What to do with a lot of thawed meat?

A casualty of moving, a cooler full of meat did not stay frozen. Obviously it must be cooked, but then what? There's a lot more than we can eat unless it's refrozen after cooking.

The turkey will refreeze fine once cooked. The bacon can also be cooked and frozen for later reheating. It's a pity to turn quality burgers into browned ground beef for casseroles and such, but I guess that's what I'll do with them.

I'm at a loss, though, about what to do with the steaks and most of a 10-pound case of natural-casing hot dogs.

If we were in any shape for entertaining, I would just invite some folks over to help us eat it. Alas, there's barely room for the two of us to move amid all the boxes, and even cooking this stuff is going to be a challenge, since right now the fridge is standing in the middle of the kitchen waiting for baseboards to be installed, the pots and pans are yet to be unpacked, the kitchen table is in the garage waiting for one of its legs to be glued back on and the dining-room table is stacked with boxes five high.

Groundmeats can be refrozen.Due to its high fat content,bacon can also be refrozen.It never gets cold enough in a residential freezer to break down the meat fiber.As to ground meat,the fiber is already broken down.
I have successfully refroze these and noticed no differance after cooking.

i think you have the right idea about the meats. cook and then refreeze. If you put them in casseroles, stews and soups they probably will taste better than if you just reheat and try to eat. with regard to the steaks have you thought of cutting them up in chunks, cooking them, and freezing them? You could then use them in stews. also you can make taco meat from any of it, and then refreeze.

LAZ wrote:I'm at a loss, though, about what to do with the steaks and most of a 10-pound case of natural-casing hot dogs.

Would you consider selling it? How many steaks are there?

I ship food down to Carbondale IL to my kid's fraternity house for them to enjoy. 10 guys live there and are big eaters but they obviously don't have deep pockets, so they really enjoy the "CARE" packages I send down.

kenji wrote:

LAZ wrote:I'm at a loss, though, about what to do with the steaks and most of a 10-pound case of natural-casing hot dogs.

Would you consider selling it? How many steaks are there?

I ship food down to Carbondale IL to my kid's fraternity house for them to enjoy. 10 guys live there and are big eaters but they obviously don't have deep pockets, so they really enjoy the "CARE" packages I send down.

I don't think the logistics would work out. We ate two of the steaks yesterday so there are only half a dozen left, and they are in pairs: 2 t-bones, 2 strips, 2 filets. Not enough for a frat house, just a lot for two people. I'm going to take jerryg's advice and refreeze the burgers and bacon and take a chance on refreezing the hot dogs. So we're just going to eat a lot of steak in the next week. Turkey roasting is today's project.

I would cut those steaks up and make soup/chili/stew. That can be easily frozen in two-person ziploc bags, methinks.

I'm with Pie Lady
I make my chili with 1/2 ground meat and 1/2 1 inch chunks of chuck roast.
You could easily substitute steak for the chuck roast.
E