"Pete C." wrote in message
ster.com...

As long as w'e're sharing "home-making tips", my mom taught me to smash
them,
by hand, between two pieces of wax-paper. Then leave the wax paper on
them
so you can stack them up ( in a bag in the freezer) and they don't stick
together.
When they start to thaw it peals right off.

Bill

It is vastly better to freeze whole large cuts of meat, and then defrost
and grind right before you are going to cook the burgers. The longer the
meat spends in a ground state, the more oxidized it becomes, giving it a
metallic off-taste.

If you keep them in the back of the freezer, they don't pick up much
"off-taste".
I've noticed that I definitely prefer beef, especially steaks, not frozen
first.
For my mom, I'm sure the convenience was a bigger factor than the
taste--just
pull out 3 more, 2 more, 5 more, etc. Ready-to-go... I'm pretty sure
making
hamburger patties was not her idea of fun and still isn't--she's got a
McDonald's
1/2 mile from home and is not afraid to use it! : )

Bill




Grinding right before cooking avoids this problem
since only the outside of the large piece of meat has been exposed to
oxidation, vastly less surface area than when it is ground.