meal prep - freezing cooked meat question

[ktgrok]

I never really do this. If were to cook up some grilled chicken, for example, or pork chops, or ground beef, how easy is it to thaw it fairly quickly for a meal? Does it have to be shredded chicken, or can it be a whole breast, or pork chop, or whatever and be of a decent texture when you thaw?

[Pen]

Texture stays fine for most uses IME.  I am rewarming or adding to something so not really thawing it out as a separate step.  The difference in say frozen burger added to pasta sauce is almost nil as compared to heating cold sauce without the frozen burger. And we don’t even use microwave. 

Close packages well if whole breast of chicken etc and use up before ice crystals or freezer burn is a problem. Within a month or two seems fine.  (Raw can get that too of course)    I often make a whole prefrozen thing like fajitas say,  with onion and sauce already there and a message that says what to add when heating (eg “add tomato and serve with tortillas”) 

[Kassia]

I freeze all kinds of meat and never have any problems - pulled pork, chicken breasts, taco meat, chili, hamburgers, turkey breast, turkey burgers...    I usually put the frozen meat in the refrigerator the day before it will be used and it's always been great.  Sometimes I'll reheat it directly from the freezer - again, no problems.  

[bolt.]

I pre-cook and freeze all kinds of meat. I've never noticed any issues.

[Kassia]

1 hour ago, Seasider too said:

If it’s going to be diced or shredded, I put it in a ziplock with enough broth to cover the meat and press out the air. That keeps it from drying out. 

For whole pieces (like a chicken breast or pork chop), I wrap them individually, tightly in plastic wrap, then put the pieces into a larger ziploc bag. 

I don’t usually freeze cooked ground beef unless it’s in a sauce. 

 

For us, any meat with sauce (pulled pork, taco meat, etc.) goes into glass pyrex containers that I can reheat the meat in.  For dry pieces - hamburgers, turkey burgers, chicken breasts - I wrap in foil and put those pieces into a ziploc freezer bag.  Everything gets labeled with contents but I never include date even though I should.  We also freeze pizza and pancakes.  

[Carrie12345]

Anything I freeze (meat or otherwise) that is in pieces instead of shredded/ground/etc., gets “flash frozen” before packaging.   I spread things out on a cookie sheet and stick it in the freezer until firm, and then they stay mostly individual pieces when they’re packed up.  I find it a lot easier to cook with bits that separate easily.

I know there are people who can truly tell a difference, but that’s not anyone in our house.

[Katy]

I often batch cook, freeze in individual bags, and then either thaw out or microwave later.  Never noticed a texture issue unless DH microwaves it.  he always puts it in too long and then it's too hot and dries out.

[sweet2ndchance]

I don't like freezing cooked meat unless it is in a casserole or something. It tastes funny to me when it is just cooked and frozen to use later without it being in like spaghetti sauce or a frozen homemade chicken pot pie. It doesn't taste funny enough to not eat it but I much prefer the taste of it being freshly cooked.

I do buy and big case of ground beef and split it up into meal size portions and wrap and freeze it. I don't even thaw it, it goes straight in my cast iron skillet from the freezer when I'm ready to use it. It only adds a couple of minutes to the cook time vs using meat that hasn't been frozen. I just let the meat brown on one side, then flip it over and scrape the cooked meat off while it browns on the other side and keep doing that until it is all cooked. Takes 5 - 10 minutes maybe.

For shredded chicken, I throw frozen chicken in the crock pot. Same for roasts and country ribs in the crockpot.

I thaw chicken for homemade chicken nuggets, fried chicken and grilled chicken since it has to be breaded or marinaded. I also thaw porkchops prior to cooking.

[math teacher]

I freeze cooked meat of all kinds regularly-never had a problem. In my freezer right now, I have frozen cooked ground beef, sausage crumbles, and turkey that I boiled to use in chicken dishes. I also have some sauteed mushrooms.

[HS Mom in NC]

No problems with it here.

[lavender's green]

It's so easy. It's especially nice if you have a picky eater. If we're having tacos and I want spicy shredded chicken on them, but my kids won't eat that, it's no extra work to thaw some ground beef as well. Everyone's happy and we're all eating basically the same meal, just with a different meat topping, and Mom doesn't feel like a short order cook.

Just get as much air out of the bag as possible. Meat in a sauce or liquid keeps a little better because there's less surface area for ice to grow on. If you're rotating through your freezer stock quickly it's less of an issue. I usually thaw in the fridge, on the counter, or in a water bath, but DH tends to go straight for the microwave (just watch that you don't overcook it and dry it out). 

I do think the texture can suffer a little, especially if it's supposed to be the star of the show. I mean I wouldn't grill up chicken breast, freeze it, thaw it, and expect it to be phenomenal. But chopped up and put on salad, where there's a lot of other stuff going on? Excellent.