Ground meat is a common cooking tool, used in a variety of dishes, such as hamburger patties, braised pork, simmered pork, and mapo tofu. However, if you can’t use up all the ground meat you buy right away and need to freeze it, here’s a simple tip to help keep it loose after freezing, preventing it from clumping together.

Tips for Freezing Ground Meat to Keep It Loose

• Step 1: First, fluff the ground meat with chopsticks.※If the ground meat feels soggy and sticky, freeze it briefly before fluffing it.
• Step 2: Transfer the loosened ground meat to a freezer-safe ziplock bag. Place the ziplock bag flat on a baking sheet (or large freezer-safe plate) and place it in the freezer for about 30 minutes.※After 30 minutes, the ground meat will be slightly frozen.
• Step 3: Remove the baking sheet, ziplock bag, and ground meat from the freezer. Open the ziplock bag. Then, use your hands to loosen the ground meat from the outside of the bag, then seal the bag.
• Step 4: Return the baking sheet, ziplock bag, and ground meat to the freezer. Freeze for another 30 minutes, then repeat step 3 to loosen the ground meat. Finally, return everything to the freezer and you’re done!
• ※After freezing for about 2 hours, you can remove the tray from the freezer.

When you need the ground meat later, remove the ziplock bag from the freezer. Pour out the desired amount of ground meat and thaw. (If you’re going to stew, you don’t need to thaw.)