FOOD NEWS
How To Form Beef Into Patties Without Handling Raw Meat
By Chase Shustack
When making burgers, you don't need special equipment to form the ground beef into patties — just a cutting board and your hands are enough. However, if you aren't exactly thrilled about handling raw meat with your bare hands, you can try a simple trick to ensure that you can prepare your food while maintaining good hygiene.
As Food & Wine's Justin Chapple explains, you first need to dump your ground beef into a large zip-loc bag, spreading it out into an even layer that fills the entirety of the bag and forms a single solid square shape. Squeeze any air out of the bag, seal it shut, and then press a long, flat utensil — like a ruler — lengthwise into the bag, going from left to right and up and down.
Once you've formed a grid of squares out of the raw meat, place the ziplock bag onto a baking sheet, ensuring the bag stays flat, and put it in the freezer. When you want to make burgers, take the bag out of the freezer, and break off the squares of meat from each other.