To think batch cooking is awful

[Newyear2025]

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

If you've got leftovers, you've cooked more than you can eat, so effectively you've batched cooked !
I often cook double what I need & freeze half. Only extra time involved is a few minutes prepping veg & meat.

I don't find it a faff. I just portion up and have boxes ready . Some food goes on to the late and the rest into tubs. I label them with the date and what ingredients needs to be added after wards eg stir cream in, sprinkle z'atar on to etc. I have a note on the side of the freezer saying what's in the freezer and whereabouts.

It's usually simple things like dals stews curries, casseroles andpies.that I make. Never tasted of freezer and makes life easier.
My ds who now lives alone has also got I to the habit of batch cooking.
If itt tastes of freezer I'm not sure what you are doing wrong. Are you sealing the containers properly or using the food up sooner rather than later?

I agree. I'm very fussy and don't eat batch cooked freezer food.

What I've found helps east prep is to do some stages ahead of time and freeze this.

So if I'm making a sofrito which takes ages to cook down, I'll do a big batch then I'll have the starter for my meal ready to go.

I made and froze 16 portions of bolognese sauce yesterday. I will use it for quick spaghetti bolognese for self and DH, and to use in lasagne for entertaining wider family. It will be tasty and very useful, as it always is.

I also made and froze 100 oatie cookies as family make short work of them and I always keep some in the freezer (freeze uncooked in small balls which can then be put straight into oven as needed. They thaw quickly in oven and are cooked and ready to eat in 15 mins.)

Both those took far less time than it would have taken to make them in, say, four separate sessions.

If your batch cooking meals don’t taste good I respectfully suggest there’s something wrong with either your recipes or your freezing technique.

This is me.

This

I only batch cook chilli con carne. Only DH likes it so it makes sense to freeze a couple of portions. He loves it but then he'll eat most things!
I do get what you mean about tasting of freezer. I've noticed that sometimes frozen fish has that freezer burn taste and I suspect it's not been stored properly in the shop or in transit to the shop.

suggest you look at getting a new freezer.

I batch cook loads of vegan soups, stews, curries, dhal, chilli, lasagne etc and they taste great, often better than before freezing.

I like cooking so enjoy having a full day to make things one or twice a month.

I do things like roast a tray of veg / chopped potatoes and cook some chicken with spices on. Eat a portion that day and then put the rest in containers in the fridge for two other lunches in the week. I don't like cooking in bigger quantities than that - I get bored of eating the same thing.

No I haven't because it's probably a mixture of both - I can't tell whether someone doesn't like frozen food because they are a supertaster, a shit cook or don't know have the correct containers. But the flavour of food does deteriorate when you notice will be up to a range of factors.

I triple my basic mince (semi veggie, with red lentils and plenty of finely chopped veg.) One lot turns into what we call here school dinner mince, though obv. much nicer - a favourite of very easily pleased dh. I add a beef stock cube and some baked beans.

2nd lot turns into spag bol - plenty of tomato puree and Italian herbs.

3rd, chilli - tomato purée, chilli powder and paprika, plus a tin of kidney beans.

Me too. That's why I don't have a big freezer also.

I can also taste freezer, but I've assumed I'm just fussy! I can also taste slow cooker, aluminium and dishwasher. Spicy or salty tends to be too much for me, so maybe others just season their food more and it hides "appliance" flavours. Who knows.

I eat a lot of home cooked soups, casseroles and bolognaise. I’m a working single parent, so cook once and eat 2-4 times is how the wheels don’t fall off.

make lots of them in the slow cooker too

we do also do stir fries, but weeknight meals need to be cooked in about 15 mins of effort if I’m not to collapse. If it wasn’t for batch cooking we’d live on oven chips and nuggets.

I don't know what batch cooking out of the freezer tastes like @Newyear2025 because I have never done it. I have a life, and I enjoy living it. Better things to do with it than stand there batch cooking like a little hand maid!

I would imagine it would taste rather manky though, compared to freshly made.

My tomato soup came from MN a long time ago. This thread: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1592323-To-be-pissed-of-with-my-DH-about-the-soup?reply=34880190&utm_campaign=reply&utm_medium=share

I can taste when ice cubes are stale, but I can’t “taste freezer” in a spicy bean chilli - maybe I am sufficiently heavy handed with the spices (to be fair, I do use a LOT of spice) to cover it up or maybe my palate’s crap after all.

Yeah it’s not for me.
I prefer cooking fresh and a lot of meals don’t take long to cook.
Sometimes there might be 1 or 2 portions left over - if I don’t fancy it the next day I will freeze it. 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.

No I would not agree. I batch cook spaghetti Bol, Paella, chilli curry and a whole lot of other things. Does not take much longer than a single dish and definitely tastes good out of the freezer. If you leave things in there for a very long time then yes the taste declines but I would be batch cooking for a six week period tops.

Yes slow cooked food all tastes of slow cooker too! It's horrible! The same recipe cooked in an oven/on a hob, delicious!

Agree with this, I feel like the depth of flavour increases after a freeze.

I do a lot of pie mixes- steak and kidney and chicken and mushroom. Cooked in the slow cooker then frozen I just buy the pre-done pastry to go on top when defrosted. Goes down really well.

And spicy food comes out spicier.

If you don’t want to do it, that’s fine, but why the weird comments about ‘having a life’? People often do it because they are so busy ‘having a life’ that they don’t have the time or energy to cook the foods they want each day. Then some people like me just enjoy cooking and baking. It’s relaxation time for me and helps clear my head from stress along with other things like running, hiking and reading.

You just sound weird with your ‘I have a life’ comments.