Really depends on what you make! Absolutely wouldn’t freeze say, a steak. And texture, generally agree with you. But some jerk, adobo, honey garlic, curry chicken work just as well reheated. (Make the rice fresh though.) Same with a lot of pasta based dishes (or sauces, a bolognese freezes perfectly.) Even marinated chicken thighs and veggies are great!
I’d say generally any pasta or rice or veg will turn to paste if frozen. You kinda also lose any flavor apart from salty and sweet. But don’t misunderstand me, it’s fine and a very good way to conserve meals but you will lose most of the magic, the ice feels like it’s breaking everything down.
But try just freezing say the bulk tortellini at costco and then popping it out as needed to boil it and heating up bolognese in the microwave. I would be slackjaw stunned if you could tell the difference between the fresh tortellini and previously frozen tortellini.
I did try those exact tortellinis and I can tell when they’ve been frozen vs straight from the pack. It’s all in the texture not the taste. They get mushy as soon as they get hot enough even though I tend to undercook pasta because I like them very al dente. Totally edible but far, far worse than cooking fresh ones especially considering it’s almost the same time and effort. But don’t get me wrong I’m not arguing it’s stupid and that nobody should do it. I know not everyone has the opportunity to just go across the street to get fresh ingredients on a daily basis and freezing is a fantastic mean of conservation. It’s just a personal preference.
Though that sounds more like a handling issue than freezing itself. It’s important to remove all the air and use high quality bags etc. (I remember when I was first freezing things I did so in crappy zip locks until an ex made of fun of me and showed me the way!)
I tend to defer to the Italian grandmas who will make tortellini and freeze it immediately to save the flavours. If it destroyed texture, some of the nonnas in our friend group would be mortified!
Really depends on what you make! Absolutely wouldn’t freeze say, a steak. And texture, generally agree with you. But some jerk, adobo, honey garlic, curry chicken work just as well reheated. (Make the rice fresh though.) Same with a lot of pasta based dishes (or sauces, a bolognese freezes perfectly.) Even marinated chicken thighs and veggies are great!
I’d say generally any pasta or rice or veg will turn to paste if frozen. You kinda also lose any flavor apart from salty and sweet. But don’t misunderstand me, it’s fine and a very good way to conserve meals but you will lose most of the magic, the ice feels like it’s breaking everything down.
Rice, fully agree, that’s why I said cook ahead.
But try just freezing say the bulk tortellini at costco and then popping it out as needed to boil it and heating up bolognese in the microwave. I would be slackjaw stunned if you could tell the difference between the fresh tortellini and previously frozen tortellini.
But to each their own!
I did try those exact tortellinis and I can tell when they’ve been frozen vs straight from the pack. It’s all in the texture not the taste. They get mushy as soon as they get hot enough even though I tend to undercook pasta because I like them very al dente. Totally edible but far, far worse than cooking fresh ones especially considering it’s almost the same time and effort. But don’t get me wrong I’m not arguing it’s stupid and that nobody should do it. I know not everyone has the opportunity to just go across the street to get fresh ingredients on a daily basis and freezing is a fantastic mean of conservation. It’s just a personal preference.
To each their own!
Though that sounds more like a handling issue than freezing itself. It’s important to remove all the air and use high quality bags etc. (I remember when I was first freezing things I did so in crappy zip locks until an ex made of fun of me and showed me the way!)
I tend to defer to the Italian grandmas who will make tortellini and freeze it immediately to save the flavours. If it destroyed texture, some of the nonnas in our friend group would be mortified!