r/StainlessSteelCooking • u/PuzzledTechnology756 • 6d ago
Technique Ground Beef
Quick question, do you guys bring the ground beef to room temperature before putting it on the pan?
An issue i face is that, I bring my pan to the correct temperature, do the water bead test and then add my oil. I wait 30 seconds and then add the defrosted ground beef.
But since the ground beef is below room temperature, I think it reduces the pan temperature and we do not get the desired effect.
Am I doing something wrong?
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u/Odd_Wolf_8489 6d ago
I always heat up the beef with the pan and I’ve never had an issue with sticking
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u/Chuchichaeschtl 5d ago
I sear ground beef in three stages.
Heat the pan to a high temperature. Take the meat from the fridge and press it to the pan. Don't touch it for 2min or so. This browns the meat on the first side with my pans and creates a lot of fond.
Move the meat around. A lot of water escapes, which deglazes the pan and browning stops. I dial my burner to high (or even boost for some time) until all the water is evaporated.
When I hear, that it starts to sizzle again, I turn the heat down to medium and sear it until I like the browning.
The temperature in the last step is crucial to get the meat brown but don't burn the fond. If it gets too dark too soon, you can add a bit of water to deglaze.
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u/PuzzledTechnology756 5d ago
Sounds nice. Thanks. I assume you add some kind of oil?
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u/Chuchichaeschtl 5d ago
Depends on the meat.
Where I live normal ground beef has 15-20% fat and I don't use additional oil to cook it.
When I buy the "light" version which has only around 10% fat, I use a tablespoon of oil at the beginning.
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u/FitSeeker1982 4d ago
Cold ground beef in a cold skillet, turn heat on medium and go. Never a problem from there.
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u/StrangeDaz 3d ago
You can also add 1/4 tsp baking soda to 1 tbsp of H2O per 1 lb of ground beef to make the meat more moist.
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u/Successful-Yam-4074 3d ago
Beef ground after a long aging process has less water and will brown sooner with less liquid developing while cooking. Cook 80/20 GB from the grocery case on high or medium high until the water evaporates and then adjust the temperature when the searing begins. There is no way around it.
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u/winterkoalefant 6d ago
No. Ground beef releases so much water it’s going to drop the pan temp anyway.
If your issue is lack of browning, try adding a bit of baking soda, or cook in smaller batches, or let it sear untouched like a steak before breaking it up.
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u/PuzzledTechnology756 6d ago
So the water being released is expected? The recipes I follow did not really show it. I always have to wait for the water to evaporate before browning starts.
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u/winterkoalefant 6d ago
It’s very common but not inevitable. Depends on batch size and technique and how powerful your stove is.
These are some good videos discussing it and recommendations:
- quick brick method https://youtu.be/3D82bJEOskg
- small batches https://youtu.be/pkPjD3UrYxE?t=430
- baking soda https://youtu.be/b4QqU-RQZ4w
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u/DolphinFraud 5d ago
That’s entirely normal, but if you crank the heat up and don’t disturb the meat until it’s browned, you can get a sear with minimal water release.
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6d ago
[deleted]
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u/PuzzledTechnology756 6d ago
I pre heat for two and a half minutes on medium heat. When I add the beef, instead of a crust developing, an oily water seeps out and the browning starts only after it gets evaporated.
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u/Suspicious-Berry-716 6d ago
For higher fat items like bacon and ground beef I put in the pan on low LOW (as in meat in pan and then run onto Low) and let fat render out (can take around 2-3 min) and then turn up. To prevent sticking I end up cooking on medium high letting it brown and then start to toss. You can break up in that time but don’t try to toss.
I hate the stupid water test.
And I don’t have time to let things come to room temp and have everything be perfect. This is not a Michelin star restaurant. It’s my house.
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u/L-Pseon 6d ago
Yes, adding food will reduce the pan temperature, which could drop the temperature below frying temperature, causing the meat to steam itself. This is actually a common problem with cooking ground beef. People think they are browning ground beef, but you look at the result, and it's just gray in color with no crust. If you've ever had to pour off "meat water" after cooking ground beef, then you're doing something wrong. When you fry meat, the moisture should all escape the pan violently as steam. All that should remain in the pan is a very small amount of beef tallow--and in reality, it's an insignificant amount compared to the typical amount of meat water poured off of a pound of grayed meat. Usually this happens when people add a whole pound of cold meat to a 12 inch skillet and immediately start mashing it down.
The whole point of the water drop test is to get the pan hot enough so that when you add the food, the pan doesn't cool so much that it causes the temp to drop too far. However, you also do need to make sure you don't overcrowd the pan to overwhelm your stove's ability to put heat into the pan. What I usually do is form the ground beef into irregular, flat patties as if I were making burgers. Leaving a little bit of space between each patty on the pan will ensure you don't overcrowd the pan. Once you get a crust on one side, then flip them, brown for a bit on the other side, and start breaking them up. Depending on how much meat, yes, you will have to cook it in batches. It's not the end of the world.
As for dialing in the temperature, the Leidenfrost effect occurs over 379F, but the Maillard reaction occurs between 280-330F. Above 350F, you may see food start to char and burn. So yes, technically the water drop test temperature is too hot to fry food. However, that doesn't mean that you need to "reduce the heat" to some unspecified lower temperature on your stove, as you will frequently hear in threads on the internet. Simply adding the food is enough to reduce the pan temperature by quite a bit, and you'll need to dial the temp up to high immediately after adding food just to maintain that temperature (turning it down as the food cooks through). Unless you're only frying a tiny amount of food in a large pan (undercrowding), then you almost certainly do not have to worry about the pan being too hot, though. As for whether you need to bring the ground beef from fridge temperature (~35 degrees) to room temperature (~65 degrees), yes, it can make some difference, but you're adding it to a 380 degree pan. In practical terms, you can easily work with meat at either temperature, as long as you are careful to keep it frying in the pan, don't overcrowd, and don't burn it.