Cooling and thawing and taking fresh baby food out

[YKY]

Hi - I have some questions about baby food. I've been making baby food at home and freezing it in ice cube holders. What is the right way to cool the food before you put it in the freezer? Do you cover the food while it's still hot (I read somewhere it contains the nutrients) and then cool before putting it in freezer? What happens if the food is not completely cooled and put in freezer?

When heating the frozen food, can you heat the frozen food withouth thawing?

Finally, if you are out and about during snack or meal time for the baby, how do you take the food? Can you heat it first and then put it in a bag that maintains the heat? I've seen these small bags that some people carry their lunches to keep them warm. I realize taking a jar of baby food is the easiest way but my baby has allergies and I want to feed him the home-made stuff as much as possible.

Thanks.

 

[capital]

Do you cover the food while it's still hot (I read somewhere it contains the nutrients

I don't think that is true, it makes absolutly no sense. steam is water.

What happens if the food is not completely cooled and put in freezer?

Nothing, other than using a bit more electricity to cool it off. It does not really matter if you cool it in the fridge and freeze, or direnctly put it in the freezer.

I wouldn't take the food hot in a lunch bag, I would probably take it cold in a small plastic container, just ask for some hot water, then you can put the container in the hot water to warm it up a bit. Personally, my children never really liked pureed food, so they didn't really eat much when we went out until they could eat finger food, and I just gave them whatever I ate.

 

[YKY]

thanks, Capital.

 

[miaka]

i would think that heating the food before you go out would make the food a perfect breeding ground for germs. i agree w/ capital, keeping the food cold while out and about is probably a better idea. it's fairly easy to get hot water when you're out ... or you could even bring your own hot water and container to warm the food.

 

[bbvv]

I normally heat the food and put it in a thermo flask - the ones with two compartments - they keep warm for upto 4 hours. So far it works fine for us. We put savoury meal in the larger compartment and fruit in the smaller one.