Found a pound of hamburger in the back of the freezer and thawed it in the fridge. I made a meatloaf with it in my Instant Pot today. You put 3/4 cup of water in the bottom, Make a foil sling and use the trivet to hold the meat above the water and so you can lift out the finished meatloaf. Cook on high pressure for 35 minutes (to temp 160). Then transfer to another pan, put your glaze on the top, and slide under the broiler for a bit. Came out great!
But I digress…
It’s too much for me to eat in a couple of days, so can I freeze some slices? I know you’re not supposed to thaw and re-freeze meat, but this isn’t that, right? I’m never sure about this.
Don’t freeze and refreeze thawed meat. It’s not dangerous, it just wrecks the flavor and texture of the meat. Once cooked you can freeze it again. Look at a meatloaf TV dinner, that’s cooked meatloaf that’s been frozen.
As a follow up, thawing and refreezing meat can be a problem if proper handling procedures are not followed. Freezing doesn’t kill bacteria, so all the time the meat was unfrozen prior to refreezing counts. If you don’t know or remember how frozen meat was kept when previously thawed then you might have a problem.
Very fast lunch, grab a slice of meatloaf from the freezer. Remove from Ziploc bag and put on a plate. Cover with paper towel and microwave for ***3 to 4 mins. Toast the bread while the meatloaf heats.
***Don’t over heat. Check it several times after 2 1/2 mins.
I have a container in the freezer with some gravy in it, and I add any cooked leftover hamburg or meatloaf (whether it was frozen previously or not) into that gravy container (I thaw it in the microwave, of course, and put the meat in and stir) and back in the freezer it goes. Been eating this for years when needed and we are still alive 40 years later.
