Want to improve batch cooking....

Kildare

Afternoon

Since returning to work after having my DS I've tried batch cooking but I'm not having a lot of success. Firstly I'm not sure what to make for the freezer and secondly I'm not sure I'm making big enough batches!

For example I make a cottage pie which I then put into four small containers (right size for a DS meal), but it seems a lot of effort to only end up with 4 small pies - I'd like to have more made or to at least have a couple of family size ones as well. I'm using 500g mince but I don't think I could get any more mince in my pan & my pan is barely big enough to boil enough potatoes.

So my questions are:
What meals do you batch cook?
How many portions do you usually freeze?
Is there equipment I'm missing that would make my life easier?
Help!

Thank you xx

paddy's_mum

A bigger pan might be a good investment.

How about a large, good quality stockpot from (say) M&S so that you can make enough for two large family sized shepherd's pies, so a saving on electricity for the oven into the bargain.

With Christmas on the horizon, if money is especially tight, you might let it be known that just this once, you would have no objection to being gifted a large pan provided it also holds some goodies as well, of course!

Hemera

Kildare wrote: »

I'm using 500g mince but I don't think I could get any more mince in my pan & my pan is barely big enough to boil enough potatoes.

Well I suppose the only solution to this is to buy bigger pans But I understand what you mean, I think it's hard to cook more than 4-6 portions (depends on the kind of dish) in a regular kitchen with normal household equipment. BTW, as far as I know the mince in the shepherds pie is stewed rather than roasted, so if you use a tall pan (a saucepan / stockpot) you can fit a lot of mince in there. You might want to brown it in batches as it makes it tastier, but then you can return the half-cocked mince to the pan.

Anyway, I think the easiest things to cook in large quantities are either soups or sauces (including meaty dishes cooked in a sauce). Making a big quantity of soup or stew or bolognese is very easy, you only have to chuck more ingredients into the pan

By the way, as I was saying before, I hardly ever make big quantities. I generally cook 4 to 6 portions of a meal, and they get eaten in the 2 days following: I live with my OH and we generally take leftovers to work for lunch, and we don't mind having the same thing again a couple of days after if there is more.

Kildare wrote: »

So my questions are:
What meals do you batch cook?
To keep in the fridge, pretty much everything. The only exception are of course things that don't keep well, but the list is very limited.
To freeze:
Pasta sauces (once you have a frozen sauce, you just have to boil the pasta), lasagna, soup, stews and currries, chill con carne etc.
How many portions do you usually freeze? Generally 2 or 4, see above
Is there equipment I'm missing that would make my life easier? Not sure, as I said before for me it is pretty much impossible to cook restaurant quantities in a kitchen but let's see what the others suggest.

Slowly57

Something to bear in mind before you go large - do you have enough room in your freezer/fridge?
I only make/store single portions (I'm veggie OH isnt) and with things like mince - I just cook in gravy so I can use it in different ways, plain on a spud/turn into chilli over rice/spag bol etc. I portion up into those foil take away boxes (get mine from local £ shop) - I have boxes of chicken/mince and so on that I can titivate it up into whatever is needed. Because the boxes are all the same size and shape you can get loads in the freezer!

Also - bear in mind that a lovely spread of pies is very satisfying - but will you get sick to death of them? (been there done that lol) - and, when you've made them, they need to be chilled and batch frozen so as not to raise the temp in the freezer/get all squished if you need to stack them up.

I'll shut up now :rotfl:

RockersWAG

Chilli con carne and bolognaise are probably the two meals I cook in big batches most often, usually averaging about eight adult portions from 750g mince. For the bolognaise, I pad it out using finely chopped carrot and celery with the onion and garlic and if I'm cooking chilli my little girl would eat, I do it in two separate pans and just omit the chilli powder from hers. I find even the kidney beans freeze fine when they're in with the chilli.
Simple tomato sauces are also good to freeze - a couple of tins of plum tomatoes, bit of garlic, olive oil and some fresh basil and you have 4-5 quick pasta sauces that defrost fairly quickly compared to bolognaise.
Pasta bakes such as macaroni cheese (I feel like I have a theme going here!) and lasagne also freeze well and I tend to prepare them in the disposable foil takeaway style containers with lids, as you just take them out to defrost then put them straight in the oven minus the lid. :-)

SailorSam

I think a slowcooker is a great investment and helps when batch cooking.

kathrynha

When I batch cook I tend to do 6-8 portions, but then I like variety and only have limited freezer space.


Agree with others that a slow cooker is good. Mine is just a cheap Argos one, but it's still going fine after at least 5 years. It claims to be a 2 person one, but I can easily cook 10 portions in it

Kildare

Thank you all!! The meal suggestions are great as well :beer:

I have a shelf in the freezer I can spare to stock up with pies / spag bol etc. so I've got a bit of space. I will look into a bigger pan but I thought mine was pretty big (will check what it says on it tonight!). I only have the one big one though and I didn't realise I could brown the mince, take it out, brown more and then add back in so that will help a lot

Not sure my OH will eat the same thing twice in row, but I like the idea of cooking it once and then having it ready in the freezer.

I do have a crockpot I was given but I've not had a lot of success with it. Last thing I tried was a whole roast chicken. It tasted fine, but the whole thing completely collapsed so not sure about doing it again!

maman

I almost always use my slow cooker for batch cooking. What I like about it is that I can fill it up and then ignore it while I get on with my day rather than have to keep checking something on the hob. I rarely use the SC to do things for that day as I think they taste better the next day (or even the next month) as the sauces marinate.


We never have the same thing 2 days running. My batch cooking is to make home made ready meals for days when I'm busy or for a meal that I might skip if plans change and we eat out so it can stay in the freezer.


I cook for 2 people mostly. OP I'm assuming there are 3 of you and your DS is quite young so wouldn't be having massive portions. I use the plastic boxes (like you get from take aways) as they stack well in the freezer and you can microwave them. I label them with a small piece of masking tape. I generally have Bolognese sauce, chilli and savoury mince portioned up in the freezer. Like others I add loads of veg to the mince as it's healthier and more mse. My portions are 2 generous tablespoons (like the large ones you get in sets of kitchen utensils) each and then you'd need to add in perhaps one spoonful for the DS.


Another thing I do is boil a piece of gammon (about 1 kg) and when cool I slice it up and put meal sized portions in the freezer. I then make soup from the stock and portion that up too. Same with packs of meat (chops, sausages, chicken portions). I always spilt the packs into portions for 2 people (or in your case 3).


I rarely, if ever, make up meals like pies or lasagne. I find it more versatile and more space saving to just have the sauces frozen and do the pasta or rice or potatoes on the day.


HTH.

Shropshirelass

I'm another who uses those flat plastic takeaway containers. Get them from DS as we very rarely buy takeaways (except fish and chips :-) )

I have a few flat ovenproof dishes the same shape/size as the takeaways. So I can freeze a meal, then decant it into the dish to defrost, and finish cooking, or warm up and brown it. Works well for shepherds/cottage pie, fish pie, macaroni cheese (with crunchy tomatoey topping).

Takeaway or margarine packets also make a suitable portion size for two, of soup, mince ready to be poshed up into Bolognese or chilli con carne, or stewed beef ready for dumplings. Add mushrooms, peppers, lentils etc to stretch.

Once frozen you can take food out of the plastic container and wrap or bag it to save space. But not bothering to label them is false economy of time!!:eek:

It's also useful to freeze scones/ potato scones/ Irish soda bread quarters etc to supplement a meal.

Skint_yet_Again

Kildare wrote: »

Afternoon

So my questions are:
What meals do you batch cook?
How many portions do you usually freeze?
Is there equipment I'm missing that would make my life easier?
Help!

Thank you xx

Hi Kildare
There is only me and my DS age 21 at home. I batch cook meals like chilli, Chicken and peppers in black bean sauce, meatballs in tomato/chilli sauce, beef curry, chicken curry, pasta bake.

I tend to make these meals in addition to our evening meal so they can be frozen and used when I cba to cook, or if my DS needs to take a meal to work depending on what shift he's working. If I'm making an evening meal I try and cook twice as much and freeze half

I use a normal sized frying pan. I think it depends on what portion sizes you want as to how many meals you can get in one go. Some people can stretch 500g of mince a very long way.
When I make chilli I use 500g mince and bulk it out with baked beans and kidney beans it usually makes 5-6 portions (my DS is 21 and a big eater). When I make meatballs they are very small so they are quicker to cook/reheat and the mince goes further. Chicken meals its usually a couple of chicken breasts will do 4 portions.

I make pulled pork in my slow cooker and 1.4kg usually does 4-5 portions for lunches/dinners.

I also tray bake chicken breasts in bulk. Usually one breast per person. I try to vary between Cajun spices, tandoori chicken, piri piri chicken.

I freeze portions individually in plastic tubs like takeaway containers as they can be washed & re-used easier than freezer bags and can be microwaved straight from the freezer if necessary.