Kitchen Garden Forum

Does anyone know if mincemeat can be frozen, or will it be OK in the fridge until next Christmas? It is homemade and delicious, but I made too much, as usual.

I've never had a surplus to freeze, but I can see no reason why it can't be frozen. I'd wrap it tightly in some cling film or aluminium foil to reduce the air exposure and then store in a lidded box or one of those sealable zip-type storage bags. If it's got suet in it, I wouldn't opt for the fridge though. I stored some suet lumps in my fridge a couple of weeks before Christmas to chop up and put out for the birds, and a couple of days ago found that some of the suet had started to go a bit mouldy.

Hello Pongeroon
Keeping mincemeat until next Christmas is a bit of a tall order!
One tip from Delia which I've found works very well for keeping mincemeat is to put it all in a large covered bowl on the middle oven shelf for 3 hours at the lowest setting (ovens vary but its probably called 'slow cook', ½ or 110°C.)
Stir occasionally. This can then be potted into warm sterilised jars and covered with a waxed disc like you would treat jam. It will keep in perfect condition for many months. Keeping the clean jars in the oven during this cooking time will sterilise them.
Don't worry about the appearance of the mincemeat as it comes out of the oven - it will look positively swimming in fat. This is how it should look. As it cools, the fat will coagulate and, instead of it being in tiny shreds, it will encase and preserve all the other ingredients.

Hope this helps

John

PS This is all worth doing just for the lovely faint smell of mincemeat that fills the kitchen!

Thanks you two. I'll probably try the oven option, though I might just make more mince pies to cheer us up, and be done with it!