-- wrote:
> "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

Copper pan, heated until very hgot, oil added. I cook this meat the same
way I have always cooked it and it behaved differently than what I'm
used to. Perhaps I should have spelled this out more clearly.

....
>
> 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.

Yes, I agree completely. Typically, I would use seasoned iron, which is
my favorite. But since in this case I would be adding tomato sauce I
didn't use my iron pans. What surprised me is not that the meat produced
some water, but that there was so much more than I have ever seen, and
this seems to be the case consistently. My husband has commented on it
as well. We're both retired and have been cooking a lot of years. We're
comparing this to previous experience.
>
> (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.)
>
>
>
>
>