Pre-cooking bulk ground beef for freezing

[Rosemary231]

Has anyone tried pre-cooking ground beef (bulk about 3 lbs.) in the crock pot to prepare it for freezing? I'd like to freeze about 1 lb. pkgs of pre-cooked meat to have ready on hand. Plus, could the raw ground beef be started frozen?

[Kitchen Witch]

Hi Rosemary -

You can cook frozen meat in the crockpot - I've done it before.
Cook your ground beef until thoroughly cooked; cool in large bowl in refrigerator until completely cold - preferably overnight. Use a slotted spoon to remove it from your pot to drain off excess fat or liquid.
Transfer to your freezer bags or containers; force air out, label, date and freeze.
To reheat, you can thaw overnight in the refrigerator or just add to hot pan - depending on what you are making.

I hope this helps.

KW

[Rosemary231]

Thanks, that helps. This seems so easy and a lot less messier that frying. I wonder about spoiling during the time it takes the meat to thaw and heat to a safe temp.

[Kitchen Witch]

You can take it out of the freezer a day before and plce it in the fridge - that will start the thawing process. But if you put your crockpot on high you should be ok. I would start the browning in a skillet first before transferring to crockpot.

[Rosemary231]

I think I understand. I want to cook a 3 lb. chub of ground beef in my crockpot. It will be frozen so I should start and continue the whole cooking process on high and the meat should remain safe? That's easy. I think I'll try a crockpot liner and cut down on the cleanup. Thanks.

[Mariah36]

I have just browned it....then rinsed it in hot water to remove as much fat as possible. Then I shrink wrapped it and placed it in the freezer...it did fine for just over a month. Never tired it for longer than that