only reason you’d want to freeze the food. Some people like to purchase food items in bulk so that they can always have the stuff they need to cook at home. With that in mind, bulk food storage may sometimes require freezing for preservation. Keep reading to know more about freezing kielbasa.

Freezing Kielbasa

If you’re not the type of person to stock up on food items, you may oddly find yourself doing so whenever there’s a discount on such items. A good kielbasa discount at the grocery store can make you buy in bulk and store at home for future use. In such a situation, you’d most likely be using your freezer as a means of preservation.

As we’ve previously established, kielbasa can be frozen safely. Freezing is generally a great way to significantly slow down the growth of bacteria in food products. The fact that it can also preserve kielbasa for up to 6 months makes it a process worth utilizing.

You may be wondering if that kielbasa texture you love so much will remain the same after months of freezing – if packaged and stored properly, the texture will be preserved too.  

How to Freeze Kielbasa  

When trying to freeze your kielbasa, there are certain important steps to follow. The quality of packaging affects the quality of preservation.  

Step 1: Wrap the Kielbasa in Saran Wrap

Saran wrap is widely used to package food items before being placed inside the freezer. Considering how saran wrap is fabricated from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), it makes sense that it significantly contributes to the preservation of food. Polyvinyl chloride doesn’t allow much water vapor and oxygen to pass through it, which allows foods wrapped in it to last even longer.

If you do not have any plastic wraps at home, you should consider getting some when next you go shopping.   

Get the amount of kielbasa you want to preserve and safely wrap it up in saran wrap.

Step 2: Secure wrapped Kielbasa inside Sealable Freezer-Safe Bags  

After wrapping the kielbasa in the saran wraps, get hold of your sealable freezer-safe bags. Place the wrapped kielbasa in the freezer bags and seal them up.

One method that I personally use when sealing food in plastic bags is to vacuum air from within the bags. There are automatic vacuuming and sealing machines that you can use at home to suck air out of plastic bags before you seal them.

This process helps to increase the lifespan of your frozen kielbasa.

Step 3: Safely Place Wrapped Kielbasa in the Freezer

Look for a free compartment in the freezer where you don’t often keep heavy items. It won’t help if you’re placing heavy items on top of the frozen kielbasa – you’ll most likely ruin its texture.

Instead, clear out a nice area for the kielbasa and let it sit alone there. It is also advisable to write the present date on the freezer bag with a marker. This way, you’ll be able to keep track of how much time the kielbasa has spent in the freezer.   

Defrosting Frozen Kielbasa

After weeks or months in the freezer, the kielbasa would be hard and frozen. If you need to bring it out and eat, you’ll have to defrost and reheat. There are a couple ways to successfully defrost and reheat your kielbasa so as not to ruin the texture. These include:

  • Using a Refrigerator – refrigerators a great way to defrost your frozen kielbasa. Set the fridge’s temperature to a maximum of 41⁰F. After that, take out the frozen kielbasa from inside the freezer and place it along with the wrapping in a plate.

The purpose of the plate is to contain any sweating from the frozen kielbasa as it defrosts. Put the plate of frozen kielbasa in the fridge and leave it to defrost. However, you should know that this process can take a whole day – it is advisable to do it overnight.

  • Defrosting With Microwave – the microwave is a faster option when it comes to defrosting frozen kielbasa. Thankfully, microwaves usually have a “defrosting setting” that you can easily switch to for defrosting your kielbasa. Set the microwave to this mode and place the kielbasa inside to defrost.
  • Defrost With Water – This is another option that can be used to safely thaw kielbasa without compromising the texture. To do this, you need to unwrap the kielbasa from its packaging. After that, put the kielbasa in a bowl of water (at about 110⁰F) and place under a kitchen tap.

Let the water only come out as droplets from the tap for the whole thawing period. One the thawing is complete, bring out the kielbasa. 

Conclusion

Kielbasa is an excellent Polish meat sausage. Thankfully, you can always buy it in bulk and preserve through freezing. If you wrap it properly before placing in the freezer, the kielbasa can last for up to 6 months without its quality being compromised.

If you won’t need to preserve the kielbasa for so long, you can also store in a refrigerator. A refrigerator can extend the kielbasa’s life for up to 4 or 5 days.