Not pre-portioning your meat

It's not terrible to freeze many pounds of ground beef in one block, but it will be difficult to safely defrost the right amount unless you cook it all at once. Pre-portioning your ground beef before cooking is an easy, elegant answer to this. The recommended serving size for cooked beef is 3 ounces, according to Weight Watchers. Each piece intended for freezing should weigh 4 ounces because boiling reduces ground beef's weight by around 25%. Simply increase 4 ounces of raw meat by the number of persons in your home when preparing meals. For example, when preparing for a household of three, measure out 12-ounce portions.

A creative trick is provided by Lifehacker (via Lunch in a Box) for making many individual meals in a single large freezer bag. Start by dividing up a serving of ground beef, such as 12 ounces for a household of three. The ground beef should then be spread out and divided into equal-sized parts with a chopstick. The pieces that have been flattened defrost considerably more quickly and are less likely to have air pockets, which can lead to freezer burn. Make sure to mark and seal your freezer bag tightly. This method works best for short-term freezing because the ground beef isn't firmly wrapped.