Frozen meals For College Student

[William Sullivan]

I recently cooked several boston butts, pulled the meat, seasoned with some barbeque sauce and froze in some vacuum sealed bags for my son in college. I want to do some other meats and would welcome advise on how to prepare them. My first thought is doing some chuck roast and using some type of sauce to freeze with it. I'm also wondering how some chicken thighs, whole chickens, turkeys would be done in a similar way would be. Any advice or recipes would be welcomed and thanks in advance.

 

[gmc2003]

I vacuum seal and freeze chicken and turkey all the time. I don't include the skin when I'm freezing. It just doesn't taste or feel right. I also freeze meatloaf, pulled beef, shepards pie, stew, fatties pork shots, moinks, salmon and chili. Basically anything that is leftover I'll freeze and take with me to work for dinners/lunches. Single servings reheat well in a microwave. I don't normally freeze the liquids in with the meat. I'll freeze them separately in individual cups then vacuum seal them together and take one or two out when I thaw the meat.

Chris

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

I would spatchcock and smoke a couple of whole chickens and maybe a couple whole turkeys too. The results are amazing and you could do them the same way you did your pulled pork with a little sauce or none at all. Pulled from the bone you yield a lot of meat with the yard birds.

Same with the beef. Smoke the chuck roasts and maybe vac the pulled meat and freeze with a little au jus in with it.

Great idea...sure beats ramen noodles and totinos pizzas!

 

[SonnyE]

I hope he's got a good, little, lockable, freezer.
Vacuum sealed they should keep great. Nuke some and enjoy some home grown BBQ goodness.
Individual Sheppard's Pies like Chris mentioned would sure wet my appetite. Our British Friends make Sheppard's Pies and man, are they a treat!

Do you make Sausages, or Snack Sticks?

 

[William Sullivan]

I would spatchcock and smoke a couple of whole chickens and maybe a couple whole turkeys too. The results are amazing and you could do them the same way you did your pulled pork with a little sauce or none at all. Pulled from the bone you yield a lot of meat with the yard birds.

Same with the beef. Smoke the chuck roasts and maybe vac the pulled meat and freeze with a little au jus in with it.

Great idea...sure beats ramen noodles and totinos pizzas!

I really like that au jus, for a long time I have used gravy in the packs but only recently used the au jus. I'll try the turkey, chicken, and beef. I'll just package them several different ways and see how it turns out. thanks

 

[William Sullivan]

I hope he's got a good, little, lockable, freezer.
Vacuum sealed they should keep great. Nuke some and enjoy some home grown BBQ goodness.
Individual Sheppard's Pies like Chris mentioned would sure wet my appetite. Our British Friends make Sheppard's Pies and man, are they a treat!

Do you make Sausages, or Snack Sticks?

Can you elaborate on Sausages? And what is a snack stick?

 

[William Sullivan]

On smoke chuck what would be a good barbecue sauce.

 

[SonnyE]

Can you elaborate on Sausages? And what is a snack stick?

Like Kielbasa, Polish sausages.
Snack Sticks - Slim Jim Meat sticks.

 

[Preacher Man]

I made some pulled chicken the other day in such a way as to capture the juices to add back in.

Here's the thread: https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/pulled-chicken-tacos.283373/

Call me crazy, but I prefer this pulled chicken to pulled pork.

 

[William Sullivan]

I hope he's got a good, little, lockable, freezer.
Vacuum sealed they should keep great. Nuke some and enjoy some home grown BBQ goodness.
Individual Sheppard's Pies like Chris mentioned would sure wet my appetite. Our British Friends make Sheppard's Pies and man, are they a treat!

Do you make Sausages, or Snack Sticks?

Like Kielbasa, Polish sausages.
Snack Sticks - Slim Jim Meat sticks.

I was looking for something to cook and freeze for later

 

[Preacher Man]

I actually prefer PB&J to any BBQ. I love making BBQ but could care less about eating it.

 

[William Sullivan]

I made some pulled chicken the other day in such a way as to capture the juices to add back in.

Here's the thread: https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/pulled-chicken-tacos.283373/

Call me crazy, but I prefer this pulled chicken to pulled pork.

Thanks I'll look at it

 

[Hawging It]

Been vacum packing everything for years. Racks of pork ribs, Chicken breast, pulled pork (chopped pork) sausage, pork loin roast as well. No issues and it taste just like it came off the smoker. Hope this helps.

 

[hardcookin]

On smoke chuck what would be a good barbecue sauce.

Almost any BBQ sauce would work for chuck. Sweet Baby Rays, Blues Hog- Tennessee Red
I usually use beef gravy for chuck - Hot roast beef Sammy's

 

[indaswamp]

Bear's roast beef eye of round
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...-style-a-rare-bear-smoke.280040/#post-1880451

Buy it when it's cheap, smoke a bunch of it, make a gravy, slice and freeze....

 

[LanceR]

We often plan for leftovers of pre-cook foods when planning our meals. And we sent 5 kids off to college with precooked food so we had lots of practice. Now, with just two of us and our lids living hours away, make ahead meals allow us to cook stuff the would be awkward with just the two of us. A whole turkey or packer brisket and just two people can be more like a sentence than a pleasure if you don't have a way to save some for later.

Depending what he has to cook with make ahead meals can be heated up in the bag in a pan of water, on a stove top, in a microwave oven and a standard oven, toaster oven or air fryer work great to heat and crisp things up. Not knowing what he has to cook with and how willing he is to do more than heat and eat some of this may not help but....



If you want to vacuum seal ribs or other items with exposed bone go online and order a pack of vacuum bone guards-thick sheets of plastic to shield the sharp edges of bone and protect your bag. I just order some on Amazon....

If he has access to a vacuum sealer at school small stuff like meatballs, small fruits etc can be frozen on a sheet pan, vacuum sealed at home to be opened at school, take out what he wants and reseal.

Pork butts can be turned into pulled pork, sliced smoked pork or oven roasted pork slices and all reheat great.

Poultry done anyway that doesn't dry it out works well. If I'm smoking one or more turkeys I usually pick up some extra wings and giblets and some aromatics, cut it all into chunks, spray them with cooking spray and roast it all at high temperature stirring often until browned. I then make concentrated stock for a gravy base and put a small bag into each package of meat. That way if we want gravy we only need to heat and thicken the gravy base. Maybe one day I'll experiment with tapioca starch or arrowroot as thickeners as they are supposed to be the thickeners to freeze and thaw the best and make the gravy ahead.

Don't think I'm nuts but you can grill a steak to rare or medium rare, let it cool and seal it. To reheat he can use about 30-50% microwave power and even brown it in a hot skillet of on a grill. If done in the microwave alone it won't have any of the crust remaining but it'll still be a rare steak....

We have a chamber vacuum sealer so while we can take liquids right to the vacuum sealer and seal them you might need to take an extra step with wet food or liquids. For example you can freeze soup or stew in a vacuum bag that is laying flat on a sheet pan with the open end of the bag up on the rim of the pan and seal it after it is solid. R freeze liquids in a tray, pop them out and seal. Smaller quantities of liquids (like gravy or sauce) can be frozen in ice cube trays before sealing and that also makes portioning easy.

Even if your sealer has a "Seal" button that you can push at any time, items prone to being deformed in vacuum sealing benefit from being frozen to at least what the food industry calls the "frost crust" stage before sealing. Meatloaf, lasagna portion etc all seal just fine that way but it's important to have him cut the bag while they are still frozen of the vacuum will crush the food.

OK, enough of my rambling for now.... Have a great weekend.

 

[SonnyE]

Call me crazy, but I prefer this pulled chicken to pulled pork.

Hey, you live in Montana. We already KNOW you're crazy.

I was looking for something to cook and freeze for later

Exactly. Meat snack sticks are very tasty, super easy, and good nutrition. Chump walking between classes. No refrigeration required.
Polish sausage and sauerkraut. Package in one bag sous vide while studying, when hunger strikes, serve.
We presently buy packages of 4 Kielbasa sausages. We always freeze them, then use them individually. Not long ago I had a hankerin and ate a whole one almost by myself. A college man should be able to keep up with an old Grandpa at the table. My wife likes to fry up potatoes and chunks of Kielbasa in one pan. Makes for a hearty meal.
My end game with stuffing is to be making some of the sausages we like here at home.

He may be learning a major in College, if he learns to fix his food, make simple combinations, light cooking, he can accidentally gain life skills valuable for the rest of his life. Beats the crap out of learning how to head for McDonald's when he gets hungry.

 

[eazybreezy02]

I vacuum seal and freeze chicken and turkey all the time. I don't include the skin when I'm freezing. It just doesn't taste or feel right. I also freeze meatloaf, pulled beef, shepards pie, stew, fatties pork shots, moinks, salmon and chili. Basically anything that is leftover I'll freeze and take with me to work for dinners/lunches. Single servings reheat well in a microwave. I don't normally freeze the liquids in with the meat. I'll freeze them separately in individual cups then vacuum seal them together and take one or two out when I thaw the meat.

Chris

What he said!

 

[William Sullivan]

We often plan for leftovers of pre-cook foods when planning our meals. And we sent 5 kids off to college with precooked food so we had lots of practice. Now, with just two of us and our lids living hours away, make ahead meals allow us to cook stuff the would be awkward with just the two of us. A whole turkey or packer brisket and just two people can be more like a sentence than a pleasure if you don't have a way to save some for later.

Depending what he has to cook with make ahead meals can be heated up in the bag in a pan of water, on a stove top, in a microwave oven and a standard oven, toaster oven or air fryer work great to heat and crisp things up. Not knowing what he has to cook with and how willing he is to do more than heat and eat some of this may not help but....



If you want to vacuum seal ribs or other items with exposed bone go online and order a pack of vacuum bone guards-thick sheets of plastic to shield the sharp edges of bone and protect your bag. I just order some on Amazon....

If he has access to a vacuum sealer at school small stuff like meatballs, small fruits etc can be frozen on a sheet pan, vacuum sealed at home to be opened at school, take out what he wants and reseal.

Pork butts can be turned into pulled pork, sliced smoked pork or oven roasted pork slices and all reheat great.

Poultry done anyway that doesn't dry it out works well. If I'm smoking one or more turkeys I usually pick up some extra wings and giblets and some aromatics, cut it all into chunks, spray them with cooking spray and roast it all at high temperature stirring often until browned. I then make concentrated stock for a gravy base and put a small bag into each package of meat. That way if we want gravy we only need to heat and thicken the gravy base. Maybe one day I'll experiment with tapioca starch or arrowroot as thickeners as they are supposed to be the thickeners to freeze and thaw the best and make the gravy ahead.

Don't think I'm nuts but you can grill a steak to rare or medium rare, let it cool and seal it. To reheat he can use about 30-50% microwave power and even brown it in a hot skillet of on a grill. If done in the microwave alone it won't have any of the crust remaining but it'll still be a rare steak....

We have a chamber vacuum sealer so while we can take liquids right to the vacuum sealer and seal them you might need to take an extra step with wet food or liquids. For example you can freeze soup or stew in a vacuum bag that is laying flat on a sheet pan with the open end of the bag up on the rim of the pan and seal it after it is solid. R freeze liquids in a tray, pop them out and seal. Smaller quantities of liquids (like gravy or sauce) can be frozen in ice cube trays before sealing and that also makes portioning easy.

Even if your sealer has a "Seal" button that you can push at any time, items prone to being deformed in vacuum sealing benefit from being frozen to at least what the food industry calls the "frost crust" stage before sealing. Meatloaf, lasagna portion etc all seal just fine that way but it's important to have him cut the bag while they are still frozen of the vacuum will crush the food.

OK, enough of my rambling for now.... Have a great weekend.

 

[William Sullivan]

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