Should You Season Raw Ground Beef Before Freezing

You've Been Freezing Basis Beefiness Wrong Your Whole Life

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There are times when you lot realize you need basis beefiness for a recipe — but information technology's frozen solid after sitting in the freezer. And even if you merely need a portion, thawing your entire package of basis beef long enough to get some can take forever, then you're faced with the prospect of needing to prepare it all within a few days because refreezing meat that'southward already been frozen isn't always the best idea.

But what can y'all practise? The refrigerator is not a long-term storage solution for footing beef. The USDA'due south Food Safety and Inspection Service says that refrigerated basis beefiness should be used within 1 or two days.

Well, you're in luck, because at that place'south an piece of cake hack that'll solve this problem. The next time you buy raw footing beef, get-go have it out of its packaging. Then store the meat inside a ziplock freezer bag, only earlier sealing the bag, printing it downward with your hands or a rolling pin until it's a rectangle that's nigh a one-half-inch thick (via Southern Living).

How to freeze ground beefiness the correct way

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Flattening down the ground beef will arrive defrost faster after on because of the increased surface surface area, which will cutting down on your repast prep when it comes time to cook your meat. This also removes any air pockets that might lead to freezer burn, which can alter your meat's taste (via Lifehacker). Brand sure the handbag is tightly sealed after portioning out and then use a permanent marking to characterization information technology with the appointment and what's inside. This will help you keep track of when information technology was stored.

But you can take this a step further. Portion out the basis beef into divide plastic numberless first and so flatten them down before y'all put it in the freezer. Information technology might have a piffling more work, merely it pays off subsequently when yous're cooking. Utilize a kitchen calibration to weigh and divide out the raw meat into sections (the exact amount for each portion is upwardly to what is most useful to you, although creating 1-pound packages might make the most sense, equally many recipes call for ground beefiness in pounds). Label the bag with the total corporeality of basis beef inside and then y'all know exactly how much you lot need for a recipe when you accept information technology out later.

An easier way to freeze basis beef

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Desire something easier and faster to practise? You can as well store your meat in a larger freezer bag and so have a long chopstick, ruler, or anything with a straight edge to divide up the meat into individual portions. By doing so, even though yous're freezing the entire pocketbook, you lot can simply intermission off the amount that you need later. No demand to thaw out the whole thing!

When y'all want to thaw out a purse of frozen basis beef, identify it in the fridge and then leave it to defrost for a few hours, if y'all have the fourth dimension. If you're brusque on time, run cool water over it in the sink. Demand it correct away? Take out the meat from the pocketbook and microwave it with the "defrost" setting.

Storing your raw ground beef in plastic bags and flattening them helps to salve precious freezer space considering they can be easily stacked on summit of one some other. But note that while ground beef kept frozen is rubber for an indefinite amount of time, it will eventually commencement to lose quality. It's best to utilise information technology within 4 months, which is still a fairly long time, peculiarly if you find an awesome bargain on ground beef at your local supermarket and desire to stock upwards.

Save time at dinner by freezing cooked ground beef

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If yous desire to take things a footstep further in the meal prep section, you lot'll want to cook your ground beef prior to freezing it. The Kitchn recommends cooking your meat and seasoning it with common salt and pepper, at a minimum, but there's no reason you can't add taco seasonings for Taco Tuesday, or sautéed onions and garlic for a pot of chili. In one case your beef is cooked, drain the fat and let it cool before freezing it in half-pound portions. Again, flattening the meat in a Ziploc bag with all the air pushed out is your all-time bet to avert freezer burn down.

When you're gear up to cook, you lot don't even need to worry about defrosting. Just drop the meat in the pan or pot, and you're well on your fashion to dinner.

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Source: https://www.mashed.com/216990/youve-been-freezing-ground-beef-wrong-your-whole-life/

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