Making patties from half-cooked ground beef

Making patties from half-cooked ground beef - From above of crop anonymous female demonstrating dough circle with minced meat filling above table with dumplings at home

My roommate decided to store a sizable purchase of ground beef in the freezer. For reasons I don't entirely understand, he would thaw it as needed at cook temperature in the microwave, then refreeze.

Quite a bit of this beef remains, and it's been in the refrigerator since I discovered his shenanigans, but unfortunately it's difficult to make patties out of the meat because it's partially cooked. I don't want it to go to waste, so what might I use to hold it together while making burgers that still taste like burgers?

freezinghamburgersground-beef


Best Answer

Ground beef is a perfect setting for bacterial growth anyway, Ground beef that has been partially cooked and refrozen multiple times is guaranteed to have a huge amount of bacterial contamination.



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Can you partially cook ground beef?

Partial Cooking or Browning: Never brown or partially cook beef, then refrigerate and finish cooking later, because any bacteria present would not have been destroyed. It is safe to partially pre-cook or microwave beef IMMEDIATELY before transferring it to a hot grill or oven to finish cooking.

What to add to ground beef to make patties stay together?

Add 1 egg yolk per pound of hamburger. It won't add appreciably to the fat content and will bind the meat beautifully. The other thing you can do is add canned, drained, crushed black beans or chickpeas to the hamburger. The starch from the beans will bind the meat together and add an interesting taste.


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More answers regarding making patties from half-cooked ground beef

Answer 2

Instead of, or in addition to egg, try a panade of bread soaked in milk. I believe Cook's Illustrated uses this technique in one of their burger recipes to enhance flavor or texture. It will act as a binder as well.

Answer 3

For my part, I suggest you explore the wonders of Spaghetti, and that most American of dishes, the "Sloppy Joe."

You can try adding binders like egg and/or peanut butter (or bananas if you're vegan, har har) in order to firm up your beef for pan frying (forget the grill, it ain't happenin), but, while that will help, it'll definitely change the flavor...possibly for the better. I've been known to add those things to regular ground beef (Also, applesauce, which will not help your problem here, but is quite tasty).

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Images: Angela Roma, Ron Lach, Angela Roma, Angela Roma

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