March is National Frozen Food Month!

I am a big frozen food buyer so this month I've been scouting for coupons and in-store discounts for all my favorite frozen meals and desserts. I already saved a bundle at Target last week when Margaritaville's Jammin' Jerk frozen shrimp was selling two for $10. I also found several good buys at Albertsons "10 for $15" promotion.

Time to Double Up
To maximize savings, check your newspaper and grocery store's Web site for current promotions, then organize your coupons to coordinate with the store promotions. Just remember while shopping to consider how much frozen food will fit in your freezer.

Tip: It is also National Noodle Month and National Peanut Month so look for deals on pasta and peanut butter.

Now for a little trivia - Who Invented Frozen Food?

Several individuals, but most credit Clarence Birdseye.

As told by the Library of Congress, many people developed innovative food-freezing techniques, including Enoch Piper, William Davis, and Daniel E. Somes. However, Clarence Birdseye is credited with inventing in 1924 the quick freezing method, which produces the type of frozen foods that we know today.

While working as a fur trader in Labrador, NF, Canada, Birdseye discovered that the fish that he and the local Inuit caught froze almost immediately after being pulled from the water. He was delighted to discover that the fish was just as delicious when thawed out months later. From this experience, he theorized that food must be frozen very quickly in order for it to retain its taste and texture.

Birdseye was right. Before quick-freezing came along, foods were frozen at a fairly slow rate. This caused large ice crystals to form, which ruptured the cell membranes of the food. When the food was defrosted, the ice crystals melted and water would leak out, taking with it the food´s flavor and texture.

Birdseye developed two methods for quick freezing foods, both of which employed the innovation of packaging the food beforehand which resulted in creating 168 patents. These covered not only the freezing technique but also the packaging, type of paper used, and related innovations.

Photo Credit: Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress.