batch cooked meals cooking from frozen/defrosting?

mandco

I know a lot of people batch cook and freeze so how do you work out the times for reheating? plus do you heat from frozen or defrost first?
I know it would save a lot of time & money if I could get the hang if it but the thing that puts me off is needing to defrost things 1st as it seems to take forever the last ready meal I took out of the freezer was still partially frozen 2 days later and then I wasn't sure if it was still safe to cook & eat

thanks

pm2326

I batch cook lots, when I first started doing it I would sometimes find the food not defrosted properly by time I want to eat

So what I now do is take a portion out the freezer the night before, leave it on the bench for an hour or two then put it in the fridge until I need it the next day. Never had a problem that way.

LHW99

I have a microwave with a defrost setting, so tend to give it several 2-3min runs in that, with a wait of 5 - 10 mins between.

Then it goes into the fridge overnight.

pollys

There are six of us so things are frozen in large quantities. I tend to leave things on the counter top to defrost overnight then put in the fridge until I'm ready to reheat. If it's winter sometimes things don't defrost overnight so I leave them out. The kitchen doesn't have a radiator so items defrost very slowly.

Polly

Linda32

I try to make sure I freeze in small portions. If I freeze casserole for instance which naturally has a lot of liquid, I've found its best to freeze in one portion meals. I freeze a portion which is enough to add further potatoes and veggies to the portion of casserole.

Overnight for tea the next day seems to work for me. Re-heating is gas mark 6 for 30 minutes. This seems to have things bubbling.

HOWMUCH

I freeze in portions for 1 person and remove according to how any people at eating it's normally just the 2 of us. I normally cook in portions of 8 which I find easier for us and last us 4 weeks. I cook a different dish each week and normally do the batch cook at the weekend. I work full time and after work then go to look after my grandson until his mummy comes home at approx 7.30pm this is 4 times per week. So this kind of cooking works well for us.