OT: Freezing Ground Beef

[Dawgg]

Question: Do you guys ever freeze ground beef? If so, after how many days?

I pretty much never freeze mine and try to grill within a few days of purchasing it, but my wife immediately puts it into the freezer when it comes home from the grocery store. Drives me 17ing crazy and I feel like defrosted ground beef is a gloppy mess and never as good.

 

[PearlRiverCoDawg]

I freeze mine all time. The day before I’m gonna use it I let it thaw out in the fridge.

 

[aTotal360]

I buy the triple 1 lb packs of "wagyu" beef from Costco and freeze them. Already partitioned and vacuum sealed.

 

[mstateglfr]

Do you buy 50-50 or something like that?
85-15 and 93-7 thaws fine for us.

If I buy 3# due to price, I'll cut into thirds to use one section and freeze the others.
I pit the 1# sections into quart freeze bags and push it flat so it freezes thin and can thaw quickly.

 

[Dawgbite]

I buy the triple 1 lb packs of "wagyu" beef from Costco and freeze them. Already partitioned and vacuum sealed.

We buy these too but the last three pack we bought smelled funky and we threw it away.

 

[aTotal360]

We buy these too but the last three pack we bought smelled funky and we threw it away.

Never had a bad one. I grew on deer meat so maybe I'm immune to the smell.

 

[kired]

I won’t use frozen ground beef for burgers, but will use it in other stuff like tacos or spaghetti

 

[peewee.sixpack]

I freeze it if I have leftovers which is rare. I use 100% ground venison for everything but burgers b/c my wife likes her burgers out of beef. Therefore I’m usually freezing it after a day or 2 in the fridge.

 

[Dawgbite]

Never had a bad one. I grew on deer meat so maybe I'm immune to the smell.

Me too, it wasn’t that smell. It almost had a sulfer smell to it.

 

[thatsbaseball]

I buy 85%+ lean 4-5 lbs at a time. I make (approx) 1/2 lb patties and wrap them individually in saran wrap and freeze them in 1 gal freezer bags. I try to use the meat within 6 months but I know it will keep longer if needed.

 

[MarkDallas]

Grandparents had a cattle farm growing up. We froze ground beef for months at a time.

 

[patdog]

I won’t use frozen ground beef for burgers, but will use it in other stuff like tacos or spaghetti

Same here. Burgers are always 80-20 & fresh. Any other ground beef can be frozen.

 

[MSUDC11-2.0]

I won’t use frozen ground beef for burgers, but will use it in other stuff like tacos or spaghetti

Same. Want fresh meat for a burger or meatloaf but frozen is fine for most other things.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

I have half a steer in my freezer with about 200 1 lb packs of ground beef. Thaw out just fine.

 

[MStateU]

It’s fine. One thing that seems to matter to me is how you thaw meat out. If you try to do it fast in warm water it gets weird. Not just ground meat. Any meat.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

Question: Do you guys ever freeze ground beef? If so, after how many days?

I pretty much never freeze mine and try to grill within a few days of purchasing it, but my wife immediately puts it into the freezer when it comes home from the grocery store. Drives me 17ing crazy and I feel like defrosted ground beef is a gloppy mess and never as good.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

It’s fine. One thing that seems to matter to me is how you thaw meat out. If you try to do it fast in warm water it gets weird. Not just ground meat. Any meat.

You shouldn’t use warm water anyway. Coldest possible

 

[TXDawg.sixpack]

After years of frustration with frozen ground beef, I finally realized the best way to “preserve“ ground beef is to vacuum seal, freeze, then (when you’re ready) slowly thaw it in the fridge. You can actually make good burgers this way.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

I buy the triple 1 lb packs of "wagyu" beef from Costco and freeze them. Already partitioned and vacuum sealed.

I've been wondering if Costco was good beef. The ground beef at Sam's has a rubbery texture so I stopped buying it. I only buy beef from local groceries now

 

[aTotal360]

I've been wondering if Costco was good beef. The ground beef at Sam's has a rubbery texture so I stopped buying it. I only buy beef from local groceries now

The triple 1 lb packs of the wagyu is all I ever bought there. I buy it mostly because of the packaging. I can use a pack for spaghetti or chili and easily freeze the other packs.

I can tell you from experience that ground beef usually becomes rubbery when you brown it at too high of a temp or you overhandle it. It works in burgers because you are expecting texture. Not so much in a ragu.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

We buy these too but the last three pack we bought smelled funky and we threw it away.

My wife has an aversion to the Costco vacuum sealed fresh chicken. Says it smells. Smells like raw chicken to me...

 

[Perd Hapley]

I think the sealing method is key. Needs to be vacuum sealed. If its the shítty styrofoam tray with the clear plastic, that’s no bueno for the freezer. Same with Ziplock bag.

 

[Pilgrimdawg]

I came home from Wyoming in October of 22 with 150 plus pounds of elk burger in 1.5 pound packs. We have put a huge dent in it and still eating it about once a week. Also have lots of deer burger and a little antelope burger left in the freezer. I did recently come across a pack of beef burger in the freezer and it still looks good even though it has been in there quite awhile. If we want burgers or hamburger steaks we use the elk. Chili, soup, spaghetti sauce, etc get any of them but elk is by far the best. All of them are healthier than beef by far. No problem with thawing the packs out. Just get it out first thing in the morning and it’s thawed by mid day. Taste and texture is excellent on all of it.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

The triple 1 lb packs of the wagyu is all I ever bought there. I buy it mostly because of the packaging. I can use a pack for spaghetti or chili and easily freeze the other packs.

I can tell you from experience that ground beef usually becomes rubbery when you brown it at too high of a temp or you overhandle it. It works in burgers because you are expecting texture. Not so much in a ragu.

Perhaps it is beat but I use the same method for both sams ground beef and local grocery and both have different textures. Sams is just crappy meat in my opinion.

 

[M R DAWGS]

I’ve eaten deer burger meat that was frozen for 2 years. It was still good.

 

[HumpDawgy]

Beef popsicles are the best!

 

[mcdawg22]

Beef popsicles are the best!