What foods can/can't you freeze?

FatVonD

Thanks, Pink, and everyone else!

Rachbc, there were pots and pots of clotted cream, all reduced to 15p each, it was heartbreaking to leave it on the shelf!

anna_p86

Cucumber, goes all mushy :o

FatVonD

magyar wrote: »

Strictly speaking it's meant to be about two-three weeks, although I regularly eat food which has been in there for months! And I'm still alive to tell the ta

I love that this post peters out at the end...

kah22

Listening to the news this morning I got an awful shock, no pun intended – electricity in NI is to be increased by 18.6%, if my maths are correct by the time you add on vat on that works out at a real price increase of 22.32 per cent :eek:. But maths are not my strong point

Something has to be done. Normally I’d bake fresh bread every day, I think from now onwards it will be twice at the most three times a week, three loaves each bake and freezing two (I live on my own but with family calling in it doesn’t last much longer than a day on average)

Scones, I love my scones and would bake half a dozen once a week. That amount will have to be looked at, maybe bake 18 freeze the lot and microwave as required. Only problem here is they could be ‘required’ too often.:D Preparing the dough in advance open freezing and then putting them in along with the bread is also a possibility.

I also like to bake some cakes and pastry, I have a sweet tooth, so I’m going to have to look at what I can make and freeze in this department.

There are also main meals. So rather than cook each day I’ll perhaps cook enough to do two or three days at a time and freeze. Maybe combine it with some of the above.

The purpose of this post is to open up the question of how and what to freeze and maybe share advice. I’ll share some of what I do.

In the past for example I’ve baked bread and frozen it and then let it defrost overnight, it worked ok.

I’ve played with par baking – removing the bread from the oven about ten minutes before it’s ready, cooling and freezing and when re-using letting it defrost and finishing off in the oven. But to be honest I didn't see much difference between that and above.

How and what do you freeze?

How anybody can survive on ready made meals is beyond me.

Kevin

Pink.

Hi kah22,

I too got a shock when I heard about the price rise this morning. I already batch cook but am thinking of bulk baking now too. I've never had any problems freezing hm bread, cakes etc. I find most things freeze well provided they don't have too high a water content and even then they are fine for using in baking etc...eg soft fruits will go mushy. Two things I have found that don't freeze well are mayonaise and coleslaw, there must be more but I can't think of them right now.

There is lots more advice on these threads:

What foods can/can't you freeze?

Freezing - Tips and Quick Questions thread

Can you freeze buns and cakes?

Cooking for the Freezer..

I'll add your thread to the first link later to keep the replies together.

Pink

caz2703

Apologies if this is the wrong board but here goes. I have lots of frozen meat plus jars of sauce and packets of risotto and pasta. I was thinking of spending some time over the next few weeks cooking up batches of stuff to be frozen but I'm not sure what is safe or what won't reheat very well.

Risotto - chicken, risotto rice, leeks/peppers
Casserole - chicken/beef and veg (whatever is best)
Chicken pasta - chicken, parma ham, spinach, cheese sauce (the chilled kind, not a packet mix), pasta

I also have some cook-in sauces but I don't know if these can be cooked, frozen, thawed and reheated.

Can any advise if there would be problems freezing any of the above. Obviously I could do things like the base sauce for chicken pasta and cook the pasta as and when required.

TIA

vasseur

I would freeze all of the above apart from the risotto (but I'm not saying you can't, that is just me, I'm picky about freezing rice and besides I like making risotto as I find it very therapeutic ).

You might find that frozen pasta isn't quite as nice when reheated.

I certainly have never had a problem with reheating cook-in sauces. Might need to add a bit of water if they go really thick. Same for casseroles.

oldtractor

I freeze everything except rice.

spike7451

You can freeze just about anything,tho if you make a dish that has a sauce,like a curry,best thing to do is reduce the sauce on cooking further than you would if eating fresh as when it thaws out,you'll find a lot of water in the food tub,then you just mix the water in to thin the sauce back down again.

caitybabes

I freeze risotto happily and all the other things you mentioned...