advice needed re: freezing meatballs

[Anonymous]

I made a very large batch of turkey-bison meatballs. I want to freeze half of them to defrost after I give birth in late May. I am not sure if I should freeze them pre-cooked or go ahead and cook then freeze? They have fresh onion, garlic, basil and parsley in them too if that makes a difference. Thanks for any words of wisdom.

Oh, also could use some help on how to package them for freezer. just plain freezer bag?

[Anonymous]

I've frozen meatballs both ways -- never noticed much difference. But given your plan, I'd cook 'em first to save time on the back end.

[Anonymous]

Freezing them cooked is much easier. I toss them in a freezer bag, but if you aren't going to use them for a few months, you may want to wrap them tightly in saran. I wouldn't take the time to wrap them individually, but would wrap saran around them all together, then put that in a freezer bag, get as much air out as possible and then seal the bag.

[Anonymous]

thank you, I was thinking it would be easier to cook first!

[Anonymous]

Ditto cooking first and wrapping tightly -but also make sure they're 100% cooled before you wrap them up. Otherwise condensation forms on the inside of the Saran Wrap and turns into water when you reheat them upon use.

[Anonymous]

Yes, cook them first! I always freeze meatballs. Freeze them first on a cookie sheet in the freezer, uncovered, then toss them into a zip lock bag and take the air out with a straw.