Cooking help

[Night Elf]

I have frozen ground beef. Is there a way to thaw it before I cook it, or do I just go ahead and put it in the pan? I'm making tacos.

[umsami]

You need to thaw it.  If you have a microwave, it should have a defrost/thaw feature.  

 

If not, you can try putting the sealed package under running water.

[Rose in BC]

I'd thaw it slightly in microwave.

[AK_Mom4]

Back in the pre-microwave dark ages, we always thawed hamburger right in the pan. You just keep flipping the block of frozen burger and scraping off the cooked hamburger so the frozen part is exposed again.

 

As long as you don't forget and wander off, it works great!

[Night Elf]

I've never used a defrost setting on my microwave. I'll have to look at it. I always have to make cooking so complicated! I wouldn't say I'm the worst cook, but I am not entirely comfortable in my own kitchen.

[Happy]

My almost chef son puts the frozen package in a bowl and covers it with lukewarm water. Often weighing down the package with a plate. This thaws blocks of meat in a surprisingly quick fashion.

[marbel]

I also just put it in the pan and keep flipping and scraping.  It's a pretty quick process.  Ideally (which never happens) I take the stuff out of the freezer the day before so it defrosts in the fridge.

 

I find that even on defrost, if I microwave it too long, it starts to cook the meat.

 

 

[mommymonster]

I also just defrost it as I cook it in the pan. I do tend to add a cup of water, so it is less likely to burn. I also cover it, which makes steam and seems to speed up the cooking process.