Preparation

• Make split pea soup according to your favorite recipe, but note that cooked potatoes don't freeze well. Although frozen potatoes are safe to eat, they are often brown and mealy or mushy. You can omit the potatoes from the recipe, use an alternate recipe without potatoes or cook the potatoes separately and add them to your soup at serving time. Other vegetables often used in split pea soup freeze well, including celery, carrots and onions. Undercook the vegetables slightly so they don't overcook when you heat the soup.

Packaging

• Cool hot soup quickly before packaging, and never allow soup with ham, other meats, dairy products or eggs to cool at room temperature, as illness-causing bacteria develops quickly. Although small amounts of soup are safely cooled in the refrigerator, the safest way to cool soup quickly is to place the cooking pot in a sink filled with ice water, and then replenish the ice as it melts. Once the soup is cool, transfer it to plastic storage containers, allowing 1/2-inch of space at the top of the container, and then freeze the soup immediately. You can also freeze soup in sealable plastic bags.

Freezing

• Freeze containers or sealable bags in a single layer, unstacked, so the soup freezes quickly. Once the soup is frozen, you can stack the containers or bags to save freezer space. When securely packaged, split pea soup retains its quality for four to six months. The soup is safe to eat after a longer storage time as long as the freezer temperature is maintained at zero degrees Fahrenheit. However, after four to six months, the quality begins to decrease and the soup loses flavor.

Heating

• Heat frozen split pea soup without thawing, or thaw the soup in the refrigerator overnight. To prevent food-borne illness, never allow frozen soup to thaw at room temperature. Keep the soup from burning during heating by placing the soup in a double boiler over boiling water. If you don't have a double boiler, bring a small amount of water to boil in a larger pot then place the soup pot in the boiling water. Stir the soup often while reheating to preserve the creamy texture. Test the soup with a meat thermometer just before serving. To be safe, the soup must reach a temperature of 165 F.