Frozen hamburger meat...????

Question

Is there a safe way to quickly thaw frozen hamburger meat? I planning on fixing it tonight for dinner but I forget to get it out of the freezer before I left for work. If there isn't a safe quick way that is fine I will just fix something else but I was just curious.

Thanks

Answer 1

The microwave is the quickest way or you can place the package inside a thick plastic bag and submerge in hot water.  I would just plan something else because defrosting in the microwave causes too much moisture to surface from the meat and it becomes too sloppy to work with (forming hamburgers, etc.).  How about pasta instead?

Answer 2

Just fry it frozen, I do it all the time.  Just put a small amount of water in the pan with it and as it starts to cook keep scraping off the done parts and chop them up, it won't take long and it will get soft enough to start breaking into chunks and keep going til its all brown and crumbly.

Answer 3

The best way is to nuke it on defrost, picking out the defrosted chunks as it defrosts.

I generally just throw the slab into some hot oil, brown the two faces and then add water and boil, breaking it up a little at a time.

I don't get too fussed about breaking it down it grain sized pieces. Flavour it up, thicken up and serve, and most of the time you can't tell the difference. It just takes a little longer.  

Answer 4

I defrost humburger in my microwave all the time. I use the defrost function by selecting meat and then put in the number of pounds.

Answer 5

If your not making hamburgers you can cook it frozen in the pan, just keep turning and scraping the loose unfrozen parts, please DO NOT use any of the quick thaw methods above besides the microwave and the one i will tell you because they are not safe almost the same as letting it sit out at room temp, what you need to do is take a your meat put in a zip lock bag then get you a pot that can hold it submerged under water, place in your sink fill with COLD water and let the water continue to trickle into the pot, it will thaw the meat in about 1 - 2 hours, this is the safest fastest way not using the microwave, if it floats put a bowl or plate that fits inside the pot to weigh it down

Answer 6

I thaw in different ways with hamburger and let me stress hamburger only on the first one.

1. Using the defrost setting on the microwave, place frozen hamburger on a microwave safe dish and use the appropriate time setting for the weight of your hamburger. After a couple of minutes, I pull it out and take off the thawed meat and restart the microwave. Continue every couple of minutes.

2. If I have more time, I fill the sink with water and put the hamburger in a baggie and seal it completely. It takes awhile.

Answer 7

Microwaves all have safe settings for defrosting frozen meat.