I used to buy 5 lb rolls of ground beef, cut them into 5 portions, wrap and freeze them in solid hunks. But it was not conducive for quickly thawing, and if one fell out of our well-stocked freezer, it could break a toe.
Now I grind my own meat, but this would still apply to the rolls and freeze it "flat" in thick freezer bags. It's much easier to stack neatly in my freezer and thaws more evenly if I need a "quick thaw."
By Kelli from Sentani, Indonesia
This page contains the following solutions.
I cook up 10 pounds of ground beef at a time and then divide it up into one pound packages (our family's size). Then I freeze it.
When we buy burger in large packages, we part it out, usually in 1 pound packs. We put each section into a gallon size freezer bag, then flatten it out in the skillet like a large burger, zip the bag and freeze.
I recycle cottage cheese and sour cream containers to freeze bulk purchases of ground beef in. I have discovered that 1 lb. of ground beef fits in a 16 oz. container.
Buy ground meat in bulk and divide it into quart or gallon-size freezer bags. Lay the bags flat and either knead with your palms or use rolling pin to spread-out the meat 1/2 inch thick to fill each corner of the square bag.
When I freeze my own hamburger patties, I cut pieces of freezer paper into squares a little bit bigger than the patties. I put two pieces of the paper between each patty, slick side towards the patties.
When I buy meat in larger quantities, this is how I package them for the freezer. I patty up my 8 oz. burgers. You can pull them out 2 at a time, for meals that call for a pound.
I am not a person who enjoys cooking, so I spend as little time in the kitchen as possible. When I buy a large quantity of ground beef, I always brown it and divide it into quart size zipper bags then put it into the freezer for impromptu pots of chili or spaghetti sauce.
When I prepare ground beef for freezing, I make patties using a hamburger press. I place wax paper on each side of each patty to keep them from sticking together then I stack them in a gallon zip lock bag for freezing and place it on a flat surface in the freezer until the patties are frozen.
