"flat Pack" Hamburger

[airedale]

This may be a trick that everybody but me already knows, but possibly not. In packaging hamburger for the freezer we have evolved into using what we call "flat packs." We weigh and portion the hamburger into a very rough ball and vacuum pack it. Then, using the bottom of a dinner plate we press it flat. Like this:

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This has a couple of advantages. First, it makes for very compact storage in the freezer -- like a stack of books:

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Second, laying a frozen flat pack on a granite counter top lets it thaw quickly with no mess or fuss. The flat hamburger surface transfers heat from the granite pretty quickly and the process can even be sped up by thawing one side and then turning the package over. Moving the flat pack once or twice to find warmer granite helps too. Faster yet, the relatively thin meat thaws quickly in a bowl of warm water.

 

[SMOKE FREAK]

Yep.
I use a rollin pin. Works great with pulled pork too.

 

[JbTech]

My wife did this with the last packages of beef we bought.

We (wife and I) were going on vacation, so she planned most of his dinners.
She stuck 1lb. packs of hamburger in a similar patty in freezer bags for Hamburger help me etc.

He got home one day and made a burger. A 1lb burger!
Couldn't figure why it was so big. :shocked:


Said he ended up sharing with the dogs, so everyone won!

 

[rexster314]

Pretty much our routine. Measured out to one pound balls, vacuum sealed then using a rolling pin or the hands to press out the meat to about a 1/4" thickness. Works great, and a genuine space saver in the fridge

 

[airedale]

Pretty much our routine. Measured out to one pound balls, vacuum sealed then using a rolling pin or the hands to press out the meat to about a 1/4" thickness. Works great, and a genuine space saver in the fridge

Yes. I used to do it with my hands, but that left a surface/one side that was less than flat, hence not as good for heat transfer when thawing on a granite countertop. I also found that flattening with the back of a plate was much faster. Literally a second or two. Flattening by hand, though, you can shape the result instead of just taking what the plate gives you.

 

[blackdogbbq21]

good tip, i bought a chamber sealer a few months ago. It's been great being able to seal liquids to do the same with sauce, chili and stocks. Saves a ton of room stacking bags of stock versus having to freeze quart containers

 

[ModelMaker]

Back in the day when we went on week long fishing trips, we would make up a pot of stew or beans, let it cool and put in Gallon zip locks. Lay them flat in the freezer and then use them for ice blocks in the coolers. Set it out in the morning and heat up when we got back to the cabin just warm up and eat.
We also would go to the bait shop and get some huge (4") shiners and fill a coffee can with pickling salt and put them in for a few minutes till they expired. Froze 6 to a bag and take out when we went out. This solved the "no live bait" law.
Ed