Prior to Freezing - to cook or not to cook

[Tela T]

I'm quite certain that someone out there smarter than I - has dealt with this before. I want to make dinners that come easily out of the freezer - I have the amazingly easy stuffed chicken breast - pound out the chicken breast - stuff with the desired ingredients (I like proscuitto, goat cheese, and pesto) roll it in some seasoned breadcrumbs (use the bagged stuffing munched up - perfect!) and then bake until done - but my real question is - if I want to do as much beforehand as possible - at what point can I freeze them - before cooking; after partially cooking? - I'd love to do bunches at a time and then cook when desired - assuming placing directly into the oven don't even want to consider defrosting - that whole thing about growing a science project with chicken scares me to death! Ideas - suggestions, please??!!

T

[KarenDW]

I would freeze pre-cooking. Then when you want to use, make sure the oven is pre-heated. Cook from frozen; add 10-20 min to the cooking time; check temp w/ a thermometer when cooking. Or, check on a package of frozen stuffed chicken at the grocery store... for cooking times. Keep in mind how your portion size relates to the package, though.

Make sure all your stuffing ingredients are cold before you start!

[iriee]

let the chicken thaw out in the fridge overnight before you cook it. if you cook it frozen then the outside will really dry out by the time the inside is at a safe temp. i've done it many times.