To think batch cooking is awful

[Newyear2025]

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

I’m like you, @Turophilic. Thank heavens for my crap palate. It means my batch cooking saves time further down the line. I certainly wouldn’t be cooking a bolognese sauce or chilli from scratch on a quick turnaround. Anything that takes a long time to cook and can be frozen should be made in bulk and frozen for busier days.

Root vegetables and some green leafed food do taste better after freezing. In fact, if you want soft tender kale the best time to harvest it from the garden is Jan/ Feb in my experience once it has a bit of frost nip.

@ShyTed - label maker. Life changing.

My freezer would get a gold star from Dilly off Sort Your Life Out. It pleases me more than I thought it would.

I do it because I work full time and DD has several after school activities. It means I can stick something in the microwave and not feel bad about it being full of UPFs. I make lasagne, chilli and curry usually, casseroles, that sort of thing. I usually just make a load when I'm cooking anyway, but I also have a designated batch cooking day every now and again. Small freezer, so things get turned over quickly.

Another one here who's never tasted 'freezer'.

I batch cook veg curry, shepherds pies, casseroles, soups, fruit crumbles, choc brownies.

Maybe @Newyear2025 you're not wrapping your food properly?

I use cling film or foil around the container (eg a glass dish for shepherds pies or crumbles) then tie it in a freezer bag.

I reuse plastic containers for soups etc but always put them in a freezer bag too or you can get freezer burn and the food never tastes quite so good.

IMO there's nothing better than coming home after a busy day, wondering what to eat and remembering you have a lovely shepherds pie or an apple crumble in the freezer all ready to heat up.

We have rainbow chard and spinach beet still going strong in our garden, so I will try your tip. 🙂

That's ridiculous. I'm cooking for 2, one if it contains meat, so I cook the full amount and freeze the spare portions. I'm cooking anyway so how is that being a handmaid? I use the frozen portions when I've been too busy 'having a life' to cook. It tastes fine.

I don't know what batch cooking out of the freezer tastes like 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!

The whole point of batch cooking is to live life!

@LikeWhoUsesTypewritersAnyway

You get 2 or 3 meals from the effort of making one!

Just think on it- it could change your life.

What does freezer taste of?

I don't deliberately batch cook. However, if I'm making a chilli for dinner, as an example, I will often have the ingredients to make more than we need so will freeze extra portions.

Most things taste the same as when they were originally cooked ime.

I'm not sure what you are doing to get things tasting odd.

I wonder if the OP means her food smells odd?

If so, it may be the packaging isn't good enough if her freezer is never cleaned and defrosted, when they can develop a musty type of smell.

What do you think @Newyear2025 ?

The chard I find is less successful when it has been frosted (outside). I manage to get it to a watery consistency and a taste how I imagine a well-worn dishcloth would be like if dipped in a child's paintbrush water jar.

Curly leafed kale and cavolo nero on the other hand do very well indeed.

It only tastes the same as it did before it was frozen so if it was bland and tasteless to begin with it won't improve.
Calling it batch cooking makes it a chore, using leftovers is a better way to think of it. I just cook double whatever I'm doing and freeze half. There are very few things I find that don't work.
It means when you want food in a hurry you can choose a home cooked meal from the freezer.

Can you explain @Newyear2025 how cooking a larger amount takes longer than a one-off meal?

Your post doesn't make sense.

If you want to make spag bol, you just double up on the ingredients and pack the remaining amount into a freezer bag or container.

Yes, it might take a few minutes more to chop 2 onions rather than one, but far less time than starting from scratch every time.

You also save fuel by batch cooking

I’m very into batch cooking recently, doesn’t take much longer to make a huge batch of bolognaise than just one meal. And I love just getting one out and not having to cook
I’ve been using Mob kitchen quite a bit recently for batch cooking and also cooking one thing and then using it in different ways for subsequent meals .
There’s a great recipe for lamb meatballs roasted with spices and chick peas @VodkaCola , I found some in my freezer just this week, it was delicious!

@Sahara123 thank you, that sounds amazing!

I often freeze lamb meatballs (raw) and it saves all the faff of chopping the herbs / onions etc , so they can just be popped onto a baking tray and into the oven.

I don't recall saying my food smells odd. I said it tastes of freezer, because it does. The food is lovely and tasty when fresh, but frozen it tastes of freezer.

My freezer is less than a year old.

Do you lick your freezer? What does it taste like?

Freezers only smell if they need cleaning.

You can't 'taste' freezer.

It probably does depend on lifestyle too. I work p/t and am 8 minutes from the high street. DH is hybrid so he often puts something on at lunch & we often use Mindful Chef so we are rarely without time to cook or pick something up that’s quick to cook & healthy. I do enjoy baking, is it the mixture/dough that freezes well or can you freeze certain baked goods?

@VodkaCola my pleasure ! I need to up my game on labelling, I thought it was bolognaise.. it was a nice surprise though 🤣

Clearly I'm not alone with this as others in the thread know exactly what I mean. And no I don't lick my freezer.

Ive never batch cooked either - I prefer just making simple, quickish meals. Also bc I have a large family I’d need huge amount of ingredients to batch cook.

And the idea of heating up stuff out of Tupperware and leftovers etc turns my stomach. When I see people taking home crusts of pizza and a few chips off everyone’s plate home in a box I properly want to boak. I get that’s on me though and it’s normal for some people.

I do kind of know what OP means by the freeezer taste, choc ices is a good example and Ive noticed it with ice cubes. I don’t want to get flamed but I can get a slow cooker taste too.

Personal choice, some people swear by it. Personally I’m not a fan. I have a small freezer, I find flavours are good post freeze, but textures, esp of veg can be odd. I have lots of quick recipes up my sleeve and I actually like cooking daily as a wind down from day to evening. I do keep lots of ingredients to hand in the freezer, herbs, ginger, mince, salmon, tomato sauces etc, just not batch cook

Freezer burn ?