Batch Cooking Help Please

Anoneemoose

Hi,

We’re going to start batch cooking things like fish pies, curries, bolognese etc. For the fish pie, if I use the frozen packs, will I need to defrost it, cook it, assemble the pie before freezing again? Or can it be defrosted, pie assembled with uncooked fish, frozen again and then defrosted/reheated? I’m guessing the first option as I know you’re supposed to cook before refreezing anything like meat/fish but I just wanted to check.

Are there any meals that can be cooked from frozen? As in the fish pie, cottage pie etc?

And lastly, are there any reusable containers/cookware that can be put straight from the freezer to the oven please?

Any advice will be much appreciated. Thank you. 

Suffolksue

Lots of reusable containers,try Lakeland 

Anoneemoose

When I said the frozen packs in the OP, I mean the frozen packs of fish pieces.

Nelski

Personally I cook it all separately then freeze in ziploc bags, easy to store, then defrost bags of what you need. So cook a load of mince and veg and freeze then cook a load of mash and freeze bags enough for a meal then just put it together. Grab what you want out the freezer in a morning then you can just put together when you need to. 

CapricornLass

Personally, I would defrost the fish, cook it assemble the fish pie and then refreeze again. I'd rather be safe than sorry, and food poisoning isn't much fun.

One tip I was told about- line the dish you would normally use for your fish pie with foil, allowing a bit of an overhang, assemble the pie and freeze, then take it out of the dish and wrap it properly for the freezer.  It keeps the dish in circulation and when  you want to do the pie, take it out, unwrap and slide it back into the dish again.  I always left the lining foil in place, so it acted like a sort of foil dish and threw it away afterwards, although these days I would try and clean it for recycling! 

Another thing I do is basic mince (1 kg mince, onions, some herbs, glass of wine, tin of tomatoes, and beef stock, browned off and cooked for about 45 mins or so) and freeze that in portions.  When I take it out, I add extra onions and then make another dish from it - Chilli, Spaghetti Bolognaise, Shepherds Pie, adding extra tomatoes for Chilli and the Bolognaise, and other herbs and spices as you like it.  Each portion of the basic mince can then be stretched to provide 4 portions.  You could also cook these and freeze down as the end meals if you have the freezer space.  Stews and casseroles are also very good for freezing and also for reheating from frozen.

joedenise

I tend to cook things like curry, savoury mince, casseroles and stews and then freeze in portions.  All of these can be cooked from frozen if you forget to get them out of the freezer although I tend to get stuff out for the next day when I'm preparing our evening meal.

middlewife

You can also stretch mince dishes with lentils, well cooked. My kids got so used to this they didn't like traditional meat dishes as they were too "meaty" !

-taff

Anoneemoose said:

 For the fish pie, if I use the frozen packs, will I need to defrost it, cook it, assemble the pie before freezing again? Or can it be defrosted, pie assembled with uncooked fish, frozen again and then defrosted/reheated? I’m guessing the first option as I know you’re supposed to cook before refreezing anything like meat/fish but I just wanted to check.

Definitely the first option.

Defrost, cook, then freeze again. Refreezing thawed uncooked fish or meat is a big no no.

Anoneemoose

Thank you everyone, you’ve all been really helpful. I like the idea of the foil lining on the dish too. 

I’ll have a go with it all and see how I get on. 😊

ScarletRibbons

Like Nelski I freeze portions in ziploc bags, I lay the filled bag on a worktop then carefully press the contents flat before sealing and labelling.  To keep them flat I lay them on  a cake tin base, not the whole tin, just the loose base, and if I have a few I stack them, separating with kitchen roll so they don't stick together.  Once they are frozen you can re use the kitchen roll and stack the flat packs tidily in your freezer.

 A pack quickly defrosts if it's only one portion.

jackrabbit123

Make sure you defrost the fish before you put it together, it also easier for making the fish pie with as it mixes better with the milk and you will need to cut the fillets up before hand for the pie  and you don't want to end up with tummy bugs, that would put you off fish pie all together! For the topping I use either left over ends of bread made into breadcrumbs with a tiny hint of mouse trap or if I have any cereal ( corn flake type - no flavour!) I crush that up and put it over the top.  If I'm making fish pie I also make a batch of fish cakes (same recipe , more veg and tatties to bulk them out) I cook the fish before hand then make the fish cakes and freeze them in a muffin tray, then once frozen put them in a named  freezer bag. To bulk out spag bog, chilli, enchaladas the same 'base' meal can be made into different meals with just spices / herbs and added left over veg  etc I grated up left over veg like carrots, broccoli etc add kidney beans and/or 2 tins of bakes beans, to make meals go further.  Hope this helps x