This question is for mommas that make family meals ahead of time and freeze them.
My Mom is visiting this week and I offered to cook up one of our freezer meals for her and the kids for dinner (not sure if it was going to be for tonight or tomorrow but...). I told her I have a tray of stuffed cabbage in the freezer that just needs to be cooked. She freaked a bit because it needs to be /cooked/, not just heated up. She says I am setting the family up for some serious intestinal issues becuase I froze the cabbages not cooked and the stuffing is a combination of ground chuck, rice, and eggs - all huge bacterial sources.
I am cocnerned because even this past week, I made pre-stuffed spinach manicotti and this had egg and manicott in the stuffing that was all mized but not "cooked". There was also the fresh spinach too.
I do this kind of thing quite frequently. Everything goes right into the deep freezer (not a standard fridge freezer).
So my question is kind-of a whose right one? Should meals made with ground chuck, eggs, rice and bread (she listed that as a concern too) be cooked prior to freezing? If yes, how do you keep the meals from getting mushy (in this case the rolled cabbage or manicotti tubes)?
I am now really concerned I am putting my family in danger! And here I was thinking I was getting ahead of the game by making larger meals and freezing portions for "quick" nights. Can you ever really win?
Thanks Moms!
~C.
To clarify, I don't think it is a general bacteria issue but samonella.
Also, I start with fresh meat (never frozen) and fresh ingredients when I make these types of meals so there is no "re-freezing" going on here. Historically, I have frozen cooked meats as well.
When cooking the raw frozen meals, I treat them the same as if I was making it fresh and use a meat thermometer to make sure things are throughly heated.
I don't think it is a problem. You just have to cook the meals longer when you take them out because you are cooking them, not just re-heating them. When you buy frozen cookie dough, it has egg in it......I freeze meat before cooking it.
I don't think it is an issue as long as you thoroughly cook the foods before serving.
It does not really matter. Bacteria will grow in improperly heated food no matter if it was cooked prior to freezing or not.
So: even if your food was precooked, you need to heat it past "warm" to ensure all bacteria that may have grown during the cool-down period are destroyed.
Or if you freeze uncooked food you simply make sure it ends up being properly cooked through and reaches the temperature appropriate for whatever ingredient you used.
I prefer freezing uncooked food because it tastes better if it is not "cooked twice". The only exception I make to this is if I use ingredients that where frozen to begin with. Those need to be cooked through before freezing the completed meal.
Good luck.
I don't understand what the issue is. You normally put meat and such in the freezer...it doesn't get more bacteria because of that. You are going to cook your pre made meals...so any bacteria there should be killed anyway. I'm no expert, but I'm not seeing the issue??? Guess I'll have to listen to the answers you get as well.
As long as you are bringing the entire dish to the required temperature, it's fine.
as long as you are freezing and cooking to the right tempurature requirements for each type of food (meat/veg) I don't see the harm in mixing them and cooking later.
I have been fed frozen and refrozen meals all my life. My kids were fed frozen and refrozen food all their lives If you study biology, you will find all of us eat a lot of bacteria all the time. And your baby crawling on the floor and then putting his hands in his mouth introduces millions of bacteria into his body. Do you eat fresh fruit, vegetables and produce without cooking it? You have just introduced millions of bacteria into your system. Do you really think the migrant workers picking your food really care if they get bacteria in your food? They now have portapotties. But I haven't seen water and sinks available in the field so they can wash their hands afterward. (Kinda makes you want to grow a garden doesn't it?)
The "You can't freeze and refreeze foods and not get sick" is just an old wives' tale. Eat and enjoy.
Good luck to you and yours.
I freeze uncooked meat all the time I don't think what you are doing is any different
You are fine.
Since you are going to fully cook the frozen meal.
No different than freezing raw ground meat or chicken.
Take it out, defrost it, then cook it until it is done.
Read this - then have your Mom read it. Your food is perfectly safe....in fact, if you have any cooked left-overs from your frozen meals you can actually freeze those!
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/focus_on_freezing/ind...
as long as it's cooked to the proper temp beforei t goes into your body, i don't think it's really an issue.
C.,
I would cook anything ahead of time such as the meat and rice then stuff the cabbage and freeze, same with pasta and anything with egg...if your family hasnt gotten sick yet, im sure you are fine but better to be safe and cook meats and eggs first ;-)
I was always told that you don't want to thaw uncooked meat twice. So if you took fresh ground beef, mixed it with stuff, then froze it, it should be fine if you then thaw and cook it properly.
If you took frozen ground beef, thawed it, mixed it with stuff, froze it again (still uncooked) to thaw again for cooking at a future time - not good.
I don't have facts to back this up, it's just what I was always told. In practice, I find it easier to always cook before freezing, but then I don't have to worry about accidentally undercooking the food at dinner time.
Freezing slows down bacteria grow to a very slow crawl, so uncooked meat, etc, in the freezer is safe and tasty cooked from frozen up to several months after it's frozen.
The key is to treat the meal like any other:
* Wash your hands and the counter surfaces/cutting boards, etc. in very very hot water with soap after cutting/handling raw meat and eggs. (I use a 10% bleach solution on the counters and in the sink after handling raw meat and put the utensils and cutting board in the dishwasher on the "Sanitary clean" setting.)
* Cook the meat to the recommended temperature for the recommended time. When cooking from frozen, if you're basing it off of the original (unfrozen) recipe, you will need to add longer cooking time. If you're not sure, buy a quick read meat or cooking thermometer to check the temp before serving.
Frozen meals with uncooked meat are no more or less dangerous than handling raw, fresh meat. Treat them just the same way.
