Does ground beef stay good longer if cooked then stored?

willot0722
willot0722 Posts: 51 Member
edited December 19 in Food and Nutrition
I have some ground beef I bought in bulk. I could freeze some but then it won't be readily available. If I cook it all, will it stay good in the fridge past it's raw sell-by date?

Replies

  • teacherkatz
    teacherkatz Posts: 101 Member
    It lasts longer in the fridge cooked than raw. A butcher told me this. Or, cook it and freeze it in portions so you can just take out what you need, when you need it. Thats what I do. I will make 3 lbs of meatballs, freeze them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and then put in a freezer bag when they are frozen through. This way I can just grab what I want at that time. Sometimes, I pre-form hamburgers and frreze those in stacks with waxed paper between each patty. Those I freeze raw and and defrost as I need. I also freeze cooked meatloaf in slices to take out what I need. Hope this helps.
  • thefreebiemom
    thefreebiemom Posts: 191 Member
    I am an avid sale shopper and couponer. Whenever meat happens to go on sale (not very often) at a price I find acceptable I buy lots of it. One time my freezer froze up. Completely thawed everything out.

    My grandmother happened to be in town and she came by and helped me cook everything.

    I had to cook EVERYTHING. Or throw it away like ice cream and stuff :(!

    Hamburger meat, chicken, pork chops roasts.

    We eat home made tacos a lot so I cooked some of the hamburger 1lb at a time and put the seasoning and everything in it. Let it cool then put it in a freezer bag. Some hamburger meat I cooked and didn't season so I could use it for pasta or hamburger helper or whatever else I needed. I froze all of that.

    For the pork chops and chicken my only option for that much food that wouldn't dry it out was shake and bake. Separated it into 2 pork chops or chicken breasts per freezer bag. Froze those.

    For the roast luckily only 1 was in that freezer and I cooked it for dinner that night. Otherwise I would have slow cooked it and put it in the freezer as well. Or cut it into pork chops and cooked them the same way I did those.

    When it was time to use the hamburger meat for tacos I warmed it up in the skillet just like I would have if I was cooking it right then. One note though is that it gets a little dry if you brown it and then freeze it. So you might need to add a tiny bit of oil or water to it to moisten it up some.

    But basically cooked lasts longer in the fridge, but it can be cooked and frozen too.
  • leslisa
    leslisa Posts: 1,350 Member
    I too cook the meat, portion it, and stuff it in the freezer, then dethaw in microwave.

    It's always ready and I can eat what I want while the kids and hubby eat what they want.
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