Fresh or frozen: can you really tell the difference?

Food & Drink
Fresh vs. Frozen: Can you tell the difference?

I was watching a video made by Rhett and Link (I was bored, OK) and they were comparing both fresh and frozen foods to try and see if they could tell the difference.

The results were really interesting, they even found that some frozen foods tasted better than their fresh counterparts! :sogood:

However, the consensus remained the same... Fresh is better than frozen. Both in look and in taste.

My question to you is this... is fresh always better than frozen? Can you tell the difference? Do you avoid frozen food or are you happy to eat it?

TSR is running a Food and Drink project this month, we're running loads of threads to get discussion going. Everyone loves food (c'mon, you know it's true :colone:

) — so get involved! Find our other threads here!

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 1

UWS

I'd like to think I've watched enough Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares episodes to know the difference between fresh and frozen :rofl:

I do prefer fresh food though, you can tell the difference in quality but with some foods it's a bit harder to tell and I don't really notice it.

Reply 2

claireestelle

Nearly all of our meals involve frozen meat and veg,I can barely taste the difference anymore and I d much rather have a cheap food shop than pay for fresh.

Reply 3

Asolare

Depends on what it is, I think with certaint hings like vegetables you can realllyyy tell.

As for meals, then it gets a bit harder. Normally I can only tell if it's a frozen meal I've already eaten from somewhere and recognise ;-)

Reply 4

Reality Check

Original post by iEthan

Food & Drink
Fresh vs. Frozen: Can you tell the difference?

I was watching a video made by Rhett and Link (I was bored, OK) and they were comparing both fresh and frozen foods to try and see if they could tell the difference.

The results were really interesting, they even found that some frozen foods tasted better than their fresh counterparts! :sogood:

TSR is running a Food and Drink project this month, we're running loads of threads to get discussion going. Everyone loves food (c'mon, you know it's true :colone:

) — so get involved! Find our other threads here!

Yes, I think you can tell the difference. However, there's a bis difference between food that's been commercially flash frozen and food that's been home frozen - the commercially frozen food is of much better quality when defrosted, obviously due to the smaller ice crystals that are formed in the frozen food not destroying the integrity of the food's structure. Some foods like white fish, raspberries, peas etc freeze perfectly and I have no problem in using them. In fact, frozen raspberries are usually better in the winter than their imported 'fresh' equivalents.

Reply 5

k.russell

As someone who works in a restaurant I can tell you that most dishes you order will have at least some component which has been frozen on it. I think for some things it really doesn't matter (and in fact can give scope for improvement i.e. purees and the like), but for other things it can detract a bit from the taste, but not enough that you would notice if served it well cooked and with good garnish

Reply 6

Tanqueray91

Due to the cost aspect, I go with frozen much more than fresh... Like, take 20 frozen chicken dippers from tesco - £1.50. But 8 chicken goujons fresh is like £2... The chicken dippers last me for 2 or 3 meals, the fresh goujons last me 1... no brainer....

Some foods though, I do eat fresh - mostly veg (except peas!)... I just don't like frozen carrots and green beans etc...

Reply 7

Kvothe the Arcane

Occasionally. It's often not like for like. So the frozen variety will have a higher fat content or lower meat %.

But if it's good frozen food that's been defrosted and cooked properly, I probably couldn't taste teh difference.

Reply 8

retro_turtles

I like fresh cheesecake i like frozen cheesecake... i like cheesecake :h:

Reply 9

retro_turtles

Original post by UWS

I'd like to think I've watched enough Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares episodes to know the difference between fresh and frozen :rofl:

I do prefer fresh food though, you can tell the difference in quality but with some foods it's a bit harder to tell and I don't really notice it.

Those people need to sort their lives out, microwaving salads,cockroaches crawling around in the kitchen,mouldy tomatoes and other weird crap....bloody hell!

Reply 10

Mystery.

I can tell the difference between yoghurt and frozen yoghurt but it's quite similiar I'd say.

Reply 11

UWS

Original post by retro_turtles

Those people need to sort their lives out, microwaving salads,cockroaches crawling around in the kitchen,mouldy tomatoes and other weird crap....bloody hell!