Freezing Food

[Charles Roberts]

Being a single guy and not used to freezing food can anyone help?

Most recipes are for 4 or 6 people and if you go to supermarkets you can't get shop for one very easily.

With meals like Barbecue pork stakes, Asian salmon fillets and Chicken casserole can you freeze them after cooking obviously with the first two it would only be the pork or salmon with the casserole it would be the whole dish.

Are there any rules about freezing food?

 

[Stitch147]

Most thngs freeze really well. I always batch cook things like stews, chilli etc and dont have problems. Most things will last well. I usually put a date on the bag/tub that Im putting in freezer and what is inside (sometimes its hard to tell when its frozen). I tend to use things within 6 months. One tip, make sure things are fully cooled down before freezing them and make sure you defrost properly and make sure you heat them through properly too.

 

[Stitch147]

Also, some cook books and online recipes say if they can be frozen or not.
Hope that helps.

 

[Mark Parrott]

Most thngs freeze really well. I always batch cook things like stews, chilli etc and dont have problems. Most things will last well. I usually put a date on the bag/tub that Im putting in freezer and what is inside (sometimes its hard to tell when its frozen). I tend to use things within 6 months. One tip, make sure things are fully cooled down before freezing them and make sure you defrost properly and make sure you heat them through properly too.

Wow, Stitch, you are so organised. I never label what l freeze then when l dig them out have no idea what is is or how long it's been in the freezer.

 

[Stitch147]

Wow, Stitch, you are so organised. I never label what l freeze then when l dig them out have no idea what is is or how long it's been in the freezer.

Chilli con carne looks very similar to spag bol!!! so always label them so I know the different. We buy the silver trays, like what take aways use, so the cardboard lid is easy enough to write on. i leave a pen in the cupboard next to them so always have a pen at hand when dishing things into tubs.

 

[Mark Parrott]

Chilli con carne looks very similar to spag bol!!! so always label them so I know the different. We buy the silver trays, like what take aways use, so the cardboard lid is easy enough to write on. i leave a pen in the cupboard next to them so always have a pen at hand when dishing things into tubs.

You even have a pen handy! This is messing with my head!

 

[Stitch147]

I like to be organised!!!

 

[Stitch147]

Its a Sharpie too, so if I use plastic tubs it will still write on there. I even have a sheet of stickers in there just in case I use a tupperware tub and dont want to write directly on it!

 

[Copepod]

Or freeze in a plastic bag, tied up. Place in an icecream box until frozen, as brick shaped portions are much more efficient in freezer space than blobs. Sometimes I write content on bag, but can usually differentiate between savoury and sweet, so I'm not too bothered. Only gets tricky when housemates / lodgers place similar looking things in freezer, so initials are viral when sharing a freezer.

 

[AndBreathe]

Wow, Stitch, you are so organised. I never label what l freeze then when l dig them out have no idea what is is or how long it's been in the freezer.

I'd best not mention my spreadsheet of everything in our two freezers, and when it went in there then........ 😳

 

[Martin Canty]

I never label what l freeze then when l dig them out have no idea what is is or how long it's been in the freezer

I always start with good intentions, but somehow, by the end of cooking the sharpie has disappeared!!!

 

[Charles Roberts]

Thanks that helped and now another question does it have to be de=frosted or can it be cooked from frozen.

 

[Stitch147]

I re-cook/heat a lot of the stuff from frozen. Just make sure it is cooked right through and piping hot.

 

[DeusXM]

Thanks that helped and now another question does it have to be de=frosted or can it be cooked from frozen.

Depends what it is. As a rule, most raw food frozen needs to be defrosted first before cooking. Cooked food that's then frozen can generally just be reheated in a microwave.

 

[Stitch147]

Depends what it is. As a rule, most raw food frozen needs to be defrosted first before cooking. Cooked food that's then frozen can generally just be reheated in a microwave.

We're talking more about batch cooking stews and stuff.

 

[Vicsetter]

Cooking in a conventional oven cooks from the outside to the inside, so the danger is that you will not raise the internal temperature before the exterior is burnt. Things like stews solve this problem by stirring to distribute the temperature (look at the commercial frozen products, nearly all will cook from frozen.
Microwaves cook from the inside out so you have the same problem with getting heat distribution, most microwave frozen food will say stir halfway through. It is interesting to microwave a 500g pack of frozen butter, it will be molten and runny on the inside and still hard on the outside (can get very messy).

Forgot to agree with Deus, joints of meat should be defrosted before cooking.
Meat fat will go rancid in a freezer unles you vacuum pack it to remove all air (I notice Aldi now sell vacuum packs of frozen bacon, which is good because bacon doesn't last very long in a freezer).

There is an important rule that you must not freeze food which has previously been frozen and thawed, very good for bacterial growth.