Cooking/Freezing Question
pitbullmamaliz
Posts: 303 Member
I'm a downright awful cook, but obviously I'm having to learn to do some basics to keep on plan. So this is probably a very stupid question for people who are even as skilled as a toddler in the kitchen. But can I roast up a bunch of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs at once and then throw them in the freezer to just reheat when needed? Or will they taste funky? I'm finding that I love meals that I can store in the freezer and just reheat individual portion sizes, like mini-meatloafs. So quick and easy and yummy! And I love chicken thighs, but hate having to make them in small enough batches that they won't go bad before I finish them.
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Yes, but it would be best to thaw them first, don't just re-heat them straight from the freezer.
Chicken can taste a bit metallic if you do that.
Incidentally, you can slow-roast raw meat straight from the freezer too, it just takes a bit longer and as a general rule, it's 4 legs yes, 2 legs no.
So beef, lamb, goat, is great. Chicken and children, not so much....3 -
Good to know about the children - was thinking they may be tasty and provide some nice fat/protein ratios, but I suppose I'll pass.
Thanks for the tip about thawing first!4 -
I bake up a pan of bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs and freeze them individually without any problems. For best results it's helpful to learn and make use of your microwave's defrost feature. I also cook up bone-in pork chops with each serving size in it's own baggie. Same for sauteed mushrooms. And so on. It makes it super easy to quickly piece together a meal.1
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Thank you! I had to laugh at learning to use the defrost feature, because I NEVER do. I just cook things to thaw them, LOL.0
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I cooked like 60 wings the other day, because it's easier to do it all at once. They're in the freezer now. I didn't know about thawing them before reheating... Honestly don't know what I was planning on doing lol! Glad I saw this post.0
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Good idea to do wings, too. I've recently been making my own buffalo wings and doing those in bulk would be good, too. I hate cooking, so if I can just do a crap-ton at once and live out of the freezer for a week or two, that would be ideal! LOL0
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Love my freezer, I will do my chicken like this next time. I also cook rice and noodles, freeze in serve sizes in little sandwich bags. So easy, Could be good to make a whole meal just add the chicken, a bit of some sort of sauce, rice and a few mixed frozen veges, wack it in the microwave and you have dinner in minutes.2
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I do a lot of freezer cooking, but its more for my husband and son. I might grill some chicken breast and freeze them in individual packs, or make soup and freeze it. But for the most part I make meatloaves, lasagna, taco meat, etc and freeze it in disposable aluminum pans that I can cook it in. I am trying to get better with freezer cooking. I used to do it all the time, lately I haven't felt like taking the time to wrap things or get them freezer ready.0
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It depends on the level of carbohydrates you have in your diet but there are many of the recipes here that are low carb and some that are keto. If you're new to cooking, not confident, or unsure of what you're doing in the kitchen the slowcooker can be your gateway drug to cooking. It's amazingly easy to make amazing meals.
https://lowcarbyum.com/low-carb-crock-pot-recipes/
http://peaceloveandlowcarb.com/50lowcarbandpaleoslowcookerrecipes/
Most of the meals are "dump" meals meaning you don't have to pre cook anything. Just dump it in the crockpot and go. Also, you can freeze anything post cooking and just drop it back in your crockpot to warm up straight from the freezer. that's really nice if you're a small family or an individual.
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It depends on the level of carbohydrates you have in your diet but there are many of the recipes here that are low carb and some that are keto. If you're new to cooking, not confident, or unsure of what you're doing in the kitchen the slowcooker can be your gateway drug to cooking. It's amazingly easy to make amazing meals.
https://lowcarbyum.com/low-carb-crock-pot-recipes/
http://peaceloveandlowcarb.com/50lowcarbandpaleoslowcookerrecipes/
Most of the meals are "dump" meals meaning you don't have to pre cook anything. Just dump it in the crockpot and go. Also, you can freeze anything post cooking and just drop it back in your crockpot to warm up straight from the freezer. that's really nice if you're a small family or an individual.
After owning a crockpot for about 20 years and never using it for anything but keeping chili warm for chili cook-offs that I had entered, it is now my best friend. It is so ridiculously easy to just throw in whatever sounds/looks good and forget about it for 4-8 hours. I do this most Sundays in prep for weekday lunches.1 -
A tip-- freeze the cooked meat spread out on a pan first then bag, or wrapped in individual plastic bags within another bag. Nothing worse than trying to chip off a serving from a big frozen block.
Or just use individual portion sized freezer boxes.0 -
Here's a great recipe I love for low-carb chicken tenders. She has a lot of other freezer cooking recipes and tips on her blog, many are low-carb.
http://www.organizeyourselfskinny.com/2014/06/03/homemade-baked-asiago-crusted-chicken-tenders/0 -
I like to split them up by portion size and put the portion in a ziplock. You can take it frozen to work, and it will have thawed and be ready for the microwave by lunchtime.1
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Freezer cooking is the best. It saves so much time and makes meals so much easier. I'll be doing chicken legs and thighs tomorrow.0
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I think you might be lost, stranger.MaryLeuelu wrote: »Love my freezer, I will do my chicken like this next time. I also cook rice and noodles, freeze in serve sizes in little sandwich bags. So easy, Could be good to make a whole meal just add the chicken, a bit of some sort of sauce, rice and a few mixed frozen veges, wack it in the microwave and you have dinner in minutes.
*eyes you suspiciously*
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I think you might be lost, stranger.MaryLeuelu wrote: »Love my freezer, I will do my chicken like this next time. I also cook rice and noodles, freeze in serve sizes in little sandwich bags. So easy, Could be good to make a whole meal just add the chicken, a bit of some sort of sauce, rice and a few mixed frozen veges, wack it in the microwave and you have dinner in minutes.
*eyes you suspiciously*
Remember, this group is Low Carb, not necessarily Keto. Given the average person gets more than 50% of their calories from carbs (250 g on a 2000 calorie diet), so someone getting under 150 is generally seen as low carb.
Now, if she started talking about talking about cake and cookies and such, then.....0
