Freezing panna cotta

[Binky Profile]

Has anyone done this successfully?

I made 12 panna cottas yesterday, and all are in ramekins in the fridge at present.

We will eat two tonight but can I freeze the rest? Will the ramekins break? Otherwise we'll have to eat them all tomorrow......

[jeral Profile]

If you freeze one immediately, it should be frozen solid by teatime, so you can then defrost it and see what happens. (Cover with lid or cling film.)

Your ramekins should be safe as long as there are no rapid temperature shocks although you don't say what they're made from.

I imagine a lot of water (whey?) might appear so once drained off the panna cotta might be more solid. It might go dotty literally if stirred after defrost but can't think why you'd want to stir it.

Fingers crossed, and still nine left to experiment with...

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Things set with gelatine tend to split when thawed, so I think jeral is right, try one and see how it survives

[Binky Profile]

The ramekins are Pilvuyt - the delicate ones with a fruit design on the side. I think they're made of porcelain.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Porcelain is surprisingly tough if you don't heat shock it too much, i.e. not suddenly - it was used to make old fashioned lab apparatus after all

Pilvuyt and Worcester pretty resilient I think, after all they make soufflé dishes, quiche dishes etc which go in the oven and freezer without a problem, and I have made soufflés glacées in them which are frozen

[jeral Profile]

If you are worried about your ramekins, you could turn out the set panna cottas onto a flat tray or plate lined with a plastic bag. I find that freezer or baking paper, foil and cling film all stick. Then open freeze, then store in sealed carton or bag. Pop back into ramekins for defrosting.

I have porcelain plates and custard pots which are happy in the freezer and coming out of it, but as said, avoiding any heat shocks. Yours pots might be more delicate so you need to be sure - or go the decanting route.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

I think the panna cotta will split when you de-freeze it. Plus the cream might go grainy.
I´d just leave them in the fridge and eat two a day for the next five days!

[jeral Profile]

I had a quick look and Peter Gordon reckons panna cotta can be frozen, but he does adjust the recipe if intending to freeze which is too late for Binky as hers are already made.

I froze some double cream without whisking it first and the graininess on defrost made it uneatable (to me). Hopefully a test will reveal all, then Binky can tell us

I'd happily eat one for breakfast, lunch and tea - I mean it's not like you have to chew them

[Suffs Profile]

I think the panna cotta will split when you de-freeze it. Plus the cream might go grainy.
I´d just leave them in the fridge and eat two a day for the next five days!

I’m quite willing to help ... eager in fact

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Yep - me too!
Watch out, Binky, you´ve got two guests this week.

[Binky Profile]

Here's one of the little devils. We've eaten 5 already, one is in the freezer as a test, and we'll eat two more today. The weather is glorious so we're 'pizza-ing' later.



If the test panna cotta survives, we'll freeze the rest (what's left of them).