In article >,
Ellie C > wrote:

> 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 would behave that way if it had been frozen -- before or after
grinding.

Isaac