To think batch cooking is awful

[Newyear2025]

It takes forever to do and everything comes out tasting of freezer.

Can't afford a freezer. But can batch cook by having leftovers if more is made. So mince will be split and cooked separately. Or big batch cooked then eaten over few days via:pie,spaghetti b, in a tortilla layer cake etc. Or a stee will be had twice perhaps 2nd night with different side so jacket and then rice.
I have people I work with where it wpuld become another mental load rather than a help. So they'd have more mental pressure going over the list of what's in there, to use when. To the point I've had them actively going to look, everyday to see what's where and when to use it.
So each to their own.

But can we choose another harmless topic or item please. To see how a differing crowd can argue so much over it?

I do freeze some stuff but mushy vegetables are my worst thing so never freeze anything with vegetables.

I would like to batch cook but cooking for 5 every day means a batch cook has to be for 10. No matter what way I do it it means using the pan multiple times and takes twice as long to cook, eliminating any time saved. The only saving is wash up. If I was cooking for 2 or 1 I would absolutely do it.

This is not true- some meat and fish products are previously frozen but certainly not all and definitely not from a traditional butcher.

If it's tasting of freezer then you're either leaving it in there way too long, or you're not storing it properly.
I don't do a 'batch cook' but I'll regularly make a big pan of soup or a large lasagne or a curry. I'll then freeze several portions of it as I don't want to eat chicken soup for 7 days on the trot. Cooking a large lasagne or a big pot of soup is not much more effort than cooking a small amount so it's a no brainer.
However, the food never tastes of freezer. I typically use frozen leftovers within about 6 to 8 weeks.

A bigger pan perhaps? I double up on cooking for 5 regularly and don't find pan space restrictive.

Agree, I try to research as much as possible and would never buy supermarket baguettes etc.

Nonsense. Doesn’t take any time at all. Use the slow cooker for one thing, takes less than five mins to prep and get that going and come back to switch it off in 8 hours

When cooking a regular meal then stick an extra couple of chicken breasts (or whatever your preference is) and you have batched without even knowing you have done it

Or use the roast function on the air fryer. By the time you take a shower or have your breakfast it’s done, again with minimal effort

I would rather take a small amount of time on a Sunday to batch cook than waste precious evening time after work standing over the stove, using your words I have better things to do

Some meals taste better after freezing. Things like casseroles always taste better the next day after the flavours have developed and IMO freezing can give the same results because you're reheating food.

I don't agree that vegetables don't freeze well. Sure, they may appear a bit less firm, but the actual difference in carrots, parsnips, onions, etc in a casserole is minimal. Some don't freeze well but you get to know which- mushrooms, cauliflower, green beans, all go too soggy, but IME peppers, squash, sweet potato (in veg curries ) are fine.

Interestingly very few posters are focusing on fuel costs. If you're using meat for casseroles, it needs a good 2+ hrs or more at a low temp to make it tender. It saves a lot of gas/ electric to do this once rather than twice.

I know exactly what you mean OP. I will eat a frozen meal but preference would be not. I am ND. Maybe there's something in that with regard to sensitivity as pp have said.

I can confirm that my lasagne I ate for lunch that I cooked, froze, defrosted and reheated was not sloppy. Well no more sloppy than it was when I made it because I went a bit OTT on the sauce.

I do struggle with slow cooker foods though, all of mine taste horrible. I can slow cook a bolognese in the slow cooker in the exact same way as the hob and it's much nicer on the hob. Not sure what I'm doing wrong!

Since I learned the trick of taking the lid off the slow cooker for the last hour of cooking it’s been a game changer. It thickens up the sauce so it is similar to the hob

I also throw a spoonful of cornflour in near the end to which thickens sauces up

A lot of offal, eg lambs heart or kidneys, say 'do not freeze' probably because it's been frozen before but it doesn't seem to come to, or do, any harm if you disregard the advice.

I don't find batch cooking frozen food tastes like freezer but it does change the texture of some food. I only batch cook limited things because I don't like the texture of a lot of vegetables when they have been frozen.

I've heard a youtube recipe developer say you need to taste after cooking and adjust herbs and spices because some go quite flat cooking them in slow/pressure cooker. I don't use either so I don't know if this solution would work.

Batch Lady has some good tips, I will always make extras of the meat sauce parts of cottage pie, lasagne and mince stew/beef stew, chille and soups. Then I only need to prep the spuds or put the lasagne together in half the time.
I have also been known to freeze fish pie sauce or chickpea curry,
I tend to use good quality freezer bags and freeze flat to save space and to defrost quicker.

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.

Yes !!!!!

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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

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.