Batch cooking virgin

[mintoreo]

So I'm completely new to batch cooking. I come from a family where nothing was ever frozen and reheated - or even chilled and reheated. I want to start getting into batch cooking to make life easier when I return to work after mat leave. I'm used to cooking from scratch so the cooking side isnt the issue it's more the reheating! I have 2 main questions.

1. Does anyone have any good recipies and how do you reheat them? Do you defrost or cook from frozen? So far I've made a list of bolognese sauce, plain tomato sauce, soups, chilli...
2. What do you freeze stuff in? Especially if you wanted to cook it from frozen in the oven..

Thanks!

There are lots of recipes here that are great for batch cooking www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/batch-cooking
Things like tagines, stews etc quite often taste better when reheated than they do the first time round

With regards to reheating, I try to remember to take it ahead of time and let it defrost (especially for things that contain big pieces of meat) however more often than not I'm not that organised and so will either cook from frozen or make use of the "defrost" setting on my microwave to start it off and then go from there.

For storage I mostly freeze in Tupperware (or reuse things like empty butter tubs)- at least for things like stew, curries, soups, sauces but if it's something like a fish pie, lasagne, cottage pie etc then I either freeze in the dish I will go on to cook it in (I've noticed you can now get some nice glass lidded dishes which are freezer and oven save OR, occasionally, I'll use those disposable foil trays or plastic soup/sauce bags

I try to freeze things in portion sizes where it makes sense e.g. with soup I know I'm likely to take it for work so will freeze in individual portions - and I've learned the hard way to label things clearly as, whilst I think I'll remember what things are, a few months down the line I haven't a clue and it can lead to some ...interesting surprises

I only batch cook a few seasonal things - one tip is for rhubarb and ginger compote which I do every feb/March I use plastic cups, freeze and then decant and wrap. Cups washed and saved for freezing eg tomato sauces. After a few days of rhubarb I have enough to last well into autumn for breakfast with yoghurt/granola etc.
I also have a few days of spinach washing blanching and pressing into balls which freeze then bag.
I don’t have a microwave so I’ve not really got into meal freezing - not sure I’d be organised enough to remember to thaw.

You can buy plastic 'pour and store' bags from Sainsbury's which are good for freezing.

I use takeaway plastic boxed to store batch cooks in individual portions.

Reheating from frozen/defrosting depends - microwave from frozen is the default for me.

Brilliant!! Thanks for all the advice its been really useful. I've got some ideas of what to do now.

I've had a look at the good food site and yes those recipies look great. I'll also nip to sainsburys and get some of those bags.

I think the easiest thing to do first off will be to try and remember to defrost first as my microwave can be a bit temperamental.

I like the idea of freezing compote and thinks like excess spinach. I think that would be an easy habit to get into when I buy too much

Good luck op. I love a few cooking days. Good audio book/podcasts. Raised eyebrows/laughs at checkout at how much of whatever I have (applesauce day is a good one). Then switch off and cook. it’s almost meditative !

@HeronLanyon Oo now youre giving me ideas. Baby in bed. Glass of wine and a good podcast whilst cooking does sound like quite a therapeutic evening.

Foil trays are single-use, the pleating around the corners houses food particles which can be dangerous.
I use lidded plastic containers - Poundland have a good variety of sizes. I really like the little pots. If I open, say, a jar of yellow bean sauce, miso etc, I'm unlikely to use it all by the Use By date, so put it in little pots & freeze.

I batch cook porridge - freeze it in ice cream scoops on trays lined with greaseproof paper; and then transfer into a zip lock bag or a big tub once they are solid. Then one or two can be reheated in the microwave with milk for a kids' breakfast, or more for grownups.

You can add fruit, compote, spices etc to the mix before freezing.

And another thing ! I like home-made baked beans, no sugar or other nasties. I make a big batch & freeze in portions just right for breakfast.

You might want to correct that title. That made me do a double take!

If you see a meat joint on special offer, buy one much bigger than you need and make loads of gravy.
Use meat as a roast dinner then when still warm, slice the rest and put into freezer containers and cover generously with gravy.
Once defrosted it can be a meat and 2 veg type meal or to fill very large Yorkshire puds
I've done this with pork, beef, turkey and lamb.

Don’t waste freezer space on plain tomato sauce when you can knock one up in minutes.
Save it for slow cooks, and hacks. I freeze big batches of sofritto - if you freeze it in ice cube trays then once it’s frozen decant into sandwich bags it saves room, then you can just use a few frozen cubes as the base for any sauce. I freeze bolognese, chilli, lasagne, fish pie, hashis Parmentier, Irish stew....

Ikea sell glass bottom dishes with clip lids that are brilliant and means that you can put the dish in the oven if needed. I also think they taste better than plastic too!! (As in the food tastes better I don't eat the containers )