Freezing - Tips and Quick Questions thread

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

Hoping someone can help me. Have taken some cod out of the freezer and defrosted to do HM fish and chips for tea. OH has just rung me and said his boss treated him to fish and chips for lunch and he will be happy with a sandwich!!!

Can I make his piece of fish into something else and refreeze? I know its OK to do this with meat but what about fish?

Otherwise someone will have to have it for tea tomorrow.

Thanks!

parsonswife8

Personally, I wouldn't refreeze the fish. When you buy in the supermarkets, they usually have signs near the various fish, saying, previously frozen, do not refreeze.
Cook it ASAP.

meritaten

I think parson wife they are warning people not to freeze it raw.
fish is like meat, should never be refrozen if defrosted, but once cooked can be frozen again! I have made loads of fishermens pies out of frozen then defrosted fish and often re-freeze the leftovers! and they are fine (and I have a really sensitive stomach and if anything is even slightly dodgy my tummy lets me know it!).

shelley_crow

Hi everyone:wave:

I've got a very silly question about meat. The local butchers are offering three huge trays of meat (pork chops, chicken breasts, minced beef, lamb, sausages etc) for £10 at the moment. My freezer is run down and times are getting a-leaner in this household.

If I portion up the minced beef and freeze it, would I have to defrost before cooking or would it be fine to fry to use for cottage pie from frozen? I know I'll have to defrost if I use it in the slow cooker.

I know it's silly but my brain isn't firing on all cyclinders at the moment and recently, I've been buying bags of mince that you can cook from frozen.

Thanks in advance

meritaten

I make bolognese etc from frozen mince - if I have time i WILL defrost it but dont worry too much if its frozen. just make sure it is well browned before adding anything else. oh and yes I have made cottage pie too from frozen mince. I usually buy quite a large quantity then portion it up to go in freezer - so much cheaper that way!

shelley_crow

meritaten wrote: »

I make bolognese etc from frozen mince - if I have time i WILL defrost it but dont worry too much if its frozen. just make sure it is well browned before adding anything else. oh and yes I have made cottage pie too from frozen mince. I usually buy quite a large quantity then portion it up to go in freezer - so much cheaper that way!

That's excellent, thanks very much! That will save me loads of money :T x

seraphina

Also, if you freeze mince and suchlike as flat as possible, it's easier to break a bit off so you don't have to use a whole lump, if you see what I mean?

So you could put mince or whatever in a big freezer bag, close the bag and prod it until the mince is in a flat sheet, rather than a square lump. Then freeze on a tray or the bottom of the freezer drawer until frozen, and then remove the tray. Makes it easy to stack lots of things in the freezer as well.

adelight

Yeah just put it in the pan with a tiny bit of water at the bottom and stick the lid on, turn it every few mins and it defrosts, breaks up and cooks nicely.

Pont

Lol - would you believe it?! I'm cooking Shepherd's Pie right now (10.15pm) because I've been waiting for the past 5 hours waiting for the mince to defrost before cooking! Doh, won't be doing that again!

pixie1

Can you freeze toasted sandwiches?

Made too many cheese and onion ones and don't want to waste them

Thanks

Pix