Comments on: Cooking Ahead: The Slacker Method

By: Fuzzy Chef

Fuzzy Chef — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 05:55:28 +0000

Some comments:

Foiled again: don’t do the foil trick (above) with Lasagne, or anything with a strong tomato sauce. The tomato sauce will corrode the aluminum foil, and make the casserole taste metallic. Sorry!

Hot Water Thaw: if you have time, instead of using the microwave to quick-thaw things, drop the (sealed) container in a big bowl of hot (150F) water. This thaws things pretty quick, and more evenly than the microwave does.

Ziplock It: instead of using rigid containers, store semi-liquid things (beans, pasta sauces, stews, etc.) in ziplock freezer bags. Not only can you cram more of these in your freezer if you do it right, but they thaw better since you have a wide flat container instead of a compact block, especially by the hot water method. And they’re cheap.

Other things which freeze well:
* most sauces
* any soup which is pureed
* almost any bean dish
* curries of most sorts
* baked goods
* quiches and frittatas
* parboiled veggies

Cheese, however, does not freeze well; there’s a pretty substantial texture change on reheat. Seafood dishes also reheat poorly.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 22:10:41 +0000

Ooh, that foil thing is a great idea. One of the problems I have with freezing lasagnes is that means my extremely useful 13X9 inch pan is now occupied holding frozen lasagne.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 22:01:10 +0000

Jenny–I’m editing my post to add a section to it for tips from my readers–and yours is the first one I’m adding to the post. That is a GREAT idea! Thank you!

By: Jenny V

Jenny V — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 19:49:06 +0000

One thing that can work if you’re cooking an entire extra casserole or lasagne is to line the baking pan with foil before filling it with the food. Then, after it is frozen solid, you can remove the pan from the freezer, leaving the foil-wrapped food behind in the cold, and add it back to your cabinets to use for other meals in the meantime. When you want to eat the leftovers, just pop the pre-formed foil container into the baking dish again and bake.

By: kim

kim — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 01:48:52 +0000

Be careful defrosting in those silly plastic tubs! You really can melt them! (I’ve done it, can you tell?)

I’m lazier than you guys. I just cook once, and eat leftovers for the next two weeks or so. It’s easy!