Isaac Wingfield wrote:

> 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
It did not have the look or feel of frozen beef. No blood in the bottom
of the package, for instance. And it had the feel of freshly ground beef
when I broke it up to put in the frying pan.