Meal prep and batch cooking
Community · 3 threads
Cooking ahead, chilling, reheating, and whether the bags are worth it.
Nothing splits this board like meal prep. Half the regulars run their entire week from a Sunday batch cook and can't imagine going back; the other half think bagging a carrot is a cry for help. Both camps post here, at length, and the truth appears to live somewhere in the middle of the argument.
6 replies · 240 views · last reply by brisketmike, Aug 19, 2026
5 replies · 220 views · last reply by Sammy R., Jul 8, 2026
4 replies · 180 views · last reply by garagegriller, Jun 8, 2026
Where the debate lands
After all the back and forth, the rough consensus: proteins you plan to reheat are where the method genuinely earns its counter space, because they come back midweek tasting like they were cooked that evening. Sides, vegetables, and anything the oven already does well are where even the enthusiasts admit the bags are mostly ceremony. Reusable bags have taken the sting out of the waste complaint for the regulars who made the switch.
The professional point that keeps being made in these threads deserves the emphasis: cook, chill fast, hold cold, reheat to order is standard practice in restaurant kitchens, and the home version stands or falls on the chilling speed and the labelling, not on the cooking. Get bags cold quickly, date them, and keep an honest fridge life.
The meal prep guide sets out the whole routine, and reheating with sous vide covers the step most people improvise. Label the bags. Everyone says it because everyone learned it.