Thrifty Thursday Question- Hamburger Crumbles
Question: I hear a lot about ground beef crumbles. What are crumbles? How do I use them?
Answer: Hamburger crumbles is hamburger boiled in a small amount of water instead of fried. You are boiling it to prepare and package it flat, in storage bags for the freezer, to use in future meals. It cuts down your day to day preparation time because the main part of your meal is precooked.
Some frugalitarians do OAMC (Once a Month Cooking) with ground beef, and some folks simply call it bulk cooking (hamburger plan) because they aren’t cooking thirty days worth of meals, at one time.
The benefits are that it’s less of a mess than fried ground beef, lower fat, takes less time, and quite handy to just grab a package of crumbles when making a hamburger based meal.
Some find this a gross concept, or think that the ground beef can’t be safe to eat. The facts are that there isn’t a huge taste difference when hamburger is boiled. You don’t place a small amount of ground beef in a large amount of water and boil. You would be placing at least five pounds of ground beef into a large stock pot, and adding just enough water in the bottom, to prevent the beef from sticking.
Some people place enough water to barely cover the meat. The point is, you aren’t drowning your meat in water. It’s also quite safe. You are literally boiling it. An additional advantage is you can purchase ground chuck vs. more expensive lean cuts of ground beef because you are boiling off fat.
It’s less messy because you don’t have grease spattering. Your meat will boil up into nice small crumbles. You also won’t have to sit and watch it as closely, as you would when frying ground beef. You can add all your regular seasonings and vegetables that you’d typically use when frying too.
Once your ground beef is in nice small crumbles, and there aren’t any signs of pink, you can drain it in a collander, and save the grease and refrigerate it for another purpose, such as soup or stew. Your meat doesn’t even have to be defrosted prior to boiling it. You can place frozen ground beef directly into the stock pot.
The following are some recipes to use your crumbles in:
Chili
taco meat
tator tot casserole
taco casserole
cheeseburger rice
taco soup
cheapskate stew
sloppy joes
stuffed pepper soup
hot dog sauce
If you’ve still got the ick factor, you can try browning your beef in a crockpot without water instead frying.
There are a plethora of OAMC recipes and tips on the Frugal Village Forums. Many more hamburger plan recipes too. Give hamburger crumbles a try and see if you’re a “crumble convert”.
Posted by Sara Noel
on January 4 2007. Filed under Frugal Cooking, Question & Answer.Sara Noel owns Frugal Village, LLC and is a nationally syndicated columnist with Universal Uclick. Bio, Follow me on Twitter, Join us on Facebook
I was going to mention the crockpot, then read your next-to-last paragraph, lol! I also add just a little worcestershire or Kitchen Bouquet, it adds some of the flavor you might think you’re missing by not frying. I almost always do my ground beef this way, throw the whole 5lb tube into the crockpot and put the lid on. You can do it on high or low, depending on how much time you have. If you have frozen uncooked ground beef, you don’t have to thaw first, either, just throw it in there. It takes a little longer, but still cooks up great!
1I am a “crumbles convert”. I can’t believe how much easier, convenient, and healthier it is to boil my hamburger. I do brown it a bit in the crockpot sometimes because my dh claims he can tell the difference. I hadn’t thought of adding Kitchen Bouquet, but I will try it next time I’m boiling hamburger. I also add it to a frying pan sometimes just to brown it as I’m making my recipes. Then it’s still very easy for me, still fast, and my dh can’t tell the difference for sure.
I freeze them in small sandwich bags or larger freezer bags. Laying them flat is great too because they defrost faster. I love being able to boil it when it’s still frozen too. That saves a ton of time vs. defrosting it and then browning it.
Thanks for those recipe links. I haven’t made all of them, but now I have new dinners can try with my family
2I had never thought to boil hamburger meat. It would save some time during the month to just boil it into crumbles and then freeze in baggies and use as needed.
3I have never thought of this idea, but it is a great idea! I would love to pre-cook my hamburger meat to freeze for later meals. I just hate to splattering of the oil that comes from frying it. I am going to give it a try and see how I like it. I may be one of the “crumble converts.”
4I have not heard of boiling ground beef. I have always browned mine in the skillet. I may have to give this one a try.
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