Cooking and Freezing

Greenhorn Green Egger

Several times on the forums I have seen people mention cooking large amounts of food and then freezing it(most recently the Brunswick Stew - man that looked good).
I would really like to try this as we all know often we are just too busy to cook a good meal and this seems to work just right. My problem is I have always been nervous about the food just not being good after having been frozen for a while. I have had a food saver for a couple of years and fresh meat is all I ever do and have had no problem with that.

I thought maybe we could get some ideas of what people freeze for long term (winter) use, methods of freezing (plastic dish, food saver, etc) and methods of reheating (microvave, stovetop, thrown back on the egg). It is that time of year again :( Also I have never canned anything and for me I think it is just too involved.

Thanks in advance!!

Frank from Houma

Pulled pork and brisket in portions for 2 work well for us. Straight from the freezer (or thaw a bit in the fridge) to a pot of simmering water and ready to serve in a few minutes.

Other stuff - Buck board bacon

Before cooking
Dry aged a primal and vacuum packed the steaks a while back
Fish fillets

In containers:
Gumbo
Chili
Soups
Stews


28 day dry age rib eyes

Adult ADHD

Do you vacuum seal? What kind? Easy to find plastic refill? I seriously need to ask Santa to set me up.

Frank from Houma

I use a Foodsaver - bought the cheapest one and works fine for me. Only negative - if you are doing a whole lot will have to take breaks every once in a while to let the seal mechanism cool down

You can buy bags or rolls - rolls are available at Walmart or Sam's and are a lot more flexible in terms of right-sizing for whatever you are vacuum packing.

Salt water fisherman will tell you that the tools that you keep in your boat and pull out once every 6 months will get real nasty. I cleaned up my tools real well then vacuum packed.

Briflavors

We always cook 3 or 4 chicken on a beer can then cool them down on counter to room temperature than put in Food Saver Bags and direct in freezer. During buzy week days we take one out to thaw before leaving to work- on counter (I put a towel on top so that it thaws slow. The reheat in oven at 425 until warm- around 30 -40 min... it is as good as when it comes out of the egg!