Bulk Cooking Ground Beef

Often recipes call for a certain amount of cooked ground beef and it's such a pain to have to cook it  each time. Wouldn't it be nice to just pull a bag of cooked meat out of your freezer and thaw it quickly? Bulk cooking is such a time saver. You can cook up a huge amount of meat in a short time and fill your freezer instantly with enough packages to last you a couple of months. Just think, a couple of months without having to cook ground beef for casseroles, tacos, burritos Sloppy Joes, etc.. This can be done with chicken as well. Just think how easy making tacos would be, 
or Sloppy Joes. Give it a try!

Step 1: Crumble the raw hamburger meat into a large pot. I recommend doing around 5 lbs. at a time. The amount you see in this tutorial is approximately 7.5 lbs. of raw meat being cooked. Keep the heat above medium heat and stir frequently, making sure to bring the meat at the bottom of the pot up so there is no burning. When doing such a large quantity of meat it is pretty hard to burn the bottom of the pot. But it can happen, so keep an eye on it. In your kitchen sink, place a colander. You'll be using it in Step 2.

Step 2: Once the meat is thoroughly cooked, carefully (with potholders, if needed) bring the hot pot over to the sink and CAREFULLY either scoop or pour out the meat and liquefied fat into the colander. Let the fat drain out well. DO NOT RINSE THE MEAT. If you rinse it you will lose a lot of the flavor. Draining is enough. *Side note: To get rid of the fat, if there is a lot of it, put the colander over a bowl before pouring to catch it. Let it cool and then scrape it into the trash or put it on your dog's food while warm. If there is only a little fat, just pour some dish liquid into the fat and mix it in and wash it down the drain with hot water.

Step 3: After the fat has drained out, transfer the meat to a large bowl to cool. While the meat is cooling get your freezer bags, a 2-cup measuring cup, and a permanent marker (oops! not shown) for Step 4.

Step 4: After the meat has cooled, scoop it up in 2-cup increments and pour it into each freezer bag until all the meat is used up.

Step 5: Remove as much air as possible as you seal the bags. Label with the permanent marker. If the meat still feels a bit warm, let it cool a bit longer and then freeze it. You are done! Now think of all the meals you can use cooked ground beef in and start enjoying the fruits of your labor!

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