Freezer burn is a condition that occurs when frozen
food has been damaged by dehydration and oxidation due to air reaching the food. It is generally caused by food not being securely wrapped in
air-tight packaging.
Freezer burn appears as grayish-brown leathery spots on frozen food and occurs when air reaches the food's surface and dries the product. Color changes result from chemical changes in the food's pigment. Freezer burn does not make the food unsafe; it merely causes dry spots in foods. The food remains usable and edible, but removing the freezer burns will improve the flavor. Also through sublimation, water is lost from the food into the surrounding atmosphere and the food becomes excessively dry. The water resublimates elsewhere in the food and packaging as snow-like crystals.
See also
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Freeze drying
Freeze drying, also known as lyophilization or cryodesiccation, is a low temperature dehydration process that involves freezing the product and lowering pressure, removing the ice by sublimation. This is in contrast to dehydration by most conve ...
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Ice crystals
Ice crystals are solid ice exhibiting atomic ordering on various length scales and include hexagonal columns, hexagonal plates, dendritic crystals, and diamond dust.
Formation
The hugely symmetric shapes are due to depositional growth, n ...
References
Inline citations
General references
United States Food and Drug Administration
Food preservation
Frozen food
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