To think batch cooking is awful

I'm a vegetarian so maybe it's better suited to meaty dishes?
I disagree.
I'm veggie and I freeze. I put notes on the tubs saying add cheese or garnish with spring onion and sesame seeds etc.

I remember plating up back in the 50s. Usually if one member of the family wasn't going to be home on time for the family meal so their's was plated up and either kept warm or heated up later. I haven't heard it for a long time.

Definitely not a recent term, even back in January it wasn't recent....

Oh I agree with this. I time my batch stuff to be used up within a month, six weeks max

Or quickly even. I think a few weeks ideally IME

I think things don't taste amazing unless you eat them fairly wuickly

Ditto. Having thawed Bolognese that turned out to be curry.

I usually write on the (Chinese takeaway) box with permanent marker.

@ShyTed
I also only have a small freezer.
But often what happens is, 6 months later I pull it from the depths of the freezer and think…WTF is this and it goes in the bin

Of course you're not going to recognise food months later.
Why are you not labeling it?
I usually use sticky notes biy if I've run out a bit of paper with the content and date and sellotape it the lid.
I had a small freezer and would rather have home cooked meals that are ready made than ready meals, chips burgers etc

I just make it up!
Whole bag of frozen onions (cba chopping)
Loads of crushed garlic, bulb? Squirty ginger.
Some cumin, coriander, curry powder, mustard seeds, whatever packs I've got in the cupboard!
I used 500g red lentils, boiled them in some water with a bit of salt.
Fried up onions, garlic, spices etc
Put all in one big pan, added some carrots, tin potatoes, tin tomatoes, tin coconut milk
Simmer
Cool
Divide
Freeze

It's never the same twice.
Don't usually use coconut milk but son wanted to add it.

Good luck!

I’d freeze raw meat, then defrost and cook it. But I don’t freeze cooked meats as I do not like their taste after defrosting and reheating. I find stews particularly revolting, curries I can just about tolerate but I’d prefer not to eat any frozen food that was previously cooked.

As a single person I find most recipes I like make 4 portions, so I'm always "batch cooking". I don't want to cook after work so I prefer to cook a couple of different meals each weekend, then freeze in portions, so it's all over and done with quickly. It also saves on fuel as it takes as much electric to cook 1 portion as it does to cook 6, and it's no bother if I haven't decided what I want to eat until the last moment as I just thaw in the microwave before reheating. Easy.

OK, I stand corrected- all supermarket meat and your local butcher is definitely 100% frozen- no fresh meat anywhere!

Actually I have seen my traditional butcher bringing frozen turkey into the shop before Christmas....

That’s sadly what I suspected. Thanks.

My freezers are full of rabbit, deer, game and seafood none of it tastes of freezer. OP i wonder if because you know that it has been frozen you think it tastes different.

I wouldn’t freeze it with the cream in, you could make the base of the sauce with the chicken and cook it through if he would add the cream as it heats up again but cream sauces don’t tend to freeze well.

I was actually wondering if it would be fine to freeze this Marry me chicken dish (without the basil) 😂. Any experts?

It was absolutely divine, even my 79-year old dad who hardly eats anymore couldn’t stop talking about how good the sauce was. So I’d like to freeze in portions for him if possible.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/marry-me-chicken?dicbo=v2-2FwWc7p#commentsFeed

They have industrial freezer that freeze the food fast. Plus a lot of additives in the food. A lot. So not really possible to compare tbf.

How long do you think a newly slaughtered pig lasts and how expensive would it be if the butcher didn't freeze his stock? Farm shops in rural areas are different. But most on here will be shopping in supermarkets and on the urban high street.

You do realise there's a frozen food industry worth billions?

If everything tasted of freezer then this wouldn't exist.

You're obviously doing something wrong!

Plating up is a well established phrase in the restaurant trade, and has been around for ever. I think it even comes from old English. The crossover into everyday use is probably a result of the rise in the number of TV cooking shows with ‘celebrity’ chefs and the use of the phrase on them. Agee however, it’s completely out of place in a domestic setting!

Batch cooking is fine if you have a massive freezer, money to get the shit load of ingredients in the first place, the time to stand there and cook a million meals and the space for the massive freezer.

I do freeze leftovers occasionally mainly curries or stew and it doesn’t taste of freezer.

Yes !!!!!

Batch cooking is a life saver for me. I regularly don't get home until 6.30 and DH's job involves evening work so I wouldn't have time to prepare a meal from scratch before he needs to go out. I also volunteer one night a week and don't have time to eat before that.
I batch cook curries, bolognese sauce, chilli, stews, etc and before I go to work I often cook the rice, potatoes or pasta to go with whatever I have taken out of the freezer. We can then reheat our own on a plate.
Most recipes are 4 portions but there are 3 of us in the house so the 4th is frozen for a day when only one of us is eating. DH and I are on holiday next week so these individual portions are ideal for DD.