Saturday, November 7, 2009

Bulk Cooking Saves Time

Bulk Cooking Saves Time
Spending one or two days a month cooking up casseroles and pre-cooking meats, rice and pasta will save hours of kitchen preparation time through the month. To make this most effective, pre-cook 10 lbs. of hamburger, 10 lbs. of chicken breasts, 10 cups of rice, and 10 cups of macaroni or other pasta.

Store these as follows:
Hamburger: 1 cup (equivalent to 1/2 lb. uncooked)
Chicken in Bite Sized Pieces: 1 cup
Rice: 2 cups
Macaroni: 2 cups

Do not add salt or seasonings to any of the foods you pre-cook. Salt will prevent proper freezing. Add salt and seasonings when you use them to prepare meals.

For best results, use a FoodSaver system rather than freezer containers. The FoodSaver vacuum packing will keep your food fresher for much, much longer. Date and label each container and rotate them, using the oldest dated items first.

Freeze these foods in a freezer, not the freezer compartment of your refridgerator. The refridgerator freezer compartment does not keep foods as cold as the freezer does.

For more tips on cooking ahead or cooking in large quantities, see Bulk Cooking.

Image courtesy of Petr Kratochvil.

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