I put a package of turkey-breast cold cuts, still sealed in the original plastic, into the freezer. Some time later, the package had blown up like a balloon around the frozen meat, inflated to double its original volume by a clear gas. Any ideas? And what should I do with the package?
The obvious answer is that there鈥檚 some microbial action going on around the turkey 鈥� in which case it should be thrown away and not eaten. But this, it seems, is not the only explanation 鈥� Ed
鈥� Your butcher has sold you not just turkey, but some water with air dissolved in it. At just above freezing (the temperature you would find in a butcher鈥檚 refrigerated display) the water in and around the meat will dissolve the maximum amount of atmospheric gases, chiefly nitrogen and oxygen.
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When you subsequently freeze the meat in a home freezer this dissolved air is pushed from the water by the advancing ice crystals in the turkey and will puff up a well-sealed package.
This does not occur in flash-frozen meats. Flash freezing gives the air no time to escape, so instead it shows up as entrained bubbles in the flesh and water combination.
鈥淭he butcher has sold not just a turkey, but also some water air gasses dissolved in it鈥�
This is similar to fast-frozen ice cubes from a commercial ice-cube maker (for whom time equals money) versus slowly frozen but much clearer ice cubes produced at home.
Bill Jackson, Toronto, Canada