Ground Beef Mastery – Best storage and fast defrosting method for ground beef

If you have a large family or like to prepare things in advance, this tip will give you more time and versatility preparing meals using ground beef. This is especially handy at dinner time when most folks need to prepare quick meals for dinner on the fly.

Preamble:

1. Buy to the closest kilogram – 500g = 1kg. Most recipes are in 500g increments.
2. You’ll need a good supply of large Ziploc® freezer bags. 500g per bag max.
3. Large volumes of both ground beef and Ziploc® can be purchased conveniently at Costco Wholesale.
4. Use a rolling pin for flatter, consistent packages. This is especially important for the freezing period as they’ll stack a lot better.
5. Defrost in a sink 1.4 full and use COLD water only. If the water is warm or hot, it will actually cook the meat as its defrosting.

First, weigh all the meat out on a scale if you have one, or if you payed attention to the preamble #1, you can simply divide the meat into 500g portions by hand. e.g. if you bought 1 kg or 1000 g, separate the meat into two sections (500 g+500 g).

Flatten by hand:

Make sure you leave a corner opened to let the air escape:

Finish by rolling the meat out with a pin and label if you wish. Ensure you have a tight seal on the freezer bag.

When defrosting, ensure that you use COLD water. You’ll have defrosted from frozen in about 10-15 minutes.

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