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Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
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Subject Topic: browning ground beef BEST TIP EVER Post ReplyPost New Topic
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St. Ann
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Posted: Jan 15 2016 at 12:39am | IP Logged Quote St. Ann
While in the USA in November I purchased a Cook's Illustrated magazine at a book store for a friend. In it I discovered the best cooking tip of the year!

Browning ground beef without it watering! And I mean lots of beef at once!

The tip was part of a recipe for chili con carne and I have to say just this one recipe was worth the price of the whole magazine.

This is all based on chemistry and I cannot even begin to explain what and why it all happens, but the secret to the best browning of ground beef is....
BAKING SODA.

I start with 3kg of ground beef in my dutch oven, add 2 tsp of salt*, 3 tsp of baking soda and 3 tbs water. Mix it well and leave it 20 minutes. Now is the time to peel and chop onions....
After the 20 minutes brown the meat all together. A small amount of juice may be released, but not much at all.

An additional tip is to finish ground beef dishes like chili in the oven. The recipe advises that the dutch oven go into the oven for at least 2 hours to finish cooking.    Such a difference in the intensity of taste!

For me this whole baking soda method is a revolution! I just must share

*otherwise I never salt my meat before cooking for just that reason : to not lose liquid, but it is important for this chemical process.

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CrunchyMom
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Posted: Jan 15 2016 at 7:48am | IP Logged Quote CrunchyMom
Sounds interesting. Now that we feed so many, it gets trickier to get double and triple meals because it won't all fit in a skillet, but I've never browned beef in my dutch oven before, which would obviously hold more. I love the possibilities here!

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amarytbc
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Posted: Jan 15 2016 at 8:46pm | IP Logged Quote amarytbc
Interesting! I coordinate our soup kitchen and regularly have to brown 20 lbs of ground beef. I do it in a large stock pot with just enough water to cover it and just cook it until it's pink and releases most of the fat. I'm going to try adding baking soda next time.
Lindsay, we use a turkey roaster instead of skillet or crock pot.
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Martha
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Posted: Jan 16 2016 at 11:09am | IP Logged Quote Martha
Okay, I'm feeling dumb but...

I've never in my life heard of adding water to ground beef when cooking it ir having any "watering" of the beef?

I cook our ground beef in a large stock pot, then drain it and rinse with very hot water. This removes nearly all the fat, making it leaner and is hot enough that the water evaporates, so it isn't soggy either.

Then I return the cooked meat to whatever pot needed for the recipe or bag it so we have precooked ground beef for other recipes.

I've never met anyone who didn't do it like that, except some people like to leave the residual fats so they don't rinse it.

I'm not being critical of doing otherwise, I'm just confused as to the purpose? Enlightenment please?


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St. Ann
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Posted: Jan 16 2016 at 1:50pm | IP Logged Quote St. Ann
I had also never heard of it before

I really can't explain the chemical process, but the cooks at "Cook's Illustrated" America's Test Kitchen are continually testing methods in cooking.   
Many, myself included, have problems with ground beef losing moisture(swimming in it's juices when you really want to brown it) during the browning process and turning an ugly gray color even if only browning a small amount at a time. The "cooks" tried out different methods...
Best method ever is:
Baking soda, salt and water are mixed into the raw ground beef 20 minutes before browning.   It really browns well and remains tasty and juicy.

It must be in the December or Nov. issue. if you can get your hands on it. They explain the chemistry...

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Martha
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Posted: Jan 16 2016 at 2:38pm | IP Logged Quote Martha
I wonder why it turns grey? I've never had it turn grey.

I have heard of adding salt. It makes the meat constrict, locking in the juices. It's why when seasoning roasts you season the steak, then sear it in a pan before putting in the oven. It gives a nice Carmelized searing that keeps the juices inside the meat,

Fascinating stuff. I listen to Americas test kitchen in the car sometimes. They have taught us a lot about cooking over the years. Love it.


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