Batch cooking ideas please

Apricot

Im interested x

diane105

Count me in - just got a new freezer I need to fill and looking for some new ideas

gillian576

Yes please :j

Slinky_Malinky

Yes I would be interested too. I would also love to hear if you have any problems eating the food after it has been frozen. I ask this because I have had mixed results - some things have been fine but others have been totally rank (e.g. lamb stew - all I can eat is the lamb and have to throw away the rest of the congealed lump of stew, the carrots and parsnips are not very nice, the spuds are really horrible and the pearl barley appears to have drunk all the gravy resulting in a thick gloopy mess)

gizmo111

I find stews freesze OK, they look horrible when you go to reheat and don't seem to look normal until you have heated them through to very hot. Most things with gravy look unappealing when defrosting as does some soup. was it the look or the taste you didn't like?

Slinky_Malinky

It was more the texture - the carrot and parsnip were not great but the potato was especially horrible. I suspect I may have put in too much pearl barley which spoiled the sauce/gravy. I think in future I may cook meat in some sort of gravy/casserole sauce to freeze and then cook my veggies fresh. Reading another thread on freezing mash I plan to try the one third sweet potato to two thirds white potato ratio that someone recommended and serve that as a side dish rather than adding potatoes to the meat dish.

Penelope_Penguin

abaxas wrote:

Hi,

I'm on a bit of a mission. I want to fill my freezer with ingredients and home made 'ready meals'. So I can make my life easier.

Would people be interested if I did some kind of diary of what I'm cooking/preparing etc? Just thought it might inspire a few!

Would people be interested?

As there are several people interested in this, but the OP hasn't come back I'll add this to the existing thread on batch cooking, so that you can get lots of ideas :T

Penny. x

gailey_2

I do mostly homemade and love batchcooking and freezing but want to do more but not sure if stuff I want to make and freeze is ok to freeze.

I find fishpie, lasagane, shepards pie and casserole freezes well.

Find pasta does not freeze well.

So things im wondering about batchcooking and freezing

homemade loaf of bread -assume that freezes fine

homemade pizzas confuse me take sme ages to make the dough so freezing that be good , same with batch tomato sauce thats fine to freeze but my questions is

can i roll out pizzas, add tomato sauce and toppings and then wrap ion clingfilm and freeze.

This would save lots of time and but dies it need to be taken out of freezer and placed in fridge to defrost then oven cooked for usual time 10-12mins or can it go straight from freezer to oven,

Trying to make homecooked cheap convieniance meals.

soups I assume ok.

what really baffles me is

can cakes and biscuits be frozen
with tarts and crumbles can i freeze them uncooked or do they have to be cooked first and if cooked do i adjust my cooking time.

I assume most stuff need to be defrosted before cooking i normally blast my homemade readymeals in micro for 8mins.

can you freeze jacket potatoes or roast potatoes.
cauli cheese.

dips like homous, gucamole or salsa

pates

quiches, omlettes or frittattas as was worried as eggs in it.

can you freeze pancake or cake mixes

how long can they stay in chest freezer for


Now completly different question

want to make own ketchup imassuming goes in sterilised jars but how long can in keep for once opening left in cupboard or fridge and how many days should it be used by.

Also want to make jams/chutneys as made xmas chutney .
want to make lots as xmas presents.

im assuming once sterilised and top done up tight can be kept up to year in cupboard but if opened should it be kept in fridge and if so how long it keep once opened.

im saving jars is there anything special i need like jam ,lids.
do I do up tight or does lid have to be sealed.

baking and preserves whole new area for me, dabbled with cakes and breads before but usually shop brought mixes

boredjellybean

you will probably be best freezing the hm bread in slices, i know pate freezes well as my mum usually does some at christmas, soups freeze really well. I freeze par-cooked roast potatoes (boil for 5-10min then drain, shake up to make the edges rough & open freeze, transfer to bags once frozen) then i stick them straight in the oven from frozen & roast for usual time

not sure about the rest - think you can freeze cakes etc but no idea how sorry

regards
BJB

ALIBOBSY

cakes and biscuits can be frozen. With biscuits I even freeze some as dough, rolled into small dough balls or ready cut out and flash frozen they can then be cooked from frozen. There are even rec for freezer cookies where you freeze a "sausage" of dough and cut off as you go to cook from frozen. Although you can freeze the cooked versions as well-I just love the smell of cooking biscuits lol.

I find most items work better flash frozen on trays then bagged up. This avoids big clumps stuck together and things seem to freeze and defrost better.

I have kept homemade baked goods for months in the freezer, but sometimes they may need a little refresh eg I sometimes toast/oven warm scones before eating. Kids like tray bakes and I have even put slices frozen in the lunchbox in the morning which help keep everything cold and are then defrosted by noon ready to eat. With traybakes I cut into squares and flash freeze on a tray then wrap in foil in 2's ready to take out pack by pack to defrost for the kids.

Very little won't freeze really, lettuce and soft fruit isn't great, but fruit can be used in sauces/cooking/smoothies after freeezing.

ali x