Feezing Cooked Food

GampDub

Hi All,

I have lately been working long hours which usually leads to me having take-away or crappy processed frozen food when when I get home late! I'm sick of doing this cause I am trying to watch my weight so obviously this doesn't help!!!

I know people sometimes cook fresh meals in advance and stick them in the freezer for quick use at a later date.

Having never done this myself before is there any guidelines as to what foods you can/cannot freeze once cooked? Is it simply a case of microwaving the food when you take it from the freezer? How long will meals last in the freezer?

I would anticipate doing things like Chilli Con Carne , Spaghetti Bolonaise/Other pasta dishes etc

Anyone know of any other good meals for freezing???

Would appreciate any advice anybody has on this?

Thanks

Mary-Ellen

I think freezing things in sauce is nicer than say freezing a breast of chicken.
So Chilli, bolonaise etc is perfect.

Also freezing just the sauce without the rice/pasta part is nicer.
And rice/pasta only takes ten minutes to cook anyway.

Just cook the sauce, wait for it to cool to room temperature, divide into dinner portions and stick in the freezer.
(You can buy the chinese style tubs that are microwavable in tesco)

I take the portions out of the freezer the night before I'll be eating them and leave them in the fridge.
When I get home just make pasta/rice, heat the sauce in the microwave and it's dinner time

Dinkie

Curries, casseroles and things like fritata are really good too. If you freeze a basic tomato sauce and naan bread etc - spread the sauce on the naan bread, top with cheese and grill. You will have a yummy pizza in about 10 mins...

You can buy fresh pasta which can be frozen and cooks in about 3mins.

If you are going to freez tomato based dishes in plastic containers, line it with clingfilm first. It stops the container going orange.

jam_mac_jam

Anything with sauce will work well, dont freeze the rice or pasta just cook that as you defrost the dinner. The best I find are curries, make a big pot of chicken or beef curry and freeze in bags and freeze, they work very well.

sarahn11

if you dont wanna microwave them to defrost,freeze them in a ziploc bag. Boil a pot of water and stick the whole bag in the water for about 8-10mins! yummy!

GampDub

Thanks guys for all the advise, busy weekend of cooking ahead of me!!!

smallgarden

i freeze things like chicken korma in lunchboxes and then heat them in a pot.i find reheating things in the microwave go cold much quicker.il add some water to get the right consistency as it dries out in the freezer a little

Travel is good

In addition to all of the above, shepherds pie also freezes really well. Make it with loads of liquid, extra tinned tomatoes, worcester sauce, etc. I also use those plastic containers from Tescos. Sometimes you can get foil containers in some supermarkets. It's really lovely to come home to.

I also love chilli con carne. If you're too tired, then you don't even need the rice, just add grated cheese & some nachos. A lovely comforting snack!

Make a batch of these meals when you have time, say at the weekend. Even if you're just cooking for 1, you can still have nice food.

You're right, the key to all this is not to be eating too many foods with preservatives and added chemicals. So if you make the meals yourself, it will be much better for your health.

Eviledna

sarahn11 wrote: »

if you dont wanna microwave them to defrost,freeze them in a ziploc bag. Boil a pot of water and stick the whole bag in the water for about 8-10mins! yummy!

Don't wanna throw an onion in the ointment here, but wouldn't that accellerate bacterial growth in the food and be a tad risky?:eek:

rubadub

OpenBake wrote: »

Don't wanna throw an onion in the ointment here, but wouldn't that accellerate bacterial growth in the food and be a tad risky?:eek:

No, did you read it correctly, I don't see how it would cause bacteria growth.

After cooking the food it should be chilled ASAP, I keep all my sauce jars etc, then while still piping hot I pour in the curry or whatever -saucy dishes work best as mentioned. Then if it is windy out I put my jars outside on a table so they cool quickly.Or else I stand them all in a basin of cold water, if the lids are put on while still hot then will pull down again, like they are new with the popping centre thing. Then I put some in the fridge when luke warm and others in the freezer. You can take out jars of the freezer and leave them to defrost overnight in the fridge, then they microwave much better.

The risk of bacteria is really from leaving the cooked food sit around too long afterwards, or letting it defrost at room temp for a long time where the outside is luke warm while the inside is still frozen.

Eviledna

rubadub wrote: »

No, did you read it correctly, I don't see how it would cause bacteria growth.

After cooking the food it should be chilled ASAP, I keep all my sauce jars etc, then while still piping hot I pour in the curry or whatever -saucy dishes work best as mentioned. Then if it is windy out I put my jars outside on a table so they cool quickly.Or else I stand them all in a basin of cold water, if the lids are put on while still hot then will pull down again, like they are new with the popping centre thing. Then I put some in the fridge when luke warm and others in the freezer. You can take out jars of the freezer and leave them to defrost overnight in the fridge, then they microwave much better.

The risk of bacteria is really from leaving the cooked food sit around too long afterwards, or letting it defrost at room temp for a long time where the outside is luke warm while the inside is still frozen.

Perhaps I'm missing something here rubadub, but what you described above sounds alot different (method of freezing) to what I had the issue with (method of defrosting):

if you dont wanna microwave them to defrost,freeze them in a ziploc bag. Boil a pot of water and stick the whole bag in the water for about 8-10mins

This is suggesting a rapid defrost of food using a plastic freezer bag in a pot of boiling water. To me that sounds risky.

rubadub

OpenBake wrote: »

Perhaps I'm missing something here rubadub, but what you described above sounds alot different (method of freezing) to what I had the issue with (method of defrosting)

I was describing the 2 common ways the food could get bacterial growth when going through the process.

OpenBake wrote: »

This is suggesting a rapid defrost of food using a plastic freezer bag in a pot of boiling water. To me that sounds risky.

Still doesn't sound risky to me. That site is really warning about the same thing I did, i.e. they are slowly defrosting in hot water (i.e. from a hot water tap) which is equivalent to the warning I gave about leaving frozen food at room temp, the core is frozen while the outside is luke warm and ripe for bacterial growth. The cold water method they advise is the similar to the advice to defrost in the fridge.

At the start it is confusing as they say

You grab a package of meat or chicken and use hot water to thaw it fast.

But this should really say faster.

You can see they are talking about large slow thaws when they say

The bag should be submerged in cold tap water, changing the water every 30 minutes so it continues to thaw. Small packages of meat or poultry – about a pound – may defrost in an hour or less. A 3- to 4-pound package may take 2 to 3 hours.

The previous poster was putting it in boiling water and defrosting/reheating in a matter of 9-10 minutes. This is just like a boil in the bag chicken curry or rice, most frozen ready meals are subject to this very quick defrost & reheat.

Mellor

OpenBake wrote: »

This is suggesting a rapid defrost of food using a plastic freezer bag in a pot of boiling water. To me that sounds risky.

I can't see how it would be risky.
Very little bacteria could have time to grow during the 10 minutes its defrosting. In fact, it would only be above 4 degrees for around half of this time.

I'd even go as far to say more bacteria grows on your dinner when it cools as you eat. (obvious referring to a nice sit down meal, take yur time etc, not scoffing a hotdog in 2 minutes)

Faith

Using hot methods to defrost food is not recommended by food safety authorities, because there's a danger of rapidly defrosting the outside, while the inside is still frozen. If the food isn't then reheated thoroughly, it can lead to food poisoning. Now, I know most of us here know how to reheat food safely, but we [the moderators] ask that people only recommend FSA-approved methods of defrosting on this forum. It's great if X method has worked safely for you for a million years, but there's always a chance an inexperienced cook will try your method after reading it here, fail, and poison themselves.

rubadub

Faith wrote: »

FSA-approved methods of defrosting

This is the Irish one.
http://www.fsai.ie/faq/domestic.html

How long can cooked food be kept at room temperature before refrigerating?

Following cooking, food which will not be consumed immediately should be cooled as quickly as possible and refrigerated. After cooking, once the steam has evaporated from the food, it should be covered and stored in the fridge. Food should not be left out of the fridge to cool down completely. To speed up the cooling process large quantities of food, such as stews and roast joints of meat, should be portioned into smaller lots.

This is the other reason I portion mine out into old jars, they cool far quicker.

Seaneh

Faith wrote: »

Using hot methods to defrost food is not recommended by food safety authorities, because there's a danger of rapidly defrosting the outside, while the inside is still frozen. If the food isn't then reheated thoroughly, it can lead to food poisoning. Now, I know most of us here know how to reheat food safely, but we [the moderators] ask that people only recommend FSA-approved methods of defrosting on this forum. It's great if X method has worked safely for you for a million years, but there's always a chance an inexperienced cook will try your method after reading it here, fail, and poison themselves.

The methods posted here are perfectly safe. Exactly the same as a boil in the bag or microwave frozen dinner.

Name Changed

Would ziploc freezer bags or these plastic containers be better for freezing food?

I presume that plastic containers would be very hard to clean and would leave close to permanent stains when you put things like curry in it because of the turmeric?

Also, if you do freeze food, what's the best way to reheat it after it defrosts? I don't have a microwave because I hate them so would never use them.

Alun

Personally I've never had problems with curries staining plastic containers unless I've been lazy and also reheated them in the microwave in those containers. What I usually do is just run the outside of the container under the warm tap for a few seconds until the contents release and pop them in a Pyrex type dish to thaw/reheat. I do it in a microwave, on a low setting (150W) and that's pretty much all I use it for.

smallgarden

hey it depends what the food is.i freeze some sauces like bolognese/korma etc in a tieable freezer bag.a freezer bag is much stronger plastic than sandwich bag.and then i put the bags into lunch box.warning it looks grosse in the bag.the curry would stain the lunch box but if only using it for curry then it doesnt matter.i have frozen stuff straight in lunchboxes as well.i would let it defrost overnight in fridge and heat it up in a saucepan.chicken might go bit stringy and youll prob have to add bit more water or extra sauce if you have any youll lose some of the liquid when freezing

Name Changed

smallgarden wrote: »

hey it depends what the food is.i freeze some sauces like bolognese/korma etc in a tieable freezer bag.a freezer bag is much stronger plastic than sandwich bag.and then i put the bags into lunch box.warning it looks grosse in the bag.the curry would stain the lunch box but if only using it for curry then it doesnt matter.i have frozen stuff straight in lunchboxes as well.i would let it defrost overnight in fridge and heat it up in a saucepan.chicken might go bit stringy and youll prob have to add bit more water or extra sauce if you have any youll lose some of the liquid when freezing

Cheers.

If you used one of those plastic containers that you could get in Tesco, could you put that into a pot of boiling water as a way to heat the food?

As I said, I never use microwaves. I don't even have one!

The Hill Billy

I store my leftovers in ziploc bags. When I reheat I just pop the slab of food into a pot over a very gentle heat until thawed, then simmer until heated through.

Name Changed

Hill Billy wrote: »

I store my leftovers in ziploc bags. When I reheat I just pop the slab of food into a pot over a very gentle heat until thawed, then simmer until heated through.

After taking the food out of the bag I presume?

smallgarden

Name Changed wrote: »

After taking the food out of the bag I presume?

you presume correctly:)
never tried reheating it in the bag in pot water,what kinda foods is that good for?i dont think id trust ziplock not to leak,suppose theyd leak less than tie bag.must try it next time im defrosting something

i dunno if lunchbox in pot of water works,ive never tried it

Mountjoy Mugger

To thaw frozen food, I always move it to the fridge part of the f/freezer, usually for @ 24 hours.