Is it ok to freeze homemade stock? If I have used the defrosted stock in homemade soup and have made too much can I then freeze the soup?

Hello, and thank you for the interesting question. We like questions that keep us on our toes!

We would say that it is fine to freeze most cooked foods, including your stock made from a cooked frozen chicken. However, we would not advise then freezing soup made from thawed frozen stock that came from a cooked frozen chicken. Please remember that each time foods are prepared germs can enter the foods and each time these foods are frozen at home, the germs are preserved with the food. Soup is often heated between servings (as opposed to cooked between servings) and this can encourage bacteria to grow – if the soup is then put in the freezer, these germs will be preserved along with the soup. Have a look at our top tips for freezing. Freezing is such an effective way of preserving that, unfortunately, it preserves the good with the bad! Hygiene must always come first when freezing foods. Check out our section on how to store, defrost and cook frozen food.

The New Ice Age Team