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I love making burgers but it often ends up being very uneconomical since I can only get ground beef in 1kg+ amounts here and it often expires on the same day. Due to its short shelf life, I basically have to munch burgers for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 2 days whenever I buy it.

Having done that a few times, I'm looking for alternatives. The 2 options I can think of is either preparing the raw beef patties and freezing them or cooking all the patties and putting them in the fridge to be reheated.

There are cooked and cooled patties available here at the store but they are extremely disappointing. Then again, those are only like 50% beef and filled with bread, water and whatever other crap that doesn't go in a burger patty so maybe the homemade version would be better. I've never tried a frozen raw patty though nor can I find them at the store.

Which would yield better results? Any tips in getting it right?

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    You could also cook and freeze; cooking and refrigerating extends your shelf life to five days, and you may want longer than that (hence, freezing). However, I don't know how that would impact your quality :)
    – Erica
    Apr 1, 2019 at 14:18

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Freeze them raw.

Prepare/portion/shape all the patties then put them on small square of parchment paper (or waxed paper) square in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze them as fast as possible in your freezer.

Once they are frozen, stack them an put them in a resealable bag.

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    I do the same, for similar reasons to the OP. I find they're quite acceptable after freezing, but they come up 'wetter' when grilling. UK meat almost always has 10% added water & this seems to 'escape' more after freezing.
    – Tetsujin
    Apr 1, 2019 at 14:26
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    +1 for freezing raw. Reheated cooked burgers almost always taste funky. The only exception is when they are cooked with smoke then they're still delicious.
    – Sobachatina
    Apr 1, 2019 at 14:39
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If your goal is shelf life, freezing is the way to go. Make your patties, use wax paper (or alternative) between them so that they can be easily separated, package tightly and remove as much air as possible. Freeze. They will be good for several months. Thaw in the refrigerator, then cook.

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