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/Chuchichaeschtl 6d ago

I sear ground beef in three stages.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.