Justine Pattison Q&A

"Over 92% of households in the UK have a freezer, but most people don’t know how to use them."

Blooming cheek! I think we do you know.

I almost choked on my coffee reading the same line. Grrrr!!

Grandmother and eggs come to mind!!

I think GNHQ should have a quiet word with her before she comes on here!

Well I know how to use my freezer but probably not to the best advantage especially when it comes to preparing meals in advance so I am very happy to learn. Can we start there?

.....and if Justine has any questions for us, perhaps we could help......?

Think there's more to using a freezer than just opening the door, chucking the food in and freezing it!

I'm always a bit worried about freezing meat. The label always says consume within a month, but how strict do I have to be with that?

I bought an excellent book called Grow, Freeze, and Cook, your garden on a plate. That must have been in the seventies so probably out of print by now.

I bought a similar book in the 80's.

Would Justine not get a better response over on Mumsnet where there are a lot of young mums just starting out compared to us Gnetters.

As there is only DH and I at home now, both retired and have the time to shop more or less daily I don't actually freeze that much now only ocassionally 'double batch' cook certain things or buy short shelf life offers I know I can freeze

Ages ago I used to buy a brilliant magazine called, I think, Home and Freezer Digest -probably in the early 80s. I still have some very tatty bits of paper in my folders torn from it

Justine, Is there a section in your book that covers what to do with all the bits of garlic bread, herbs frozen in ice cubes (that were never going to be used) sauces without labels that you can't even identify by their colour, burgers with freezer burn and blobs of left over pastry dough?

This is the cry of all dedicated freezer users. We just get carried away.

This is going to sound incredibly "holier-than-thou" but whilst our youngest who lives on the other side of the country has been on maternity leave, I spend half a day during my visits batch-preparing meals for their freezer. I use our own home-grown veg, fruit and herbs where possible and the end-product of about thirty or forty 'ready-meals for two' is something they both really appreciate. Especially my dear son-in-law.

I really enjoy doing it - and they eat nutritional meals with no hidden ingredients that work out very cheaply indeed. They just add carrots, broccoli, cabbage and rice/potatoes/pasta on the night with a yoghurt to follow.

Favourites include lasagne and Bolognese sauce of course, but also beef and vegetable casserole, using the excellent 'skirt' cut from Tescos, pork casserole using shoulder etc. etc. but am always on the look out for new recipes - so will keep watching this space!

Hope Justine can re-ignite an interest in batch cooking with today's young Mums as time, budget and ingredients-wise it is SO sensible - half a day once a month gives you shelves and shelves of meals that if left to defrost before work, can provide a quick evening meal with no messy preparation.

Hi Justine
We have a large fruit and veg garden and freeze a lot of stuff to last us through the year. We are already cropping strawberries; raspberries, red currents, apples and pears will follow. Normally our neighbours will appear through the summer with bags of cherries, peaches, figs and anything else that is abundant that year.
We normally make jam and chutneys and then freeze some of the soft fruit and the apples for cooking.
The problem this year is that for health reasons my OH is on low carb diet, so we are eating almost zero sugar.
Have you got any ideas for freezing fruit such as strawberries that won't involve any added sugar? We can do some as puree, but we don't eat puddings or smoothies, so it is all a bit tricky!

I always freeze food left over. It. provides a meal with minimum effort from my husband------while I am. "gallivanting " out again.After having friends for dinner I expect to have at least 2 extra meals for the freezer/husband.
However I really come unstuck with plums and gooseberries from the garden.
I open freeze them and then forget all about them. Would welcome some ideas.

Personally I welcome a new book about freezing because I use my freezer all the time and I'm always looking for new ideas. I recently heard on Radio 4 an item about 'refreezing' being safer than they used to think it was. I daren't actually do it yet, but what is your view on putting a casserole back in the freezer when half of it doesn't get eaten even if it has already been frozen once? (doesn't sound right does it!!!) I'd welcome any comments Justine.

I'm about to make a wedding cake (not fruit, one lemon, one carrot and one apple cake) and wondered if all three are OK for freeze for a few days then make up and ice frozen?

I have heard you should not re-heat rice. Is it ok to freeze, say, leftover paella or risotto ? I know these can be bought commercially frozen but not sure if it is safe to do so at home.

Also , if you buy cooked prawns that have previously been frozen and use them in a dish can you then freeze the completed dish ?

I am afraid I am one of those who thinks "well I have never suffered yet."
I suspect with left overs the most important thing is to ensure that whatever you are going to freeze are kept properly covered and cooled as quickly as possible before you put them it in the freezer.

Hi Justine I would really value some tips. I am one of those guilty of shoving everything in the freezer and forgetting about it then panicking it's been in there too long and throwing it away.

I would love some basic guidelines on how long you can freeze things without them posing a risk to health etc Thank you

One of our favourite family meals is a big casserole of meat or chicken in a rich gravy with onions, mushrooms and potatoes (all cooked together). It's the sort of thing that's great for batch cooking and the flavour of the sauce gets even better after freezing - but the potatoes don't come off well for being in the freezer. Is it something I am doing wrong or are potatoes in gravy best kept away (it's the best bit of the dish so less keen to make without)

Actually if I can ask one more? Do I need an ice cream maker to make ice cream and sorbets or can I just put things in to freeze and that's it?

HI Justine. When certain vegetables get shoved to the back of my fridge, they start to freeze and the result is a soggy, wrinkled vegetable no matter how fresh it was when it went in. How can I freeze bits of vegetable that I need to use up, without this happening? Thank you.

How long can I freeze (uncooked) biscuit dough for? And also homemade crumble mix (found it's a great standby for a quick and easy pud)