How I process large quantities of ground beef…
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I don’t always brown my beef this way, sometimes I use the traditional method of cooking it in a pan and standing over it chopping, stirring, chopping, stirring…yeah sometimes I do that. One thing I ALWAYS do though, is cook large batches at once. I never just cook enough for one meal.
I prefer to brown at least five to ten pounds at once. I then drain off the grease, cool it, and package it in small freezer bags in whatever amount equals enough for a family meal of spaghetti or whatnot. For my family, this usually means a cup to a cup and a half of ground beef. I freeze it and whenever I need it for a meal, simply thaw in the microwave or with whatever I am cooking and I’ve cut out a major step and a decent amount of mess!
If you end up having a meal such as tacos, which required extra beef, simply grab two bags.
Why get out the skillet, thaw, brown, and drain over and over when you can do it once and save yourself tons of time and repeated messes?
This is one of my favorite ways to cook beef as it doesn’t require the attention that a skillet browning does. Also, you can get those nice little granules of beef without having to chop, chop, chop….Its great for large quantities of beef as well and I find the cooking process is done in half the time, with a lot less fat left on your finished product.
Begin with ground beef. Why do I use ground beef instead of ground chuck or lean ground beef? Simple, its cheaper. Grocery prices have been rising rapidly, gas is through the roof and I still have to feed a family of four with the same amount of money as I had before all of this. Ground beef it is!
Using your hand, take a clump of ground beef and submerge it.
Bring to a boil. You’ll need to stir it just a time or two until its all nice and browned and done.
Until I have a whole bowl like this. At this point, I will get a one cup measuring cup after it has cooled and put one cup servings in individual freezer bags to have on hand whenever I need ground beef for a meal.
And look at all this you left behind!! ewwwww
Do you use this same frozen meat for recipes that call for ground beef with onions? I’m just curious how and if you can incorporate the onions after the beef has already been browned and frozen.
Ummmm Alicia.. How about you cook the onions, then mix with cooked ground beef.. Simple..
I just threw the onions in with the beef. It worked perfectly. For me, cooking onions in another pan defeats the purpose.
Like Crystal said, saute your onions, then add your ground beef to the pan.
How do you thaw out the frozen meat when you are ready to use it?
You can defrost it in the microwave or if you are using it in a soup, stew or sauce you can just throw it in frozen.
Christy, I have been making vegetable beef soup using this method all my life. I “boil” my ground beef, then add tomatoes, vegetables and anything else I want to throw in. I usually cool in the refrigerator and then dip off the hardened fat. The flavor is the best! It makes it’s own beef broth as it cooks the ground beef. Just the way my mama always did it!
Don’t you just love how easy it is?!
Christy–
what kind of freezing bag are you putting the ground beef in? Like a ziplock bag? or do you have one of those fancy air-sucking out devices? How long can you leave it in the freezer before it gets funky? i LOVE your website and am ashamed it has taken me THIS long to look at it. One of my collegues suggested it when I was lamenting about how stressed my life is.
thanks!!!!
Meredith’s Mom
I always cook my beef in a skillet, drain and freeze by the pound. I feel “necked” with out beef in the freezer!!! May give your method a try the next time.
I am so HAPPY to see that I am not t he only person that does this. I have been cooking beef like this for 6 years. I have had people to ask me what I do to get the beef so soft, when I tell them, they look at me like I am crazy and tell me there is no way they woulld eat that…..(hmmmm) I look at them and say “Well you just did!” Well you know where that goes. Anyway, thank you for letting others know.
~giggles~ And I bet they liked it!
Huh, I have to admit, I HATE cooking up ground beef & it’s basically impossible for me to do when the husband is @ work & the 3 year old is running around screaming, chasing the dogs & the 12 year old get the 3 year old all upset. So I starting doing only soup/salad & sandwiches or crock pot meals only the nights he was working. After seeing this, I’m going out tomorrow getting me a roll of that beef & putting it in a pan & see what happens.
After you bring it to a boil, do you turn it down or leave it on boil? About how long does this cook until it’s done?