With a massive amount of Zaycon ground beef in my kitchen, I had to have a plan. There’s only so much hamburger you can brown before you feel glued to your stove. So bring on my best friend Mr. Crock Pot. Seriously not sure how it took me this long to figure out this little time-saver trick. It’s so easy. Sure your hamburger will look a little different, so brace yourself for that. But it tastes the same and just saved me hours in the kitchen. Awesome possum.
Ingredients
4 lbs hamburger {Zaycon is the best!}
Garlic salt
Pepper
Onions {you can use fresh or dried}
Any other spices/seasoning your little heart desires
Directions
Place four pounds of meat in crock pot. Completely break up meat if you plan to walk away from your crock pot & leave it. The meat will cook exactly as you left it. Sprinkle seasonings on top of meat {a lot of the seasoning cooks off, so I added more than I normally would}.
Cook on low for about 5 hours or high for 2.5 hours. While waiting, go water your garden or catch up on Facebook and think to yourself how cool it is that you’ve saved yourself so much time. Once meat is completely cooked through, drain all of the fat off {You can throw frozen meat in the crock pot too, just cook for 2 hours on high and then break it up in the crock pot. Then follow the cooking instructions above}. Ignore the fact that it looks like you just cooked a bunch of brown worms, let it cool and then transfer to Ziploc bags. If you’re looking to freeze 1 lb bags, about 2.5 cups of cooked meat is equivalent to 1 lb {give or take}.
That’s it. So. Flippin. Easy.
I own 2 Crock-Pot Cook’ N Carry 6-Quart Portable Slow Cookers
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Claudine says
I was just talking to some people about this yesterday at a crock pot freezer meal workshop! One recipe was for a pasta meal and the crock pot portion in the bag included raw ground beef. We all weren’t entirely sure how it was going to work out, but now I know that it CAN be done. THANKS!
Kathy says
I do this all the time and have for years. It’s a great time saver and like you said Mavis, cooks just as good. Yes it can look like a pot of brown worms too lol. I LOVE my crock pot.
Debbie says
I cook meatloaf and even bake fish in mine. It keeps my kitchen cool in the summer.
Athena says
I have started doing this too. The first time I did with some ground turkey I got on sale that only had 1 day until the expiration date. Put it in the crock pot with some Rotel, green chiles and taco seasoning and after it cooked away on high for a few hours I had wonderful taco meat to freeze. I found some freezer meals online for about 1/2 of my Zaycon ground beef. I don’t know what my hubby and I were thinking when we bought 40 lbs for the 2 of us! I still have the other 1/2 to portion out and freeze. I would warn people that cooking ground beef this way can smell a little funky. My mom did it and the ground beef ended up smelling like canned dog food when it was cooked. They didn’t add any seasonings, so that probably helped add to that smell. You also have to make sure to drain it pretty well after it cooks. There is always a lot of liquid and fat that cooks off.
Kerry Sotelo says
Brilliant idea!! But 1 question is it safe to re freeze meat after it’s been cooked?
Mavis says
It’s totally safe!