Browned in Water Bulk Ground Beef

There are two ways to start this. One is to put a good amount of water in a big pan, like a stockpot (depending on how much meat you want to cook), then break it up with your hands in the water until it’s in small, watery bits. The other is to put the meat in the pan first, then add water and mash it up until it’s in small, watery bits, with plenty of water to cover. Boil for about 30 to 40 minutes. Drain carefully, saving the water/juices/fat. Use the water and juices for making soup and either save the fat to use as drippings or throw them out. Don’t pour them down the drain, though, or you’re likely to clog up your drains and/or the sewer lines. Divide it into recipe-size containers and refrigerate, then freeze. To use, thaw the meat, break it up, and use it in soups, casseroles, etc. as you would browned ground beef.

I read someplace, but can't find it now, that you can do something similar if you just chucked the chub of ground beef in the freezer when you got it, because you just couldn't face dealing with it at the time. As I recall (and I wish I could find it so I could verify it), you put the whole frozen chub in the stockpot of water and scrape off the thawed meat whenever you think about it until it's all thawed and loose in the water. Then proceed as above.