must I keep my burger patties in the FREEZER?

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BustaUppa

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Hey I bought a box of burger patties about a week ago. The other day I was bragging to my parents about how I grilled a couple of sweet burgers; they liked my story but then they PANICKED when I said that I put the box of patties back in the refrigerator.

Now the box said "keep refrigerated or frozen" so I had no idea it was such a problem to keep them in the fridge. But my parents were all like "noooo you gotta keep them in the freezer!!!"

I hate to throw out good food, but I don't wanna poison myself or nothin'. So have I screwed myself out of 18 delicious burgers? Or can they be salvaged if they've been in a FRIDGE for a week?
 
Reason why is that bacteria can grow in/on the meat if you don't store it properly. If you stored it in a sealed container you should be fine when you refrigerate just make sure to use the meat within 7-10 days. Now, freezing it helps to stop and slow down the growth of bacteria so it is better to freeze it if you aren't going to use it within a week. Make sure that when you store it keep it in a container or bag that can be sealed for freshness.

Also, keeping it frozen gives the meat a longer life so you can enjoy it a lot longer.
 
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why not refreeze meat?



The U. S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) advises, "Meat and poultry defrosted in the refrigerator may be refrozen before or after cooking. If thawed by other methods, cook before refreezing." (Basics for Handling Food Safely, September 8, 2006).
 
bahhh yeah i kept it in the original box, so it wasn't very sealed :whistle2:(

they need to clarify this stuff more on the package so idiots like me don't waste meat!!!

extenuating circumstances kept me outta my apartment all week so I only got to eat two out of 20 patties. oh well i guess next time I'll keep the box in the freezer and just thaw out a patty whenever I need one!
 
pretty much, you're screwed, gremlins will take over your fridge and Falcore will devour your house....
 
This really won't be much of an issue as long as you cook the food throughout. Think about how things are stored in the grocery store and use that as a reference to how you store your meat/food for the most part.
 
It's ok as long as you eat them in a week or so.

If it's a big box of patties (like a 12 pack or something) probably better to freeze most of them as it would be pretty shitty on your health to eat that many burgers in a week. :D Unless you're having a cookout or something--which I doubt since it's January and you're in Long Island!
 
I remember way back in home ec. we watched a movie called The Danger Zone. It was a terrifying yet cheesy educational film about meat temperature, food-poisoning, cross-contamination ect...Throughout the movie this group of friends kept getting picked off one by one by different illnesses related to bad meat.
 
is it DANGEROUS to eat them at this point though? because if the only "risk" is that they won't taste quite as good as they otherwise might have... then yeah, I'll just season the hell out of them and cook well done!
 
It depends on how long "about a week ago" is. If its been like.. 8-9 days, I'd say you're fine as long as they hadn't ever left the fridge. You can cook a few today and freeze the rest. If its been any longer than that, I wouldn't mess.
 
Be sure to cook them above 160F

They should be fine.

You could prolong the fridge burgers by cooking the rest and give them another few days in the fridge fully cooked.
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']It depends on how long "about a week ago" is. If its been like.. 8-9 days, I'd say you're fine as long as they hadn't ever left the fridge. You can cook a few today and freeze the rest. If its been any longer than that, I wouldn't mess.[/QUOTE]yeah it's been a week, I cooked with them on Friday actually and I'm pretty sure I purchased them the night before that. They've been in the fridge this whole time!

[quote name='xycury']Be sure to cook them above 160F

They should be fine.

You could prolong the fridge burgers by cooking the rest and give them another few days in the fridge fully cooked.[/QUOTE]My plan was to use a George Foreman grill, think that's hot enough?

[quote name='hankmecrankme']Yeah, cook that shit. You'll be fine if you fully cook them. Just call up some buds and invite them over for burgers or something. :)[/QUOTE]yeeeeeah man FULLY cooking is how I like it any way... I'm a "no pink" kinda guy. I wanna put on some cheese and some left over chili/rice dip, it'll be a masterpiece!


Oh and based on some other advice in the thread... should I actually cook the rest and then freeze them, as opposed to just putting the uncooked ones straight in the freezer?
 
Foreman grill gets plenty hot enough, but you really need a meat thermometer to stick in their and check the temperature if you want to be sure that you've cooked them long enough to get the center to that temperature.
 
[quote name='BustaUppa']
Oh and based on some other advice in the thread... should I actually cook the rest and then freeze them, as opposed to just putting the uncooked ones straight in the freezer?[/QUOTE]
That would be the safest, but at that point it really would require mass seasoning. It wouldn't even taste like a burger anymore after you unfroze it. It'd just be some chewy material to hold your seasoning.
 
I cook on a foreman somewhat often. It's more than hot enough.

You can either cook what you want and freeze the rest, or cook them all. It's up to you.
 
niiiiice

so let me make sure I've got my options understood correctly here. I can:
1) put the rest in the freezer now (never cooked)... it's more DANGEROUS but they'll taste better when I get around to cooking them
2) cook the rest and put them in the freezer... it's SAFER but they'll have no taste when I cook them

am I understanding correctly??
either way I'm probably gonna enjoy a HEFTY hamburger dinner tonight so I can maximize the value. Maybe two of what I shall call the "OH DIP!" burger and two bacon cheeseburgers.

hey, speaking of bacon, I've been keeping some bacon in the fridge too. am I basically safe as long as I cook it nice n' CRISPY?
 
[quote name='BustaUppa']niiiiice

so let me make sure I've got my options understood correctly here. I can:
1) put the rest in the freezer now (never cooked)... it's more DANGEROUS but they'll taste better when I get around to cooking them
2) cook the rest and put them in the freezer... it's SAFER but they'll have no taste when I cook them

am I understanding correctly??
either way I'm probably gonna enjoy a HEFTY hamburger dinner tonight so I can maximize the value. Maybe two of what I shall call the "OH DIP!" burger and two bacon cheeseburgers.

hey, speaking of bacon, I've been keeping some bacon in the fridge too. am I basically safe as long as I cook it nice n' CRISPY?[/quote]

Think about how things are stored in a grocery store for a second here. Most of your meat doesn't come frozen. It's refrigerated, then you take it home and either cook it, or freeze it yourself. You will have no issues freezing whatever is left. It's not "dangerous" at all.

It would be terrible to cook the rest and put them in the freezer. The meat is going to taste like absolute garbage. It's no "safer" than freezing the uncooked patties and cooking them yourself.

You really wouldn't want to freeze bacon. Again, it's stored in a refrigerated area for a good length of time. You aren't eating it raw. You're cooking it. It will be fine.
 
1st problem, hambers in a box. never good. get some fresh ground beef, a couple eggs, some seasoning and make your own patties.
 
General Rule Of Thumb:

Don't let unfrozen ground beef sit in the fridge for more than 3 days. If you don't cook/eat it on the 4th day, toss it.
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']You really wouldn't want to freeze bacon. Again, it's stored in a refrigerated area for a good length of time. You aren't eating it raw. You're cooking it. It will be fine.[/QUOTE]hahah thanks for the reassurance and the bacon tips! I'm always super-paranoid about food. Moved out of my family's house a year ago and I'm still finding my legs when it comes to cooking stuff.

[quote name='RAMSTORIA']1st problem, hambers in a box. never good. get some fresh ground beef, a couple eggs, some seasoning and make your own patties.[/QUOTE]Oh I believe it! I definitely plan on doing the ground beef thing eventually. Since I have no experience with burgers I figured I'd ease my way into it with the pre-pattied stuff first.

[quote name='Malik112099']General Rule Of Thumb:

Don't let unfrozen ground beef sit in the fridge for more than 3 days. If you don't cook/eat it on the 4th day, toss it.[/QUOTE]gahhhh on no!!! now I'm all scurred again. I feel like Tweek on South Park, lol. Still about an hour til dinner time for me so I'll weigh any additional reponses that come up in the thread before then!@
 
bacteria.jpg
 
Frozen premade burgers surely have some preservatives so a week would've probably be okay, but I wouldn't trust any longer than that and I doubt you'll eat 18 burgers today so toss em.

If it were just ground beef you'd want to abide by the 3-day fridge rule.
 
keep meat in the freezer if you don't plan on cooking it in a day or two. the freezing temperature will stop any bacterial growth and will make your meat last longer.
 
[quote name='xpag406']...

Busta, you and I need to have a little talk.[/QUOTE]indeed!!!

WELL. I took a few patties. I dunno if this even makes a difference, but I took a GOOD LONG SNIFF - I mean I got my face right in there - and everything smelled fine. I mean if I had some rancid meat then I would have just thrown it out, no question. Anyway I took the three normal-smelling patties, gave them a THOROUGH cooking (overshooting the "well done" cooking time on the Foreman Grill), and ate them with cheese, jalapenos, chipotle bbq sauce, and chili-dip on top. I put the rest on the freezer.

I'm not quite sure this was the greatest idea but I guess we'll see how I feel tomorrow morning. :whistle2:&
 
You, sir, are playing with fire. The type of fire which makes you spew out of both ends at the same time while praying for God to take your life.
 
*gulp*

well it's T.M.I. time, I have pooped twice since then and everything has been normal. I'll still be paranoid all day but at least I woke up feeling fine.
 
For future reference.

1. Better of not buying boxes of burger patties. They suck. If you want quick easy burgers just go with the veggie burgers (boca etc) as those are pretty decent I think.

2. If you do buy them, put the whole box in the freezer and just take out patties as you need them. You can put them on the grill frozen or you can throw them in the fridge in the mornig and defrost what you need for that day.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']For future reference.

1. Better of not buying boxes of burger patties. They suck. If you want quick easy burgers just go with the veggie burgers (boca etc) as those are pretty decent I think.

2. If you do buy them, put the whole box in the freezer and just take out patties as you need them. You can put them on the grill frozen or you can throw them in the fridge in the mornig and defrost what you need for that day.[/QUOTE]Yeah I'd say that sums up the moral of this story!!

So uhhh worst case scenario... if any complications arose from this, they would be fairly OBVIOUS right? Like I'm just wondering if I could go on feeling fine, but meanwhile I'm harboring some kind of deadly food poisoning that starts doing some crazy damage behind the scenes.
 
[quote name='BustaUppa']Yeah I'd say that sums up the moral of this story!!

So uhhh worst case scenario... if any complications arose from this, they would be fairly OBVIOUS right? Like I'm just wondering if I could go on feeling fine, but meanwhile I'm harboring some kind of deadly food poisoning that starts doing some crazy damage behind the scenes.[/quote]

Believe me, if you had food poisoning, you'd know it.
 
I once had some bad ribs from O'Charley's and was sick for a week. I was puking so much i didn't even eat. That experience taught me that dry heaves can cause muscle cramps in your abdomen which hurt like hell.:bomb:
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']If you want quick easy burgers just go with the veggie burgers (boca etc) as those are pretty decent I think.[/quote]

Take a good long look at yourself in the mirror. Now slap the shit out of yourself.
 
[quote name='Malik112099']Take a good long look at yourself in the mirror. Now slap the shit out of yourself.[/QUOTE]

Slap yourself. I'm no vegetarian, but boca burgers are pretty decent and are a nice, quick and healthy thing to make to eat.

I used to be very reluctant to try them when I was younger, but I've been eating them fairly regularly the past 5 years or so. Quicker and less messy to cook that real burgers and much better for you. And when I'm cooking for myself my main concerns are health and convenience. I use eating out for my good, cheat meals where I eat something unhealthy that tastes great.
 
[quote name='Pookymeister']
bacteria.jpg
[/QUOTE]

:cold:

EDIT: Boca burgers aren't bad (I like the ones made out of black beans), as are "Vegi chicken patties". You can definitely tell the difference, but it's not horrible tasting.
 
Busta, next time I come over, I will show how to make REAL burgers... none of this Pre Packaged Patty business.

And as for Boca Burgers... to each his own I guess.
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']Believe me, if you had food poisoning, you'd know it.[/QUOTE]sweet!!

[quote name='crystalklear64']It would happen fairly quickly as well so you're probably fine.[/QUOTE]awesome!!

[quote name='JolietJake']I once had some bad ribs from O'Charley's and was sick for a week. I was puking so much i didn't even eat. That experience taught me that dry heaves can cause muscle cramps in your abdomen which hurt like hell.:bomb:[/QUOTE]daaaaaamn yo

[quote name='xpag406']Busta, next time I come over, I will show how to make REAL burgers... none of this Pre Packaged Patty business.[/QUOTE]bwahahaha couldn't imagine a better way to learn!
 
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