I made chili this morning and it never came together. I'm hoping for a few suggestions. I tried to brown the beef and the inside was frozen. I continued to cook about 5 pounds in my skillet. In the end it ended up tasting like I boiled the meat. The water didn't dissipate from the meat and it kind of sat in it's own juice as it cooked. What can I do to make ground beef taste tender and juicy instead of chewy and gross?
Boiled chili beef
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jennyema
Chef Extraordinaire
Thaw it first and don't crowd the pan.
If there's a lot of liquid stop and drain it off midway
If there's a lot of liquid stop and drain it off midway
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
Ditto. Anytime you crowd a pan with too much product, you end up steaming it or worse. Boiling it in it own juices. As the product browns, remove it from the pan and leave the fond behind.
GLC
Head Chef
Because the fact that the meat is ground means there's nowhere for any water in it to hide, it's very common to find, shortly after it hits the hot pan, it's accumulating water and boiling. Stand by with a spoon and begin removing free water by tilting the pan and lifting the water out. You will note a rapid increase in the formation of a brown crust.
Anyway, for chili, I like much better the end product when the meat is cubed or at least very coursely ground ("chili grind"). I find that when the beef is cubed, it's easy to brown, and you get both the flavor from browning and the tenderness of beef more slowly cooked, since much of the cooking takes place in the partly complete chili. I think ground beef tends to cook too quickly, being completely cooked when it's browned and is not really tender, just gorund into small morsels.
Anyway, for chili, I like much better the end product when the meat is cubed or at least very coursely ground ("chili grind"). I find that when the beef is cubed, it's easy to brown, and you get both the flavor from browning and the tenderness of beef more slowly cooked, since much of the cooking takes place in the partly complete chili. I think ground beef tends to cook too quickly, being completely cooked when it's browned and is not really tender, just gorund into small morsels.
CraigC
Master Chef
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Bet it stayed a nasty grey color too. Like everyone has said so far, the liquid has to be spooned off. It will never brown being "braised".
Another thing is that the water is being removed, along with the meat's flavor.
jennyema
Chef Extraordinaire
I don't spoon (so to speak)
I dump the whole thing into a colander in the sink ... Drain ... and back in pan.
I dump the whole thing into a colander in the sink ... Drain ... and back in pan.
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