Some batch cooking Questions

Welsh_Totster · 2 June 2010 at 11:46AM

Finally I have a new kitchen thats usable unlike the old one where I couldn't have more than one gas ring going or the oven would cut out, that's an aside.....Anyway I'm all up and running in my new kitchen and I've just managed to switch on my additional 2 under the counter freezers. One freezer will have meat and veg in it, the other I intend to fill with pre cooked stuff, so I'm up for some batch cooking!

So far I've thought I could do the following...
Bolognese
Lasagne
Cottage pie
Chicken and veg pie
Fish pie
Burgers
Meatballs
Fish cakes
Corned beef and potato cakes
Different soups

Now Mr Totster doesn't like chili or curry but I could make myself some curry and always make some chili from the bolognese base if I fancied it.

My questions are....

Is there anything else thats scrummy I could batch cook and freeze?

and

When making the pies (will be potato topped) would it be better to make them in one large tin then leave to cool and portion up into bags or would it be better to cook them seperately in disposable trays? (not v MSE though) if I go down the disposable try route then is there an alternative to foil as I wouldnt be able to put foil in the microwave to heat them up?

All other suggestions are most welcome:)

Ta!

wssla00 · 2 June 2010 at 11:50AM

risotto, soups, chicken fajitas, hunters chicken (sans the cheese until the last minute) and pies all do pretty well too

I always just make the base then add the mash on when it's being cooked in the oven, as sometimes mash goes watery. I use lock and lock or the pyrex with plastic lids that you can take off. They work really well

Welsh_Totster · 2 June 2010 at 11:52AM

Thanks wssla00, much appreciated tips.

exlibris · 2 June 2010 at 12:09PM

Casseroles
Meat off the joint - Get a bigger joint than usual and cook it for one meal (less shrinkage) Slice up the remains and put into containers covered in gravy = ready to defrost Sunday roast!
Vegetable lasagne.

I make up the meals in pyrex for 2 (2 of us) and freeze with mash on. I have never had watery mash - yet

Lasagnes are put together ( lasagne sheets softened) and frozen with raw cheese on top. It browns on heating up.

HTH

Welsh_Totster · 2 June 2010 at 12:19PM

Thanks Exlibris! never thought of freezing cooked meat with gravy, what a great idea.:beer:

zippychick · 2 June 2010 at 12:56PM

Hi Welsh Totster:hello:

I see you're relatively new to posting in OS, so welcome - I hope you stick around

Ok,there are heaps of threads which can help you out - so i hope you have plenty of reading time

I think planning and organisation is key with batch cooking, so you are doing well thinking about it in advance

Batch cooking ideas please

Freezer containers

How do you freeze your batch cooking?

Meal building blocks for the freezer - this thread is good for "transforming" meals

Cooking for the freezer

Nutritionally good meals for the freezer

Help - cooking from frozen

Freezing HM ready meals is a recent thread with good advice and Pink explains how she packages up meals for the freezer:A

Really you will find over time most meals freeze well. I would never have thought of freezing rice for example but do it regularly now.

I make soups up, line a tub with a freezer bag type thing, pour the soup in, label it so i can see the name from the top and freeze. I remove the container once it is frozen, and literally use the same 3 size tubs, so they all fit in like little bricks .

It's quite geeky really

I use a pen i got for writing on discs. Labelling is essential - i didn't follow this when i first started but it really does become harder to recognise things , especially as your freezer gets fuller

When i want to use a portion of soup for example, i take it out of the bag, and put it in the tub overnight to defrost - I'm not keen on cooking things in the microwave for some reason but that's just personal choice.

Are you going to have a batch cooking day then? I love those days. It is such hard work but i find it therapeutic. Now I am going back to work i will have to batch cook and I have missed it. I find it very rewarding mentally counting up how much food i have cooked, and then working out the cost per portion:rotfl:

Hope this helps and a starter anyway
Zip:A

Welsh_Totster · 2 June 2010 at 1:17PM

Wow! Thanks zippychick, thats hugely helpful and will give me good reading material tonight when Im back home! I used to batch cook basics like soup, bolognese and lasagne before I moved house a few months ago, but I thought that once we were sorted in the new house Id expand the menu so to speak!

I fully intend to maybe have a weekend batch cooking just to fill the freezer up, and Im sadly geekily excited at the prospect as Ive not cooked properly for 6 months due to house move and really 'orrible kitchen in the new house. I too find a day cooking in the kitchen very theraputic.

Thanks for the labelling tip as this will be a bigger operation than Ive previously tried, labelling I think is a v good idea! Also like your tip on how you freeze soup as your method ensures maximum use of freezer space, whereas I used to just ladle the soup into a bag and freeze it in the odd shape it would end up in!

zippychick · 2 June 2010 at 1:46PM

Ah a new kitchen ! how exciting!

I have just taken pics of my freezer for you :rotfl:

I'll be honest, they're not my tips , they're things I have learnt from OS over the past year or two!

You will pick so much up as you go along ! :j

Here's a pic of one drawer - and the kind of tub i use , and here's the other drawer . The pink stuff isn't labelled cause it's pilau rice, and there's really no mistaking its pinkness ! :rotfl:

Oh, and here's a pic of my kitty sleeping on my clean washing! :mad::D She seems to have snuck in between the two!:rotfl:

Welsh_Totster · 2 June 2010 at 1:59PM

Thanks again, I see how easy it is now by using a tub to freeze in, it all fits together so neatly! Im ecstatic about the new kitchen and relishing the thought of cooking properly again.

Im also loving the kitty shot, Hmmmmm how do they always find the clean washing to sit on?! I have 3 kitties and they all seem to be clean clothes magnets!:rotfl:

zippychick · 2 June 2010 at 2:02PM

I know, i learnt from experience of having big odd shaped frozen packages ! now I have become quite obsessive about it in a "monk" kind of way (a programme - you may or may not watch!)

It's so much easier. The long cylindrical shaped one i have frozen is an oddball - I never freeze stuff in the container, but i was running out the door and didn't have time for decanting etc. That was my first successful go at home made gravy from chicken juices, so there's no way that baby was being binned:rotfl:

Kittys are rascals. Mine sleeps in the oddest places. She looks a bit fuddled just awake there! her latest fave is in the spare wardrobe!

Welsh_Totster · 2 June 2010 at 2:16PM

Theres nothing quite like proper gravy is there, I always feel rather smug when I make it from scratch and it tastes delish. i totally see where youre coming from with freezing that, I couldnt throw proper gravy away!

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Some batch cooking Questions

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