thawing ground beef

[medako]

I have a 10 lb. tube of hamburger that I got from Sam's for the party this weekend. I picked it up a couple of weeks ago and just tossed it into the freezer when I got home. My question is, when should I pull it out to start thawing? I'll need to brown it by Saturday (party is at 2pm)

[Mrs. Chipotle]

You'll probably need 2-3 days.

Although, I rarely bother to thaw ground beef, I just throw it in the pan and brown it. That would be a little difficult with the 10 lb packages from Sams though, I guess.

[Mama Mangia]

You could start to thaw it in the refrigerator on Thursday. Unless you have one of those hand-held meat saws and you can saw your way through it in several different places. Depending on the size of the pan - if you were to brown it frozen - start early enough and keep the lid on - the steam will help it to break up easier.

[medako]

I think I'll probably put it in a cake pan and start thawing like Thursday or so. This would at least give it time to thaw enough I could break it up a little easier.

I normally just brown from frozen, but this is like 2 feet of meat.

[cinnamon]

If it fits in your microwave you could speed up the thawing by microwaving on defrost for 5 minutes every few hours.

But it might be better to go to Sams and get another 10 pound package of ground beef, and use the frozen one like Mama suggests.

[clara]

10 lb, that's only about 5 kilos. Depends on what time you will be cooking it. I suggest try dividing them to make it easier; Remove them in the freezer by Thursday afternoon and leave them in the fridge. Friday morning let them sit in the water, with the plastic wrapper still on, make sure to change the water every once in a while then just put them in the refrigerator by Friday afternoon, not the freezer. By morning it will be soft already. I'm suggesting to let them sit in the water with the wrapper still so as to keep the freshness inside. So when you cook it on Saturday, the meat still have the nutrients and natural taste inside. Actually, just letting them out in the kitchen counter is fine, especially if the weather is good. The ice will melt by itself.

[cinnamon]

Personally I prefered thawed ground beef to microwaved (and yes I suggested it) thawed ground beef. It just seems that the microwaved beef doesn't make as good of a ground beef patty. If I'm making spaghetti, chili or sloppy joes it doesn't make a difference. But if making a hamburger, I think there is a huge difference in stickability of the meat. The microwave must micro cook some of the meat so it doesn't hold together as well.

[medako]

I'm making tacos with the meat. If it's not all defrosted by Saturday, then I'll probably just toss it in the microwave for a few minutes until I can break it into manageable pieces that will fit into my skillets so I can get it browned up and into the crockpots without spending all day trying to break it up.

[lcsamano]

I would say take it out on Thursday to start thawing it out. Is this the weekend that you are having your taco bar? If so you will have to tell us how well it went over with your guests. I think it is a great idea.

To get back to subject...LOL.. If not thawed out which it should be then just brown it and it should be ok.

[sarahlorrain]

Did you put your meat in the fridge to thaw? Don't forget. I hope you have a great party!