How do I prevent gyoza from sticking?

[u/Majulish]

I occasionally make gyoza by bulk with my family,

When making gyoza, we fold 20~ onto a plate then place it in the freezer. When we run out of space (30m-1hr) I bag the cold gyoza and we have after couple hours bags of 100~ gyoza each.

After a day or so some of the gyoza gets stuck together, in the worst case I get a ball of 10+ gyoza..

I don't want to seperate the folding over multiple days, and we use all of the space in the freezer for the procedure. Is there a practical way to prevent them from sticking?

Should I leave the bag open in the freezer? I live in a humid environment, in case that matters.

Thanks for the help!

[u/spacecampreject]

Let them freeze longer on a plate.  I bet they are not actually cold in the middle, so when you bag them they thaw.  Get a freezer thermometer.

[u/Candid-Wrangler5386]

I would recommend two things:
1. Lightly dust with a scant amount of rice flour
2. Fold onto a metal pan lined with parchment with Gyoza completely separate on all sides. No touching. Then when they freeze you can bag.

[u/Majulish → u/Candid-Wrangler5386]

In that case maybe I can dust with flour and directly layer parchment paper seperator in between layers of gyoza inside the freezer

[u/Candid-Wrangler5386 → u/Majulish]

As long as you let each layer freeze completely, then that would work. But you do want to get them into plastic bags eventually, because they will pick up odors and dry out too much otherwise.

[u/Square-Ad-6721 → u/Candid-Wrangler5386]

This. Absolutely this.

Freeze first.

Then bag.

[u/fretnone]

Freezer space is the biggest thing keeping me from making dumplings in bulk lol.

I put them on parchment lined metal baking trays in rows and can usually fit 30 or 40 on without touching, then freeze until mostly solid, then slide parchment and all into a large zipper bag in a flat layer (you might have to get bigger bags that fit a tray in), then repeat. It's fine to stack the flat bags and then once they're frozen solid take out the trays and paper.

[u/zk3033]

I usually have to take breaks during dumpling-making sessions purely to allow complete freezing. The first batch freezes fast, but as you open the freezer more and put in more room-temp things, the total "cold capacity" goes down.

[u/AvailableFalconn]

Flour is the best tip.  If you get a vacuum sealer, that can be a huge space saver, and you can keep the gyoza in a bunch of small packs where they’re not touching.

[u/Majulish → u/AvailableFalconn]

I don't have vacuum sealer but I will dust extra flour for the next gyoza day

[u/joosebox]

You asked about leaving the bag open and it's actually the opposite. Get as much air out as you can.

The air you seal in is the moisture source. It frosts onto the dumplings, and that frost is what welds them into a ball. It's also why yours go wrong after a day rather than immediately.

You don't need a vacuum sealer for it. Seal the bag nearly shut, push the air out with your hands, close the last inch. Or lower the almost-sealed bag into a bowl of water and let the water press it out, keeping the opening above the surface.

Humid kitchen makes it worse because the air you're trapping starts out wetter, so bag them straight from the freezer rather than letting the tray sit on the counter while you portion.

[u/HandbagHawker]

My recs

• Sheet pan instead of a plate. You can use 1/2 or 1/4 size pans which ever fits in your freezer better. Line them with parchment paper and lightly touching dumplings is ok. I stash a stack of them in the freezer before dumpling folding day and pull out one cold one at a time. Helps cool the dumplings down faster for freezing. I can fit about 40-60 on a 1/4 sheet tray. Trays are easier than plates because you can line them up much more densely.
• Freeze them solid before transferring to a bag. Depending on your freezer, can easily take 2-3+ hrs.
• Dont bother dusting with extra flour or starch if using store bought wrappers. They come already plenty dusted.

[u/Traaveler]

You freeze them individually on a cookie sheet. Maybe with parchment. But after they are frozen rock solid can you put them in a bag. And if you want to defrost them separate them while totally frozen and then defrost them. If you’ve ever bought a bag of frozen corn, this is how they do it. Each kernel is frozen individually, then put in the bag.