Ruth Alexander

Jess, you said the key is to keep things simple.

So what would your top tips be for Hannah?

You mentioned a brand of slow cooker there.

Other brands are available.

But if you're going to have success batch cooking, do you need to buy a slow cooker?

Is that the key?

You're listening to The Food Chain from the BBC World Service.

I'm Ruth Alexander.

This week, how to batch cook.

I'm joined by Hannah Hambleton, a full-time working mother of two in Shropshire, England, who wants to get into prepping meals in advance to save time and add variety.

Advising her is Jess Rice from US recipe website Budget Bites and blogger Kevin Currie of Fit Men Cook.

Also joining us now is Natalie Stanton from the Safety Expert website.

Natalie trains chefs in food safety.

So what are the main things to bear in mind to ensure you are meal prepping safely?

First of all, obviously, wash your hands and keep raw meat and fish away from everything else.

And then what?

And how cool should food be before it goes in the fridge or freezer?

You mentioned rice there, and rice dishes are very popular with the meal preppers of social media, I've noticed.

But is it safe to cook a batch of rice in advance and then eat it over several days?

So with rice, be careful.