Advice for freezing meals

[Nicos]

Jonah...I freeze 500g bags of various cooked fruits ( like pears in orange juice , gooseberry and elderflower, rhubarb and ginger,apple and cinnamon with raisins etc) and have a large bag of ready made crumble in the freezer.
The crumble mix freezes well, and when I want a crumble in a hurry, I zap the fruit in the microwave, grab a few handfuls of crumble and cover the fruit by which time the oven is hot enough to cook it!
A very handy quick dessert.

[Nicos]

My friend lightly roasts her potatoes and then freezes them...then , when needed, once defrosted finishes off roasting them.
Says it saves oven space and time and I have to say they are nice and crispy and you'd never know they'd been frozen!
Never tried it myself, but I really should!

[Chestnut]

^^^^^ And if you are short of freezer space, many supermarkets sell bags of ready made crumble mix....
Personally, I prefer the oaty home made version, so. Might just have to get a 3rd freezer!

[jonahjonah]

^^^^^ And if you are short of freezer space, many supermarkets sell bags of ready made crumble mix....
Personally, I prefer the oaty home made version, so. Might just have to get a 3rd freezer!

Gee, I can't imagine ever being too tired to make a crumble mix. You see, I just need the proper motivation

[Earthgirl Jen]

I have also been thinking about freezing 'basics', as Jen and others have mentioned. My partner seems somehow more concerned about this idea, but we'll never know til we try.


Jonah what exactly is your partner concerned about? whether it is ok to freeze or the fact it's not made from scratch fresh?

[Earthgirl Jen]

My friend lightly roasts her potatoes and then freezes them...then , when needed, once defrosted finishes off roasting them.
Says it saves oven space and time and I have to say they are nice and crispy and you'd never know they'd been frozen!
Never tried it myself, but I really should!

They really are good Nicos We saw a programme on them and gave them a go... Half roast your spuds ie: roast for half the time you would normally roast them for, so they just start to colour, cool, freeze on an open tray overnight lined with non-stick (whatever you use) and decant into container the next day in your freezer, that way the don't stick together.
When you want them DON'T defrost, bake from frozen in a hot oven for the other half of your roasting time, sometimes less... They work!

[jonahjonah]

Jen, I don't think he has any strong feelings against, he just seemed less certain. I wonder if the aspect of mixing and matching from the freezer seems less user friendly than having complete frozen meals. We'll try both. He's pretty flexible.

[Earthgirl Jen]

Jonah having a mix and match of ready prepared meals (or part of meals) in the freezer means he has a 'smorgasbord' of meals at his fingertips
The mix and match is endless ! Experiment and have fun

You'll be surprised at what you can 'concoct' from the freezer?!

I'd be interested to know how you both get on x

[elsie-scot]

We freeze leftovers/ extra portions in glass containers. A few years ago there was a great sale of pyrex rectangular ones so I bought a bundle. They stack great in our small chest freezer, not quite so great in the upright freezer.

I have tried some cheaper round ones but they aren't as good.

[jonahjonah]

I've mostly frozen berries recently, but also some leftover sausage patties and homemade butternut soup. I plan to buy some larger meat portions on the next shop and freeze some extra portions. I'll try to update occasionally.

[jonahjonah]

So far, we've frozen

- berries: Flash frozen, stored in takeaway container. Still frozen. Not concerned about these as I've frozen them in the past. Will be used for compotes, muffins, cakes, etc.

- the leftover sausage patties: Flash frozen uncooked, stored in freezer bag. Thawed overnight in fridge. Very Nice Partner seemed to enjoy them as much as from fresh.

- homemade butternut squash soup: Cooled then frozen in takeaway container. Thawed overnight in fridge. Looked a bit ropey upon first inspection, but reheated to the same consistency and taste.

- American biscuits (think unsweetened scones): Flash frozen unbaked, stored in freezer bag. Baked straight from frozen or after a few minutes at room temperature. A bit less rise from frozen, but pretty good after only a few minutes. Will probably thaw on counter for 30 min or so before baking next time. Texture still excellent.

- curry (butter chicken): Cooled and frozen in freezer bag. I'm worried about the cream, Very Nice Partner is worried about the texture of the meat (this seems to be a big concern). Will give it a couple of weeks then test it out. Cooking the curry reminded me why I am keen for freezer options - I made rather a mess.

- marrow/potato soup: Cooled and frozen in freezer bag. It made a lot (not diligent enough in keeping an eye on the neighbors' plot, so ended up with marrows rather than courgettes...). Another reminder of the reason for looking into freezing.

So far, so good. We'll have to see how the freezing works out over longer periods - I worry that the takeaway boxes and relatively thin, store own-brand freezer bags might not be up to months worth of protection. We'll find out!

[jonahjonah]

Another quick update:

- soft breadsticks: Parbaked, cooled and flash frozen. Stored in freezer bag. Still quite nice from the freezer.

- beef mince empanadas (South American pasty-ish): Constructed and egg-washed, then flash frozen. Was unsure about the egg wash, but the recipe was quite confident. Stored in freezer bag. As good from frozen as fresh.

- shredded chicken thighs: Cooked, shredded, cooled, then frozen in a freezer bag. Plan to use for enchiladas.

We've also eaten the raspberries in a crumble/bar dessert. I'm mostly mentioning it to relive the tasty memory.

We've only been storing things for days to a couple of weeks at this point. I suspect I may need better containers for longer term storage. Perhaps wrapping individually and storing in the freezer bags may be enough. To be determined.

[Snoop Puss]

I'd love to know the answer to going plastic free in the freezer.

Like elsie-scot mentions, you can use glass in the freezer if you're not worried about breakages by dropping them. Weck jars shouldn't be expensive in France and will protect against freezer burn. Just be careful to leave some space at the top as food will expand during the freezing process. Much cheaper than pyrex too.

https://www.mcm-europe.fr/fr/35-bocaux-weck%C2%AE

They have an English version too. If you sign up for their newsletter (lettre information), you will get info on when they're doing a free delivery offer.

(Edited to add: quite a bit cheaper than Le Parfait jars for bottling as well...)

[jonahjonah]

Just a note to say thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. After all my practice I was emboldened to do some proper batch cooking. We had easy dinners to see us through the early weeks with a newborn. We did cottage pie and fish pie, both with mashed potato; chicken, leek and mushroom pie with rough puff pastry; curries; enchiladas; lasagna; spaghetti Bolognese; soups; chili con carne; and others.

I used a combination of take out containers, plastic freezer bags, and plastic sandwich containers. All reused for ages (my dad made a plastic bag drying rack for me while visiting and impatiently awaiting the arrival of the baby).

We thought it was so successful that we're continuing to batch cook and to save extra from big meals. There are several things I would have been worried to try, for fear of wasting food and money, without your encouragement. Your advice was really valuable and I thank you for sharing it.

[Snoop Puss]

Glad it's proved successful. Happy cooking and eating!