OK so I've been debating with myself on this one. The mushrooms in our area are kind of a hit and miss for good ones. And they give the clam chowder such good flavor and texture. I was thinking that when I find them in really good shape that I would like to buy a bunch and make Barb's Clam Chowder (see link below).
I was wondering if I made it with everything but the milk would it freeze OK? We tried it with the milk already in it and OK the only word that would discribe it was nasty.
That sounds really iffy. If no one else has tried it, and you give it a shot, please let us know how it goes. I'm not sure if the milk was the culprit, since I've frozen other chowders successfully. I think the cornstarch might be the problem. I'd love to hear what others say, but my own personal experience with foods thickened with cornstarch is that they don't always retain their consistency well when reheated or if frozen. I use white flour in my chowder
I've never had enough left over of it to freeze. But I do freeze Laurie's Broccoli Cheese Soup which has milk in it and it freezes wonderfully. Sometimes it doesn't look that great when it is defrosted but it tastes wonderful.
Thanks Suzanne. I'm thinking it was the corn starch and milk that made it so very nasty. Those were the two things I was thinking about leaving out when I froze it.
I had also thought about trying it with chicken broth instead of the clam juice and then adding the clams and milk after I take it out of the freezer. I know it would give it a little different flavor but it would be a good all purpose frozen stock to have on hand that I could add any meat to.
Would love to hear any other suggestions from the rest of you.
I find that mushrooms are really awful when frozen so would give that a miss. I doubt that the milk is the culprit - a quick whisk should smooth it out. Have you tried bean flour for thickening? You can also use egg yold to thicken.
By the way, when I make it, I use canned evaporated skim milk and it is really creamy without thickening.
Thanks for the suggestions Barb and Ruth. Wish I could make the broccoli cheese soup it sounds so yummy but hubby is allergic to cheese.
Think I will try making the chowder with the evaporated skim milk next time and leave out the corn starch. If I leave the carrots out that would make it P1 friendly also wouldn't it?
Ruth what is egg yold? I don't think I have heard of that before. Maybe a Canada thing?
I know things thickened with starch (unless you use modified food starch) tend to seperate when you freeze them. Mushrooms are supposed to freeze okay, although I expect it depends on how you freeze them and what kind of mushrooms. Celery doesn't freeze so well, although I think it's more just the texture than the flavor - not such a big deal for something like this. Milk generally freezes just fine on its own, but I'm not sure about *cooked* milk. What about canning it? Do you have a pressure canner that you could use to can it instead of freezing it?
Freezing Barb's clam chowder?
It's from really old chickens! 
