I don't get takeaways often, once a month maybe, once every 2 weeks tops, but when I do I always get a few dishes, eat one of them and freeze the other 2 or 3. Next time I want a takeaway I just get one out of the freezer and defrost served with home made rice or whatever. Saves money on delivery and other fees, saves a bit of time, saves money on rice and other side items that you can have in stock.
It does require being a bit disciplined about not eating them more often than you would when you just ordered them though.
Leftovers, definitely.
But ordering extra just to freeze isn't something I would do.
It's never as good when it's reheated. Nevermind frozen, thawed, then reheated
Disagree. Leftover curry the next day is top tier.
No, it's much nicer to just order on the night, learning to cook stuff yourself is the real frugal tip.
I do this! Mainly because I live on my own so need to order 2 dishes to qualify for delivery (got to love the single tax) either get an extra dish for the next day or freeze it
Personally I wouldn't if it contained meat or seafood. You don't know if it was already frozen by the restaurant. Some places by frozen, cooked meat. I don't eat meat though, and I've frozen stuff like dahl. Seems such a waste to throw it and I never manage to eat it all.
I hadn't thought about that but apparently it's perfectly fine to refreeze cooked meat that's already been frozen and defrosted
The first part is fine in theory but you don't know if the takeaway has pre made it and frozen the completed dish and then reheated it.
But is that meat that's been cooked, frozen, defrosted then reheated and served to you? Or raw, frozen meat, defrosted, cooled and served? There's just so many opportunities for it to go wrong that I won't risk it... But that's my choice, not saying people will definitely get sick if they choose to freeze meat dishes from a restaurant.
I worked a in a restaurant a while ago, they defrosted raw prawns by running tap water over them in a sink. Do you want to take that risk, refreezing and reheating something like that?
Using tap water to defrost prawns is fine, do you only drink bottled water?
What's wrong with that?
That's a normal way to defrost things, the reason food agencies recommend thawing in a fridge at home is that it's simple and foolproof. There are other safe ways to defrost items.
Absolutely! Especially balti sauce, dips, etc not rice. Not a chance!.
What's the issue with freezing your rice?
You need to cool cooled rice quickly in order to minimise the risk of bacteria. From what I remember during my catering days, the bacteria found in rice is heat resistant so won't die if reheated. You should take care when freezing any cooked food though, but I think rice is especially tricky.
Bacillus Cereus. It's the most dangerous and easily incubated of the common bacteria that cause food poisoning. It can be killed by heat but it changes the composition of the rice and creates a low level neurotoxin very easily if in the heat danger zone for too long. This toxin can't be killed by heat.
Rice is much more dangerous than raw meat for example.
Also, another interesting thing that most don't know. Most cases of E-Coli in the UK come from unwashed fruit and vegetables as opposed to what people believe would be raw meat or eggs.
I've had food poisoning from takeaway rice and I've never known anything like it. I fully lost 2 days
I had food poisoning from some eggs when I was in France. 2 days of absolute hell. Thankfully the sink was close enough to the toilet for me to just live there for the whole two days. I thought I was dying 😂
The bacteria get killed but the neurotoxin they produce sticks around
I thought there was something a bit more serious with rice....
I worry that it has already been reheated from a takeaway
That's not something I'd previously considered, thanks 🙂
I'd have nothing to eat for breakfast then! lol
Last time I had a food delivery was about 3 years ago when I managed to stack vouchers and get a bunch of Chinese dishes for next to nothing
Yeah I'm not that frugal lol
Yes to the food parts of the takeaway.
Not rice though. It's pretty tricky stuff rice... for making you ill.
Besides, it's the most expensive way of getting some rice... not frugal at sll 😀
Yeah i never freeze rice, there's never any of it left over and I always cook my own when I defrost the sauces in the freezer. I could just not get the restaurant rice at all but I sometimes like to have at least one portion of it with my order
I know the feeling... I get takeaways knowing there is time to boil rice... but ordering it anyway.
By the way, can I direct you to Rafi's Spicebox. Excellent curry's. Super easy to cook, choose your heat, low fat and way cheaper than takeaways.
I buy enough to get the free delivery and put the spicepacks in the freezer until I need one. They're £6. You need a kilo of your favourite curry meat/veg. You make appx 1.3kg or so of curry, so that's enough for 4 meals... 3 if you are me...
I've heard Rafi's are good! I actually cook a lot of BIR style curries from scratch at home and have the base sauce in batches in the freezer.
I used to do that, I used to spend a weekend on it and be fone for a year. The house would smell wonderful!
Everyone being scared of reheating rice is a British thing. My polish family think I’m a man man for not touching it
Yeah it's quite funny seeing all these comments terrified of reheating rice. They'd have an aneurysm if they saw how the average Chinese family treats rice.
I always assume that takeaways have been frozen before and I'd get food poisoning if I froze it again. I work in a kitchen and so many of the ingredients are cooked ahead and frozen for 6months before defrosting and cooking and selling.
It's safe. Might affect the texture a bit but not harmful as long as it's properly defrosted and heated
I don't mean the re freezing it's the recooking already recooked food
It's fine to reheat already cooked food as long as it's heated up properly
Yes but you aren't actually paying attention to what I'm saying. Reheating something that has been cooked great yeah fantastic. Reheating something that has been cooked, put in the fridge or freezer, reheated, cooled and put in the freezer again. not good. You aren't seeing just how much reheating is already happening in takeaways in consideration of food health and safety.
Hold up, your not having takeaways 1 or twice a month then. You’re having takeaways up to 6 times a month. That’s quite a few take aways.
My wording might be confusing. I mean that im having takeaways once a month, but I'm buying them once every 3 months, because two of the dishes go in the freezer. So for example I buy takeaway in January with a few dishes, which covers me for Feb and March
Yes. I don't eat large amounts anymore so if I get 2 main dishes and make rice, I can usually get 6 to 8 portions out of the order, and freeze most of them. With delivery charges, it still comes out expensive per meal though.
When I reheat I always find microwaving on 50% power to be the best way, on full power everything either dries out or sauces reduce far too much and can sometimes burn a bit.
I don’t have a microwave so either put it in a pan or in a foil takeaway container in the oven
You don't get takeaways often but maybe once a month, maybe every two weeks max?
Sounds quite often to me 😂
There is no way this is considered frequent in the general population.
Well, I lived in America for a long time where it's normal for people to get takeout 2-3 times a week. Once a month definitely isn't often for the UK, and I only do twice a month if there's something like a get together at a friend's house
Hardly frugal to be having takeaways that often.
On the other hand, if I order a curry (which I do about twice a year!) I'll make sure I don't eat all the sauce, and freeze it instead. Month or two later, and BOSH!. I've got a delicious curry sauce ready for an easy meal.
Being frugal is different for everyone though. I'm being frugal by having a takeaway once a month, and 2 of those times I'm getting it from my freezer rather than ordering it each time. At £30-40 per takeaway (with 3 dishes, 2 of which go in the freezer) that's not spending a lot 4 or 5 times over the course of a year. I'm still saving money, which is being frugal without going without the things I enjoy.
It's all relative when there are people getting takeaways 2-3 times a week (which I've never done)
I freeze the leftover sauce from whatever curry I ordered and use that as my gravy to make my next curry.
This
Regularly do this...
Never had any issues with food poisoning. Even rice.
If you like Chinese Curry, the I wholeheartedly recommend getting a Tub of Goldfish Curry Sauce as it tastes exactly the same and a sub £3 tub does 8 claimed portions. Though I like to add potato to the usual Chicken and onion that these curries usually has and it stretches it to 10 with rice and they're great for freezing
I'll give that a try. I usually get the Maysan concentrated curry paste
Ive recently tried this having used the mayflower packs for a while. Both are good, goldfish brand feels a little closer to what is used in takeaways but flavourwise, both taste very close to what you are going to order in. Velvet your beef or poach your chicken and you will get it even over to a takeaway order
Fridge yes, frozen no.
Unless I've cooked it myself from fresh.
I have a takeaway once every 2-3 months but I’ll order enough for 2-3 days. That does me well enough!
Plus I also tell myself if I really want a takeaway then I can get off my fat ass and pick it up myself, I never use food delivery firms. Plus they give me a discount and free stuff if I nip down there.
I definitely dont order extra stuff to freeze, that seems an expensive wya to have worse quality takeaway food at a later date
I often dont finish what ive ordered and ill have the rest for lunch the next day though
Is it easier and cheaper to just get something like Gousto or Simmer?
I used to do this a lot pre-Covid. A local take away did a very large family meal for about £30-35. That would last me about a week. Then they closed during lockdown 1 and when they reopened the prices had gone up and the portion size had gone right down.
i do freeze my leftover pizza and put it in the air fryer when i want it
Enjoy the diarrhoea!
When we buy noodle boxes, you can super size them for an extra £2, and it gives enough to save for lunch the next day
Leftovers yes but extra to freeze it's just incredibly stupid. It's literally costing you a multiple of what it would cost to make yourself and freeze.