There is one thing I really, really hate and that’s touching raw chicken. I won’t go into details, but I’ll just say that I try to do it as little as possible.
If you’re a regular reader of the blog you know that I always have really low prices listed for my boneless, skinless chicken breast. That’s because I pretty much only buy it when it is on sale. After I buy the chicken I immediately divide, individually wrap, and freeze the pieces for later use so that I can defrost one at a time as needed. When I first started doing this I absolutely hated the chore of wrapping and freezing the chicken… until I discovered this little trick!
This simple technique allows you to wrap each piece of chicken quickly and cleanly, with barely any chicken-skin contact. Woot! Prepare to have your eyes opened.
How to Divide and Freeze Chicken
Step 1: Get your supplies out. You’ll need fold-top sandwich bags and one gallon sized freezer bag (or two if you’re prepping a lot of chicken). Label the freezer bag with the contents and date so that if the chicken ever gets lost in the freezer you’ll at least know what it is when you find it.
Step 2: Get ready. I like to fold back the opening of the freezer bag so that I can just slide the wrapped chicken breasts in without touching the outside of the bag (I’m trying to spread as little raw chicken juice as possible). I also take out the number of fold-top sandwich bags needed (one per chicken breast), so that I won’t be reaching into the box of sandwich bags with sticky chicken hands.
Step 3: Protect your hand. Take one of the sandwich bags and invert it over your hand so that it is inside out and covering your hand. Open the chicken package and use the covered hand to grab one of the breasts…
Step 4: Now simply flip the sandwich bag right side out and around the chicken breast. Fold the flap in to enclose the chicken breast. Now it’s neatly wrapped in its own little package and you’ve had minimal contact with the chicken. Yay!
Step 5: Slide the wrapped chicken breast into the freezer bag and repeat the process with the rest of the chicken. The thin sandwich bag keeps frost from building up on the surface of the chicken and the thick freezer bag keeps air out and prevents freezer burn. Now you have a freezer full of chicken ready to be defrosted whenever you need it! And that whole process only took about five minutes.
Note: Even though this process is virtually mess-free, you’ll want to wash your hands well and disinfect your countertops afterward. Salmonella is not fun and you don’t want to chance small amounts of it contaminating other foods.
Got any cool tips for freezing your food? Share them in the comments below!
i haven’t done that with chicken, but i put the sandwich bags on my hands to make tuna or salmon patties, or make hamburger patties. i hate smashing raw burger with my bare hands. the problem is trying not to burn the plastic when i’m putting the burgers in a pan or on the grill.
I take it a step further and fillet the breasts. Don’t know about yours, but when I buy the family packs (cheaper!) they are huge franken-chicken breasts at 8-12 oz each. I just give them a quick slice before bagging and freezing. Portions are much more realistic, thawing and cooking are faster, and my dollar goes twice as far. You do have to touch them, though. :)
Great idea! Yes, I do find that they are always HUGE. :P
Simple idea but so helpful! Thank you! I hate raw chicken or as I call it “my raw chicken issues” lol. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one.
In addition to your clever idea, I would put out a paper towel so I wouldn’t need to touch the roll.
Wow Game changer
Thank you so much for this. My family and I are preparing to stock our freezer in anticipation of the arrival of our new family member, due December 15. This is an awesome idea. We will be giving this a try. Many blessings to you.
Wow!! This is amazing!! I don’t think I will dread this chore as much next time! If I remember to grab the sandwich bags :)
Ah genius! I’ve avoided buying chicken in bulk amounts because I just don’t want to deal with touching it! Game changer! 😊
Using the sandwich bags is genius!
I recently purchased some chicken breasts that were on sale, and decided to try your technique. I couldn’t believe how easy it was for me to divide and freeze chicken breasts without having to touch them. Thanks a million, Beth!!! :-)
I was the label and stick it in the bag instead of writing
Wash…I wash the label
I just found this post today after searching for an alternative to plastic wrap. I needed to freeze some breasts and found I had no freezer paper or plastic wrap. I had to use small ZipLock bags because that is what I had on hand, but it worked . I have always dreaded breaking up and freezing the family packs of chicken I purchase on sale. No matter how neat I tried to be I always got chicken goo on my hands, and ended up washing them a number of times through the process. This is such and elegant serviceable solution, and will be my new method for freezing my bulk purchases. I thank you, my husband thanks you (now he doesn’t have to help), and my poor chapped hands thank you!
Why don’t you use disposal gloves if you grossed out by touching the raw meat?
It’s not just the actual contact, I just don’t like looking, smelling, or dealing with the raw meat in general. :P If I use the fold top bags as my gloves, that’s less waste.
Brilliant! Thank you!!!
So I place the chicken breasts on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer. After freezing I then put them 2 or 3 per food saver bag.