Hi there. Recently I have become interested in (obsessed by according
to my girlfriend cooking double or tripple meals and freezing the
left-overs.

Anyone who can give me some hints for this? I tried to freeze a creamy
spaghetti-sauce (cream, cheese,...) and while re-heating it in the
oven, a lot of water (or some other fluid?) appeared. So obviously I
had done something wrong. I guess freezing creamy sauces is not a good
idea?

Anyway, all freezing cooked meals hints are welcome. Thanks.


Kris

On Sat, 04 Oct 2003 19:47:04 +0200, Kris wrote:

Hi there. Recently I have become interested in (obsessed by according
to my girlfriend cooking double or tripple meals and freezing the
left-overs.

Anyone who can give me some hints for this? I tried to freeze a creamy
spaghetti-sauce (cream, cheese,...) and while re-heating it in the
oven, a lot of water (or some other fluid?) appeared. So obviously I
had done something wrong. I guess freezing creamy sauces is not a good
idea?

Same thing happened with my beef stroganov, so the next time, I
prepared it up to the addition of sour cream and froze the 'mix'.
Added sour cream when I thawed and reheated.

One empirical conclusion I've drawn is that stuff you usually don't
see in the supermarket's frozen food dept probably doesn't freeze
well. There is frozen chopped onion and bell pepper, but no frozen
tomatoes or apples. It does *not* follow that everything you see
commercially frozen is suitable for the home cook -- Banquet and
Healthy Choice have industrial quick-freeze facilities, and add
various 'stabilizers' and heaven-knows-what.

Search on "freezer meals" for some suggestions.

From: Kris

Anyone who can give me some hints for this? I tried to freeze a creamy
spaghetti-sauce (cream, cheese,...) and while re-heating it in the
oven, a lot of water (or some other fluid?) appeared. So obviously I
had done something wrong. I guess freezing creamy sauces is not a good
idea?

Anyway, all freezing cooked meals hints are welcome. Thanks.

There are lots of commercially frozen meals that include creamy sauces. I
imagine the two tricks they use are 1) assure that all air is removed from the
packaging so ice crystals don't form on the surface; 2) they are flash frozen
to inhibit ice crystals from forming.

I'm going to guess that at home you would want the sauce to be as tight/thick
as possible so when defrosted the added water won't thin it overly much. There
is also the problem of breaking if eggs and cream are used and it's defrosted
and reheated in the microwave. You might want to defrost it slowly in the
refrigerator and then heat it gently in a bain marie or heavy bottomed
saucepan. Oh, and freezing this sort of sauce with very al dente pasta might
help - the pasta will absorb the excess liquid. Experiment until you find the
results you like then you can do it all the time.

I freeze chili, soups and spagetti sauce frequently. Usually just using freezer
bags (I ziplock them almost all the way with a straw inserted where I suck out
the air so it seals tightly - I know, sounds weird, but it works!) or in
tupperware, or containers from other products like the sort cottage cheese
comes in. Great way to recycle and if they get stained, no worries, you can
toss them after you've gotten additional service from them. I defrost them just
long enough to remove it from the container, then add to a saucepan and gently
heat.

I used to make my own tv dinners - portioning out meatloaf or turkey in gravy,
with mashed potatoes and lightly cooked vegies, and while the results weren't
as good as freshly prepared they were tasty and made good use of leftovers. In
the middle of a busy workday, one of these meals really hit the spot. In fact I
really looked forward to them. Back before microwave safe containers were
available I made my own out of aluminum foil...shaping them into packets and
double wrapping then reheating in a 325 oven. Really stretched the food budget.


I might be crazy, but I think homemade lasagna actually tasted better after
freezing.

I make/bake the lasagna according to my recipe - making sure that the noodles
still have a good bite to them, plus I spread a goodly amount of marinara on
the bottom of the pan before assembling.

I freeze 8 x 8 pans of lasagna, then remove them from the pans the next day,
and repackage with a layer of plastic wrap next to the lasagna, and then
wrapped tightly in foil. When I'm ready to use one, I unwrap it and place the
frozen "brick" back in the pan it was originally cooked in, with a bit more
fresh sauce spread in the bottom of the pan. A good reason to freeze one cup
measures of homemade marinara (excellent for quicky Boboli pizzas too) or even
use Newmans Tomato Basil jarred sauce. Baked from frozen takes about an hour
for a whole pan, and boy is it good. For some reason the flavors meld in a way
that they don't when made fresh and eaten right away.

I also think banana, carrot and zucchini breads taste better after freezing. I
don't know why, but they are moister and more flavorful. Wonderful to have on
hand for quick breakfasts or snacks. Defrost overnight and VOILA, your cooking
frenzy pays off in a big way.

Ellen

Kris wrote:
Hi there. Recently I have become interested in (obsessed by according
to my girlfriend cooking double or tripple meals and freezing the
left-overs.

Anyone who can give me some hints for this? I tried to freeze a creamy
spaghetti-sauce (cream, cheese,...) and while re-heating it in the
oven, a lot of water (or some other fluid?) appeared. So obviously I
had done something wrong. I guess freezing creamy sauces is not a good
idea?

Anyway, all freezing cooked meals hints are welcome. Thanks.


Kris

Some things don't freeze well. Some things don't re-heat well. I love
macaroni & cheese but if you reheat it in the microwave on HIGH it comes out
tasteless, as though there was never any cheese on it at all. The secret
there is to reheat it on LOW heat, very slowly, and stir it a lot.

Never heard of spaghetti sauce with cream cheese. But I suspect you
reheated it too fast with the setting on HIGH.

Jill

(SportKite1) writes:

From: Kris

Anyone who can give me some hints for this? I tried to freeze a creamy
spaghetti-sauce (cream, cheese,...) and while re-heating it in the
oven, a lot of water (or some other fluid?) appeared. So obviously I
had done something wrong. I guess freezing creamy sauces is not a good
idea?

Anyway, all freezing cooked meals hints are welcome. Thanks.

There are lots of commercially frozen meals that include creamy sauces. I
imagine the two tricks they use are 1) assure that all air is removed from
the
packaging so ice crystals don't form on the surface; 2) they are flash frozen
to inhibit ice crystals from forming.

I'm going to guess that at home you would want the sauce to be as tight/thick
as possible so when defrosted the added water won't thin it overly much.
There
is also the problem of breaking if eggs and cream are used and it's defrosted
and reheated in the microwave. You might want to defrost it slowly in the
refrigerator and then heat it gently in a bain marie or heavy bottomed
saucepan. Oh, and freezing this sort of sauce with very al dente pasta might
help - the pasta will absorb the excess liquid. Experiment until you find the
results you like then you can do it all the time.

I freeze chili, soups and spagetti sauce frequently. Usually just using
freezer
bags (I ziplock them almost all the way with a straw inserted where I suck
out
the air so it seals tightly - I know, sounds weird, but it works!) or in
tupperware, or containers from other products like the sort cottage cheese
comes in. Great way to recycle and if they get stained, no worries, you can
toss them after you've gotten additional service from them. I defrost them
just
long enough to remove it from the container, then add to a saucepan and
gently
heat.

I used to make my own tv dinners - portioning out meatloaf or turkey in
gravy,
with mashed potatoes and lightly cooked vegies, and while the results weren't
as good as freshly prepared they were tasty and made good use of leftovers.
In
the middle of a busy workday, one of these meals really hit the spot. In fact
I
really looked forward to them. Back before microwave safe containers were
available I made my own out of aluminum foil...shaping them into packets and
double wrapping then reheating in a 325 oven. Really stretched the food
budget.


I might be crazy, but I think homemade lasagna actually tasted better after
freezing.

I make/bake the lasagna according to my recipe - making sure that the noodles
still have a good bite to them, plus I spread a goodly amount of marinara on
the bottom of the pan before assembling.

I freeze 8 x 8 pans of lasagna, then remove them from the pans the next day,
and repackage with a layer of plastic wrap next to the lasagna, and then
wrapped tightly in foil. When I'm ready to use one, I unwrap it and place the
frozen "brick" back in the pan it was originally cooked in, with a bit more
fresh sauce spread in the bottom of the pan. A good reason to freeze one cup
measures of homemade marinara (excellent for quicky Boboli pizzas too) or
even
use Newmans Tomato Basil jarred sauce. Baked from frozen takes about an hour
for a whole pan, and boy is it good. For some reason the flavors meld in a
way
that they don't when made fresh and eaten right away.

I also think banana, carrot and zucchini breads taste better after freezing.
I
don't know why, but they are moister and more flavorful. Wonderful to have on
hand for quick breakfasts or snacks. Defrost overnight and VOILA, your
cooking
frenzy pays off in a big way.

Ellen

Chocolate tastes better after freezing too... and it's all I can do to keep out
of the frozen Halloween treats. LOL Actualy it's not so funny, I don't dare
open those bags of chocolate bars or all the kidlets will get for treats are
fercocktah lollypops and ferschtunkiner kandy korn.


---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

On 04 Oct 2003 22:24:28 GMT, (PENMART01) wrote:

Chocolate tastes better after freezing too... and it's all I can do to keep out
of the frozen Halloween treats. LOL Actualy it's not so funny, I don't dare
open those bags of chocolate bars or all the kidlets will get for treats are
fercocktah lollypops and ferschtunkiner kandy korn.


---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."



But Sheldon, I never had you picked out for the type of guy who
actually buys candy to give to kids.



/Erika

The first ten years of your life you try to be just like your parents.
Then for then years you try to be as little as your parents as possible.
Then you gradually change in to them.

On Sat, 04 Oct 2003 22:33:51 GMT, Erika shared
the following:

On 04 Oct 2003 22:24:28 GMT, (PENMART01) wrote:

Chocolate tastes better after freezing too... and it's all I can do to keep out
of the frozen Halloween treats. LOL Actualy it's not so funny, I don't dare
open those bags of chocolate bars or all the kidlets will get for treats are
fercocktah lollypops and ferschtunkiner kandy korn.


---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."



But Sheldon, I never had you picked out for the type of guy who
actually buys candy to give to kids.

I have him picked out as the guy who puts needles in tootsie rolls and
razor blades in apples. Just kidding. He's worthless, but probably
harmless.



--
Travis
'63 VW Camo Baja...
http://bugadventures.dyndns.org
Words that soak into your ears are whispered, not yelled.


:wq!

Erika writes:

(PENMART01) wrote:

Chocolate tastes better after freezing too... and it's all I can do to keep
out
of the frozen Halloween treats. LOL Actualy it's not so funny, I don't
dare
open those bags of chocolate bars or all the kidlets will get for treats are
fercocktah lollypops and ferschtunkiner kandy korn.

But Sheldon, I never had you picked out for the type of guy who
actually buys candy to give to kids.

That's 'cause you're new... I go all out for Halloween.



---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

On Sat, 04 Oct 2003 19:47:04 +0200, Kris wrote:

Hi there. Recently I have become interested in (obsessed by according
to my girlfriend cooking double or tripple meals and freezing the
left-overs.

Anyone who can give me some hints for this? I tried to freeze a creamy
spaghetti-sauce (cream, cheese,...) and while re-heating it in the
oven, a lot of water (or some other fluid?) appeared. So obviously I
had done something wrong. I guess freezing creamy sauces is not a good
idea?

Anyway, all freezing cooked meals hints are welcome. Thanks.
Kris

My best tips are that if you are really into this and think you will
be for a long time, invest in a Foodsaver and a couple rolls of bag
material. Also, even if you are sure you'll know what is in there,
always label stuff with the date.

From: (PENMART01)

Chocolate tastes better after freezing too... and it's all I can do to keep
out
of the frozen Halloween treats. LOL Actualy it's not so funny, I don't dare
open those bags of chocolate bars or all the kidlets will get for treats are
fercocktah lollypops and ferschtunkiner kandy korn.

Oooo...I didn't know that. I adore Trader Joe's Chocolate Ganache Torte (comes
frozen) but had no idea that bars tasted better after freezing.

Ellen

SportKite1 wrote:

From: Kris


Anyone who can give me some hints for this? I tried to freeze a creamy
spaghetti-sauce (cream, cheese,...) and while re-heating it in the
oven, a lot of water (or some other fluid?) appeared. So obviously I
had done something wrong. I guess freezing creamy sauces is not a good
idea?

Anyway, all freezing cooked meals hints are welcome. Thanks.

The reason your creamy sauce didn't freeze well is because the binders
in it were damaged in the freezing and thawing processes.

Commercial sauces designed to be frozen will have thickeners and
stabilizers to prevent that. You need a thickener with good
"freeze-thaw stability." There are many modified starches (typically
maize or potato starches that have been pre-cooked or otherwise
slightly altered) that will keep soups and sauces thick through it
all. In a couple of my restaurants, we packed some sauces into
"retortable pouches" (boil-in bags) for thawing later as demand
required. We experimented with a lot of different starches and settled
on one called "National-465" from the National Starch Company. Since
then, there have been many new products introduced for this sort of
application.

some of the starches used in pie fillings have good freeze-thaw
characteristics. No reason why they can't be used for other things.
IIRC, one of the Clear Jel starches is for that. I distantly recall
that Therm-Flo (sp) starches can be used as well. Bulk food stores
generally carry them.

We used them in roughly the same quantity levels as conventional corn
starches, depending on the finished dish.

Roux-based sauces will break upon thawing. They can't be reconstituted
by whisking or any other mechanical process. Most egg-based sauces
will break, as well. Likewise when cheeses are used as the body
ingredients. Some gums will help, but, again, they're difficult for
the home cook to find.

Pastorio

There are lots of commercially frozen meals that include creamy sauces. I
imagine the two tricks they use are 1) assure that all air is removed from the
packaging so ice crystals don't form on the surface; 2) they are flash frozen
to inhibit ice crystals from forming.

I'm going to guess that at home you would want the sauce to be as tight/thick
as possible so when defrosted the added water won't thin it overly much. There
is also the problem of breaking if eggs and cream are used and it's defrosted
and reheated in the microwave. You might want to defrost it slowly in the
refrigerator and then heat it gently in a bain marie or heavy bottomed
saucepan. Oh, and freezing this sort of sauce with very al dente pasta might
help - the pasta will absorb the excess liquid. Experiment until you find the
results you like then you can do it all the time.

I freeze chili, soups and spagetti sauce frequently. Usually just using freezer
bags (I ziplock them almost all the way with a straw inserted where I suck out
the air so it seals tightly - I know, sounds weird, but it works!) or in
tupperware, or containers from other products like the sort cottage cheese
comes in. Great way to recycle and if they get stained, no worries, you can
toss them after you've gotten additional service from them. I defrost them just
long enough to remove it from the container, then add to a saucepan and gently
heat.

I used to make my own tv dinners - portioning out meatloaf or turkey in gravy,
with mashed potatoes and lightly cooked vegies, and while the results weren't
as good as freshly prepared they were tasty and made good use of leftovers. In
the middle of a busy workday, one of these meals really hit the spot. In fact I
really looked forward to them. Back before microwave safe containers were
available I made my own out of aluminum foil...shaping them into packets and
double wrapping then reheating in a 325 oven. Really stretched the food budget.


I might be crazy, but I think homemade lasagna actually tasted better after
freezing.

I make/bake the lasagna according to my recipe - making sure that the noodles
still have a good bite to them, plus I spread a goodly amount of marinara on
the bottom of the pan before assembling.

I freeze 8 x 8 pans of lasagna, then remove them from the pans the next day,
and repackage with a layer of plastic wrap next to the lasagna, and then
wrapped tightly in foil. When I'm ready to use one, I unwrap it and place the
frozen "brick" back in the pan it was originally cooked in, with a bit more
fresh sauce spread in the bottom of the pan. A good reason to freeze one cup
measures of homemade marinara (excellent for quicky Boboli pizzas too) or even
use Newmans Tomato Basil jarred sauce. Baked from frozen takes about an hour
for a whole pan, and boy is it good. For some reason the flavors meld in a way
that they don't when made fresh and eaten right away.

I also think banana, carrot and zucchini breads taste better after freezing. I
don't know why, but they are moister and more flavorful. Wonderful to have on
hand for quick breakfasts or snacks. Defrost overnight and VOILA, your cooking
frenzy pays off in a big way.

Ellen