Freezing food ahead of time or freezing leftover foods can be a beneficial life hack for busy schedules! It seems as though you could freeze virtually anything in no time! So, can you make deviled eggs ahead of time and freeze them?
Any adult in this world could tell you that life gets busy here and there! After a hectic day of work and errands, you have to get home and prepare dinner. It almost seems impossible to want to cook after a long, hard day of work. That said, deviled eggs can be frozen, although you are advised not to.
Can I Freeze Deviled Eggs?
Although it is uncommon and challenging to do, you can indeed freeze deviled eggs. Unfortunately, with wrong handling, deviled eggs, and most other cooked egg dishes can break down easily in the freezer.
When the deviled egg mixture is frozen, it can cause the egg mixture to change its texture. Freezing deviled eggs could result in a watery deviled egg mixture or a gummy and slimy egg white.
Deviled eggs are an excellent appetizer or snack, but truthfully there is no recommendation for freezing deviled eggs. United States Department of Agriculture recommends that if you do need to freeze or otherwise store deviled eggs, you should consume the deviled eggs within the week. The USDA suggests that deviled egg mixtures should be used immediately rather than freezing or storing.
How Long Can You Keep Deviled Eggs?
Room Temperature
The method of leaving your deviled eggs out at room temperature is the worst way to store your deviled eggs, and you should only use this while serving your deviled eggs. Deviled eggs will last up to two hours as long the temperature is below 90°F, and the deviled eggs are not directly in the sun. Temperatures above 90°F can cause spoilage more quickly; at temperatures of 90°F and above, your deviled eggs will last up to one hour. Toss them out regardless of how your deviled eggs look after two hours. Even if your deviled eggs look and smell fine, after two hours of being out, you run a considerable risk of illness if you consume the deviled eggs.
Refrigerator
Deviled eggs, like other cooked egg dishes, can last up to three to four days in your refrigerator. However, you should keep your deviled eggs in the coldest spot of 40°F or below in your fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap, and stored in an airtight container to prevent spoiling earlier.
When refrigerated, deviled eggs, you should eat them within the first two days for the best quality and freshest taste. When you take the deviled eggs from the fridge, use or consume them within two hours.
Freezer
As stated previously, deviled eggs and other cooked egg dishes do not freeze well. In the freezer, deviled egg mixtures and boiled eggs will expand, sometimes introducing additional water to the dish resulting in breaking down and becoming watery when you thaw the egg dish.
Although the recommendation is not to freeze deviled eggs or other cooked egg dishes, you can do it. Deviled eggs will last up to a short three weeks.
How to Freeze Deviled Eggs
As mentioned, you can freeze deviled eggs with a bit of effort. You can take the following steps to freeze your deviled eggs:
Steps
- Mix up your deviled egg mixture.
- Deviled egg mixtures usually contain mayonnaise, mustard, and sometimes a few spices.
- If your deviled egg mixture is still a bit warm, let it completely cool before doing anything with it.
- If you freeze your deviled egg mixture while it is still warm, this can introduce steam. Steam can present bacteria growth.
- Place the deviled egg mixture into a freezer-safe bag.
- Ensure to leave an inch of room for the egg mixture to expand when it freezes.
- Label the bag with the name and date and place it in your freezer for up to three weeks.
What if you have already assembled your deviled eggs and have leftovers? No worries, you can just as quickly do that.
- Using a spoon, spoon out the mixture from the egg white.
- Place the mixture directly into a freezer-safe bag.
- Once you have all of your deviled egg mixture, give your bag a good stir to ensure all ingredients are well incorporated.
- Seal the freezer-safe bag.
- Ensure there is entirely no air when you seal.
- Label the bag with the name and date and place it in your freezer for up to three weeks.
Tips
- For long-term storage, wrap your freezer bag full of deviled egg mixture in aluminum foil. You could place it into another heavy-duty freezer-safe container or bag.
- Wrapping in aluminum foil ensures no air that could cause spoilage can get into your egg mixture.
- If you want to achieve the best results, freeze only the egg yolk mixture.
- Egg whites are prone to turning gummy and slimy after thawing.
- You must let your deviled egg mixture cool completely before placing it into a bag.
- Suppose you place the egg mixture in the freezer before it is chilled. In that case, you could expose it to steam which causes moisture resulting in freezer burn or watery deviled eggs.
- Freezing your deviled eggs should not affect the flavor or texture of your deviled eggs. However, adding 1/8 teaspoon of salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar to your yolks before cooking or freezing can improve the texture.
- You are highly advised not to refreeze your deviled egg mixture after thawing; doing this can easily give you food poisoning.
- Label your deviled egg mixture or any food you place in the freezer to avoid confusion on what a package contains or how long it has been in the freezer.
Are There Any Other Ways To Freeze Deviled Eggs?
Direction: Provide any other possible ways of freezing deviled eggs
FAQs
Should deviled eggs be served cold or warm?
The short answer is cold. Most recipes you read will tell you that you must chill your deviled eggs before serving. Chilling your deviled eggs for about 20 to 25 minutes before serving is ideal.
Chilling your deviled eggs before you serve them can give them a better texture and help them to maintain their shape.
How do you know if deviled eggs are bad?
If you are questioning whether or not to throw out your deviled eggs, it is safer to throw them. It would be best if you did not take the chance with rotten deviled eggs as they can cause serious illness. It is better to be safe rather than sorry.
Can deviled eggs cause food poisoning?
Like anything else, deviled eggs can cause food poisoning. Food poisoning is easily deterred by proper handling while assembling your deviled eggs. Properly cooked and handled deviled eggs have very little chance of harming you.
Studies show that There is only a 1 in 10,000 chance of salmonella contaminating your eggs with salmonella making your chances very low of coming into contact with a contaminated egg.
To End
In today’s busy world, freezing meals, appetizers, or snacks ahead of time can indeed be a lifesaver! That said, enjoy making your deviled eggs ahead of time! As expressed, you can freeze deviled eggs with little to no repercussions.
