On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 11:07:18 -0600, zxcvbob >
wrote:

>Dimitri wrote:
>> "Ellie C" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>>Sheldon wrote:
>>
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>>I don't think I was overloading the pan, and it was a copper pan on the
>>>highest flame on a gas stove, so the pan was quite hot. Possible, though.
>>>Next time I buy some ground beef I'll try cooking just a bit of it first
>>>and then adding more.
>>
>>
>> Sheldon is right on the money!
>>
>> You have the sequence wrong - Heat the pan then add the oil. To test the pan
>> see if a bead of water dances.
>>
>> All ground beef will steam in its own juices (natural) if there is not
>> enough heat. That fact is undeniable. Therefore if your ground beef would
>> not fry but rather steamed there was more cold meat than the stored up heat
>> in the pan could handle.
>>
>>
>> Dimitri
>
>
>
>I think y'all are overlooking the comment that Ellie made that she is in
>*France*. In the USA, ground beef is about the only meat you can get at
>the supermarkets that is not pumped full of water -- only because it is
>illegal to add water to ground beef (as Sheldon mentioned). But the
>USDA regulations don't apply to whatever is sold at the local butcher
>shop in Europe.
>
>It sounds like the butcher is adding a bunch of crushed ice when he
>grinds the meat. Ellie needs to find a different butcher.
>
>The meat is probably still usable if she fries it in tiny batches over
>high heat so the water can boil off as quickly as it cooks out.
>
>Best regards,
>Bob

Several people here have posted that they have doubts about ice being
added to beef as it is being ground. I would not have posted my
original post if I had not observed this practice myself...more than
once. The water does not drain from the ground meat but stays there
until it is cooked, at which time the meat simply gets boiled. Also,
at least ham, and maybe other meats can contain up to 10% water
withour being labeled "Water added"