Faster way to thaw ground beef?

Question

i am going to make Lasagna and need to cook the ground beef to make the sauce. Is there a faster way to thaw 1 and 1/2 pounds of ground beef than at room temp?

Answer 1

I would use a chicken fryer or a dutch oven with about 3/8" water in the bottom, high heat, drop meat in, and the water will help thaw and also pull the fat out of the meat.
If you are using it in lasagna, you could buy the cheapest meat and cook in water, it extracts all the fat out of the meat, leaving it very lean but dry. But since you are making lasagna with it, you won't compromise taste, because the sauce puts all the moisture back in.

This method can thaw AND cook the meat, quite quickly (10-15 minutes)

Good luck!

Answer 2

Put it in an air-tight bag, submerge it in a bowl of water and run a pencil of cold water over it. The faster the water, the faster it will thaw. This is a really quick way to thaw meat. Almost amazing.

Leaving it in a bowl of stagnant water is a health hazard, so is the warm water, and actually leaving it on the counter. You're technically supposed to thaw meat in the fridge. (My husband had to take food health classes b/c he was a chef at a restaurant). Microwaving can sometimes brown the outside and leave the inside frozen (though it's the fastest). Putting meat in a pan frozen renders a ton of water and dries out your meat.

Answer 3

Fastest...microwave
If you do not have a microwave, try sealing it in a ziploc bag and placing it in a bowl with cool running water.
If that takes too long, I have had some success by just thawing and cooking it at the same time. Cook on medium heat, turn the chunk of frozen meat over often, break up as soon as possible and continue cooking until it is thawed and browned before adding any other ingredients.

Answer 4

You don't need to thaw it. If you are planning on cooking it now, throw the beef into the pan and cook it that way. It will save a lot of time in the long run. Just keep turning it over every couple of minutes and scrape the cooked meet off.

Answer 5

My ground beef is portioned up in foil, so nuking is out of the question. In an emergency I put the oven on 250 or so and put the beef in for 15 minutes or so. Then the foil peels right off and I can defrost in the microwave.

Answer 6

Yes put the 11/2 pounds in your microwave and press the defrost button or put it in the sink and run cold water over the package. These two ways will be quicker than room temperature. Good luck.

Answer 7

Take it out of the freezer and place in microwave for one minute. Break off small lumps and place in pan in which you should have already begun to fry the onions in olive oil. Cook gently at first and break the lumps with a wooden spoon. It soon thatwas and starts to cook. Add other ingredients as necessary.

Answer 8

I hate using the microwave to defrost anything, but in a bind that's usually the fastest way to do it. I have used the throwing it in a pan frozen method before and continuously flipping it, but it is much faster to just use the microwave on the defrost setting.

Answer 9

To make things easier in the future, make about 1/4 lb patties from your fresh ground meat, wrap in Saran wrap and freeze that way. When needed just take out the meat in the amount needed and it thaws much quicker than in a lump.
We buy our meat, freshly ground in 10lb amounts, make into 5oz patties, wrap in plastic wrap, place in 1 gallon freezer bags and place in freezer. This way they don't get "freezer burn" and thaw quickly when needed. We get about eight patties per package.

Answer 10

Thaw it in the microwave. You can even cook it in the microwave before you put it in the sauce.