It is just me? Or is the trend for batch-cooking mind-numbing? asks CLAUDIA CONNELL

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It is just me? Or is the trend for batch-cooking mind-numbing? asks CLAUDIA CONNELL

  • ‘Batch-cooking’ has increased in popularity during both UK lockdowns 
  • Claudia Connell can’t see the appeal of having shelves filled with the same meal
  • She questions if it saves time and argues food is tastier when freshly prepared 

By Claudia Connell for the Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

How did you spend your weekend? Binge watching the new series of The Crown? A bracing autumn walk? Or just counting the days until shops, restaurants and pubs reopen?

Then again, perhaps you spent it chained to a kitchen for hours on end, chopping vegetables in order to prepare and cook enough food to feed an army?

So-called ‘batch-cooking’ has been growing as a trend in recent years and snowballed in popularity during both lockdowns.

Claudia Connell admits she can’t see the appeal of ‘batch-cooking’ and argues freshly prepared food is always tastier (file image)

Social media accounts have been full of endless photos showing piles of chopped veg, followed by huge vats of stews and curries bubbling away on a hob. And the moment of ultimate brag: the results of their labour — stacks of containers, all labelled and ready for the freezer.

As much as I enjoy cooking, for the life of me I can’t understand the appeal.

Who wants to open their freezer to see the shelves groaning with dozens of containers of the same meal? Isn’t lockdown depressing enough?

Open the freezer to see dozens of the exact same meal? Isn’t lockdown depressing enough? 

When I decide I’m going to devote a couple of hours to making a lasagne from scratch, it’s because I haven’t eaten one in months — it doesn’t mean I want to eat it eight more times in quick succession.

Another factor is that food is always tastier when freshly prepared, while reheated frozen food often turns into watery slop.

And does it really save time? Surely, it’s still quicker to make an omelette then it is to heat a frozen meal?

Looking forward to something lovely to eat is what often gets me through a long day at work. Beef stew for the fifth time that month would make me never want to leave the office.