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Can I put frozen meatballs and sauce directly in the crockpot and cook all day? Will they hold...

post #1 of 6
12/31/11 at 8:22am
Thread Starter 

Hello,

 

Though I've wanted to, haven't really done much feeding of the freezer.  Now we are going to stay in a resort with a full kitchen.  We have major food allergies to deal with, so will be cooking all our meals.  It is a water park place, so ideally I want to start dinner in the morning and have it ready for dinner.  I make meatballs at home that are ground beef, an egg sub, rice flour and some seasoning, and cook in the oven with a sauce made from brown sugar, pineapple juice and applesauce, along with pineapple chunks.  I'd like to form the meatballs ahead of time and flash freeze raw, then put in the crockpot in the morning with the sauce and pineapple.  

 

Would they just become mush, or would they hold their shape?  I plan on using 3 lbs of hamburger, so their will be quite a lot, they will be layered on top of each other, even though I have a big crock pot.

 

Suggestions?

 

TIA,

Tracy

 

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post #2 of 6
12/31/11 at 10:16am

I"m not sure to be honest - I've been wondering this myself with pre-made supermarket meatballs.

 

About all you can do is try it, and have a backup plan if it doesn't work - sounds like if anything happened they'd go to mush, which you could serve over a starch or sloppy joe style on buns. Actually that made sloppy joe style and served on buns sounds yummy to me. 

post #3 of 6
1/1/12 at 7:50pm

Everything I've read about safely cooking in a crockpot says you should not put frozen food in - everything needs to be fully defrosted first. But it sounds like you're staying in a place that would have a fridge? You could certainly defrost them in the fridge overnight and then put them in the crockpot to cook all day in the morning. I do that all the time. For beef, I'd go 8 hours on low. They should hold their shape just fine.

post #4 of 6
1/17/12 at 2:58pm

How long wold they take to cook from frozen on the stove? I work full-time and regularly put frozen commercial meatballs in a pot with jarred spaghetti sauce and cook on low. They are done at the same time as the spaghetti. I'd say no more than 20 minutes. It's not too complicated. 

 

post #5 of 6
3/13/12 at 7:09pm

Ive done it.. I never read that you shouldn't and Ive actually done it a few times. They held up great and they were yummy

post #6 of 6
3/22/12 at 6:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by frugalmama View Post

I"m not sure to be honest - I've been wondering this myself with pre-made supermarket meatballs.



Works GREAT with frozen store bought meatballs (I've only used the fully cooked ones though).

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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Health › Nutrition and Good Eating › Meal Planning › Can I put frozen meatballs and sauce directly in the crockpot and cook all day? Will they hold their shape?