Power tools, eh? LOL I agree with foodona, too many blades have various coatings on them. Not to mention I'd have to kill somebody if meat got sucked into the vents on the tool. I used to get 60# chucks and cut them down. What I do is let the large meat thaw some, in the fridge of course, then when the outside three or four inches have thawed but the big core is still quite frozen, I cut it in two or three pieces. It's much easier when some of the meat has thawed. You can get some purchase on the meat with the knife and it still goes through the frozen part. A good big knife works best. I use my 14" chefs knife, but any chefs knife you have should do a good job. Holding the meat with a clean kitchen towel helps too. If you want to try a power tool to help, perhaps the electric knife. I do agree that asking the butcher who did the job originally would be the easiest. Also in future letting him know nothing bigger than ten pounds, five pounds or whatever your preference is, would be appreciated.

I never freeze meat in the package it comes in from the store. I quick-freeze meat in portions I want to prepare it on a cookie sheet (freeze it just until it is solid - 30-45-minutes). Separate it using parchment or waxed paper, plastic wrap, or put portions in fold-top sandwich bags. Then I vacuum-seal it in FoodSaver bags. I can open a bag and take out what I need and reseal the bag and put it back into the freezer. FoodSaver bags eliminate freezer burn and I can purchase meat in bulk and divide it for our family of two. I quick-freeze patties and put two or three in a fold-top sandwich bag (an amount I would use for a meal), stack them and vacuum-seal the stack of patties in a FoodSaver bag. You can form perfectly nice patties with your hands. I have an ancient Tupperware Patty Maker and it still gets used for making meat, fish, gluten, and bean patties. The Cuisinart model at the link below is similar to my Tupperware Patty Maker. I measure the meat in a measuring cup, or on a kitchen scale, so I have patties that are the same size and the appropriate amount for a serving of meat. You can cut circles out of plastic container lids, plastic plates, etc. (use food-grade plastic items) and use them to separate your patties. It actually works really well. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Hamburger Patty Maker

We eat a lot of ground beef and I buy it here at Smith's(Kroger).I always get the 85/15 and pay $1.98 a lb. for the family pack most of the time.They always have really good specials and sometime if I get there at the right time the meat ground that day is marked down even more.I stock up then.They also have great specials sometime on steak.usually Sirloin and London broil and I stock up on those too. What I can't stand is getting those tiny little pieces of bone in a bite of meat.Ruins the whole burger for me.Don't have much of a problem with that with Smith's. Someone had organic,grass fed beef on the local Craigs list a while back.You could get a half,1/4 or whole beef.I called about it and it would have cost about $9.00 a pound! Would have been nice but who can afford that! Wish I had a way to grind my own.With the london broil and sirloin specials I can get,it would save a lot of money.

Good ol' spag bol! I don't use a recipe, but I just toss in the meat, garlic, parsley, chopped onion, tomato paste, basil, sometimes some grated carrot, a dash of red wine if I have any, chopped mushrooms ditto. I use the same sauce for lasagne. Good ol' Cottage Pie (Shepherd's Pie using beef instead of lamb). I like the topping to be strips of mashed potato alternating with strips of mashed sweet potato. I like my Barbecue Meatloaf (and so do many other people!) Barbecue Meatloaf 500g minced beef 500g sausage mince 1 cup breadcrumbs 2 onions, diced 1 tablespoon curry powder 1/2 cup water salt and pepper to taste 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped 1 egg, beaten 1 garlic clove, crushed (optional) 1/2 cup milk Combine all meatloaf ingredients and mix until well combined. Shape into a loaf and put into greased baking pan. Bake 30 minutes at 180C. Sauce: 1 onion, chopped very fine (optional) 1/4 cup water 1/2 cup tomato sauce 1/4 cup dry red wine or beef stock 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce 2 tablespoons vinegar 1 teaspoon instant coffee 1/4 cup brown sugar 30g butter 2 teaspoons lemon juice Saute onions until golden and add all other ingredients. Bring slowly to the boil, lower heat and simmer about 5 minutes. After loaf has cooked for 30 minutes, pour the sauce over the meat, return to oven and bake 45 minutes more, basting often. The sauce goes well with ribs or chicken. Battered Meatballs with Sweet Chilli Sauce Batter: 1/2 cup plain flour 1 egg 1/2 cup soda water Sift flour, gradually stir in combined egg and soda water, beat until smooth. Cover, leave for 30 minutes. Meatballs: 400g minced beef 3 teaspoons brown sugar 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger 1 tablespoon plain flour 2 teaspoons white vinegar 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped plain flour, extra oil for deep frying Combine meat, sugar, sauce, ginger, flour, vinegar and nuts, mix well. Shape 2 teaspoons of the mixture into balls, toss in extra flour, shake off excess flour. Dip in batter and deep fry in hot oil until browned and cooked through. Drain. Sweet Chilli Sauce: 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 tablespoon white vinegar 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup water 1 small red chilli, finely chopped Combine soy sauce, vinegar, lemon rind, sugar and water in a saucepan, stir over heat without boiling until sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil, simmer, uncovered, for 3 minutes. Stir in chilli. Serve with battered meatballs. Rissoles BASIC MIXTURE: 600g minced beef 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs 1 onion, chopped 1 egg, beaten seasoning to taste Mix all ingredients together, shape into small patties, and fry until done. Basil and Parmesan Rissoles: Add to Basic Mixture: 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1 teaspoon minced garlic 1 teaspoon dried basil 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese Curry Rissoles: Add to Basic Mixture: 1/3 cup fruit chutney 2 teaspoons curry powder Mexican Rissoles: Add to Basic Mixture 1/3 cup taco sauce 1/3 cup drained red kidney beans 1 teaspoon chilli powder Roll patties in extra breadcrumbs and fry as usual. Oriental Rissoles: Add to Basic Mixture: 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon minced garlic 1 teaspoon ginger 1/2 teaspoon 5-spice powder Stroganoff Meatballs 700g beef mince 2 tablespoons plain flour 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, halved, thinly sliced 2 garlic cloves, crushed 3 teaspoons ground paprika 200g button mushrooms, halved 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 1/3 cup white wine 1/2 cup beef stock 3/4 cup sour cream 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped cooked fettucine pasta, to serve Roll tablespoons of mince into balls. Sprinkle flour on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Roll meatballs in flour to coat, shaking off excess. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large, non-stick frypan over medium heat. Cook meatballs, in batches, turning often, for 2-3 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a plate. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan and heat over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until soft. Add garlic, paprika and mushrooms. Cook for 3 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Combine tomato paste, mustard, wine and stock in a jug. Stir into mushroom mixture. Return meatballs to pan. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through. Stir in sour cream and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon stroganoff over pasta and serve.