I should also note that it is possible that the meat was frozen by the
processor or market at too low a temperature, and the cells broke from the
larger ice crystals that form, letting out more water from the cells than
usual when it was ground.
Or if it was thawed and frozen several times after grinding, again in a
freezer not below 0F, it might damage the cells and appear more watery.
(I will also add that that would be unusual for US beef - I do not think
it is ever ground from thawed frozen meat, let alone meat frozen at a
too-high temperature.)

And note that farmers will load their cattle with water before shipping -
primarily because it reduces shipping stress, and thus minimizes weight
loss in transit - (I heard somewhere that as much as 150 lbs is lost per
animal in some areas in some shippings, around a hundred bucks per animal
for the farmer, or worse if the animal dies in transit.)

Keeping the pan hot and frying smaller bits should compensate for it,
anyway.

"--" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Ellie C" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I cooked up some American Chop Suey for lunch today, using hamburger
> > from the local market. I've now come to the conclusion that this ground
> > beef is just weird. It's 15% fat, so I generally add a small amount of
> > olive oil to the pan before I start to brown the meat. But, as is usual
> > with this ground beef, it never browns. Here's the sequence of events: I
> > heat the olive oil in the frying pan, then I add the beef. For a few
> > seconds it sizzles normally and then it starts releasing water, enough
> > so that it's actually boiling and it never browns again. Does this mean
> > the meat has been watered? If I cook it for a really long time the
> > "water" boils off, but the meat by this time has turned into little
> > crumbles and never becomes browned - the crumbles just get harder.
>
> It sounds like you are starting with too low a heat, or put too much
> ground beef in the pan at once, or are using a pan with low thermal mass
> (e.g, aluminum vs iron), or using too small a pan, or a combination of the
> above. The hint was the release of water - a sign of a pan chilling
sometime
> during the process
> The meat browns because of its immediate contact with a source of heat
> large enough to fry the surface before the source cools below frying
> temperature-
> e.g., you need a large slab of metal that holds heat (there is a reason
> iron takes longer than aluminum to heat - its storing that heat from the
> burner instead of immediately passing it on), enough oil to "deep fry" the
> surface (the hot oil transfers its internal heat to the food until it
cools)
> , etc.
> The idea is to have a pan capable of keeping temp, and not dumping all
the
> meat in, thus to keep the meat from "chilling the pan"
>
> To brown well, use a 10" iron skillet with a layer of oil on the bottom
> heated to medium high (that's roughly just before smoking, and where a bit
> of meat sizzles when dropped in), and put in just enough meat at a time to
> thinly cover the bottom.
> I can't do much more than a half a pound at a time in a 10" iron.
>
> Seasoned iron does a much better job of browning than teflon coatings,
> stainless, or aluminum.
> In one experiment we did with iron, stainless, and aluminum, the same
> amount of meat wouldn't even brown in an aluminum or teflon pan, was so-so
> in stainless, and browned evenly and fully in seasoned iron.
>
> (Alternatively, you can also brown meat in the oven on a shallow pan at
450.
> Takes a couple minutes or so. Works well especially if you have a large
> amount to do and a good fan hood.)
>
>
>
>
>