Browning my pan instead of my ground beef

[BAPyessir6]

I was trying to seriously brown my ground beef for later use, and it kept sticking to my stainless steel pan.

I'm wondering what techniques I did that made this happen.

This is what I did.

Thaw 5 lb ground beef and put into 4 qt steel copper bottom pot (pot is cold). Brown about 15 minutes until no longer pink. By now the beef is swimming in a good 1-2 inch of juices/water/oil. So I removed the meat from the pot and drained it in a fine mesh strainer then returned about 1/3 of it to the pot, cranked the heat on high, (didn't move it for 3-5 minutes to brown on the bottom) and tried to get it brown all over.

I got brown bits stuck to the steel pan, but the meat was still grey and pale. I tried to scrape up this brown-ness, but it stuck very well. I tried another steel pan with little success, then turned to my nonstick (cheap Aldi knockoff hexclad pan I bought for fun) and it browned up wonderfully.

So! How do I get my beef browned brown and not stuck in stainless steel? Is there a trick I'm not using?

Is it due to the fact that I drained off all the fat? Should I have used some oil or extra oil in browning the beef after I drained it?

Unbrowned beef, nicely browned beef, and my poor browned pan. Maybe if I salt the pan it'll taste nice?

 

[skilletlicker]

You'll get smarter replies than mine, so be patient.
I don't think you can brown five pounds of ground beef in what I assume was no more than 12", probably less, cooking surface. All that liquid you poured out, which included fat and water, wasn't much above 212 degrees farinheight. Not high enough for browning. If you had cooked longer over medium heat, the water would have evaporated, and the beef would have sorta deep-fried in the tallow.

You could have still browned the drained ground beef with some additional fat over medium heat, but on high with no fat or oil it could do nothing but burn.

So my friend, the fault isn't in the pan. But from your post it seems clear you already suspect the problems. I've no doubt you'll do better next time.

 

[pictonguy]

Well first of all a stainless needs to be at around 375 surface temp but regardless of that dropping 5 lbs of ground beef into a 4 qt pan is way overcrowding and like most animal protein that is almost 80% water the temp of the pan will have reduced by 100-150 degrees and you just end up boiling with the residual steam cooking most of the meat. Cooking in batches should have been considered and I know you cook a lot so I'm surprised you didn't take that into consideration.

You should have cleaned the pan and reheated to about 375 otherwise the residual mass on the surface is just going to turn into one big sticky mess and then eventually burn and you should have cooked in batches. Not sure why it happened again but suspect it's heat related and you probably also had very little fat left from you draining the beef.

The reason why your hexclad worked is because there wasn't much water left after you trying to cook the beef twice or is that 3 times and with not very much fat, it begins to brown, not surprising.

 

[BAPyessir6]

Well first of all a stainless needs to be at around 375 surface temp but regardless of that dropping 5 lbs of ground beef into a 4 qt pan is way overcrowding and like most animal protein that is almost 80% water the temp of the pan will have reduced by 100-150 degrees and you just end up boiling with the residual steam cooking most of the meat. Cooking in batches should have been considered and I know you cook a lot so I'm surprised you didn't take that into consideration.

You should have cleaned the pan and reheated to about 375 otherwise the residual mass on the surface is just going to turn into one big sticky mess and then eventually burn and you should have cooked in batches. Not sure why it happened again but suspect it's heat related and you probably also had very little fat left from you draining the beef.

The reason why your hexclad worked is because there wasn't much water left after you trying to cook the beef twice or is that 3 times and with not very much fat, it begins to brown, not surprising.

That's fair and very valid. I figured I would cook in batches after the original cook of getting it like 90 percent of the way there, but as you said after draining all that fat off the meat can do nothing but boil and then stick.

Ground beef for me is seen as a "lazy" meat to me, so I did indeed get lazy and not put much work or thought into it than I normally do (and also go on auto pilot as how I always saw my mom cook 10 lbs of meat in a 1 qt pan).

I did indeed consider cooking in batches, but figured "oh it's not a braise so it won't matter. I'll just make up for it later"

Well now I'm making up for it later with 4 extra dirty pans! Good thing to remember the next time I get haughty and think I can cheat the system.

I also wanna note that I noticed that you change your profile pic! It looks really good!

 

[dcSaute]

water + protein = glue. to-wit: flour&water kindergarten edible paste . . .
that's what happens in a cold pan with proteins be squeezed out of the beef as it heats . . .

as pointed out, a couple obvious things
- preheat the pan . . . add oil/fat . . . it should 'shimmer' - that's the temp you want
- frozen&thawed ground beef will exude a lot more water than never-frozen. freezing ruptures the meat cells, so you get a double-water-whammy, first from the mechanical grinding, then from the freezing.\

- way too much poundage in that pan.
~one pound of ground beef in a 10" skillet/frying pan is what I do.

for ss, absolutely must preheat, use a flat spatula to move it around/stir 'regularly': 2-3 mins
a well seasoned CI or steel pan, less sticking but not zero sticking.

you'll see first the water comes out, then some fat - you have a mixture of water & fat bubbling away.
no real 'browning' can happen until all/nearly all the water is gone. water turning to steam absorbs enormous amounts of BTU's/ heat, basically until the water is gone the pan temp cannot reach temps needed to brown the meat.

once the water is 'gone' you have to stir/toss the ground beef more frequently - 45-60 seconds at a med-high heat level. don't be afraid to add some additional oil/fat if it seems too dry. 80/20 ground beef typically needs none to little, but stuff like a 90/10 mix will need more oil.

ah yes,,, I do have a pix:

 

[dragnlaw]

I get haughty and think I can cheat the system.

I'm a member of that club too ...and I never win.

 

[taxlady]

I seem to remember that Chef John cooked something with ground beef where he intentionally put all the meat in the pan rather than in batches. He explained that he was going to cook it until all the water had evaporated, but not the fat and that then it would brown. That's all I remember and I might be remembering incorrectly. I have never tried doing it that way. I do know that once there is a bunch of stuck on meat on the pan, that frying some onion in that pan makes it easier to loosen that fond.

 

[dragnlaw]

I think that perhaps for a seasoned cook it might work. But...
I am very impatient and just don't think it would work for me. I'd end up walking away to do something else and coming back to very burnt-on meat. Or not wait long enough and to me there is nothing worse than the smell of boiled ground beef.

 

[caseydog]

I seem to remember that Chef John cooked something with ground beef where he intentionally put all the meat in the pan rather than in batches. He explained that he was going to cook it until all the water had evaporated, but not the fat and that then it would brown. That's all I remember and I might be remembering incorrectly. I have never tried doing it that way. I do know that once there is a bunch of stuck on meat on the pan, that frying some onion in that pan makes it easier to loosen that fond.

I've seen what he does, and do something similar. I never brown more than one pound of ground meat at a time, and I'll kind of flatten it out, and lay it in the pan like a big burger. I'll let it sit and brown on one side, then flip it and brown the other side. Then, I'll break it up (I have one of those nifty plastic ground beef chopper things that works great).

I use either my coated cast iron, or an All Clad try-ply SS pan. I will put a thin coating of avocado oil on the pan (pour a small amount of oil in the pan, and wipe it around with a paper towel). Between the oiled pan, and letting the beef get browned before moving it, allows it to mostly release from the pan. What's left is fond.

CD

 

[The Ghan]

I'm no expert by any means and have no "technical" claim to much when it comes to cooking but I do make my own spaghetti sauce on a regular basis using minced meat (hamburger for the US).

All I do is put the meat (about a lb) into a pot about 12" in diameter and deep, add about an inch of water and brown on a setting of 4 (of 10) on my stove, stirring regularly and have always had well browned meat and no sticking.

 

[caseydog]

I'm no expert by any means and have no "technical" claim to much when it comes to cooking but I do make my own spaghetti sauce on a regular basis using minced meat (hamburger for the US).

All I do is put the meat (about a lb) into a pot about 12" in diameter and deep, add about an inch of water and brown on a setting of 4 (of 10) on my stove, stirring regularly and have always had well browned meat and no sticking.

Question, how does the meat brown with water added to it? That seems counterproductive.

CD

 

[dragnlaw]

casey I think there is rather a large differnce between 1 lb of meat and 4 or 5 lb being done in the same manner. It would be interesting to know how much Chef John was 'browning'.

 

[The Ghan]

Answer - it helps break the meat up and the water evaporates. Always done it this way and has always worked. And I didn't say that thre water aided browning but it does stop the meat from sticking and brown more evenly

 

[dragnlaw]

I think 1 lb of minced meat in a 12" pot says it all!

Today I was doing 2.5 lb in a 12" with a cup of water and it never browned. Of course I don't want it to but the point here is ratio (my favourite math subject).

 

[The Ghan]

I think 1 lb of minced meat in a 12" pot says it all!

Maybe for those in the know - but you have me lost sorry

 

[caseydog]

casey I think there is rather a large differnce between 1 lb of meat and 4 or 5 lb being done in the same manner. It would be interesting to know how much Chef John was 'browning'.

If I have more than one pound to brown, I break it up into one-pound batches, and brown them one batch at a time. I can put the borrowed meat aside until all batches are done.

CD

 

[dragnlaw]

How about steaming dumplings?
You add a bit of oil in a pan, add some dumplings, add some water, boil 'til water evaporates, brown the bottoms of your dumplings, same-same but different.
BUT if you have too many dumplings in the pan you cannot add enough water to completely steam the dumplings to be cooked and then you will have either partially (as in uncooked) dumplings or burnt dumplings.

 

[caseydog]

I never add water to ground beef I want to "brown." That just steams the meat. By the time the water has evaporated and the browning begins, the sound beef is overcooked.

CD

 

[dragnlaw]

Maybe for those in the know - but you have me lost sorry

Think ratio of meat to pan size.
I gather from what taxy said that Chef John was cooking a large amount of meat in a pan we would normally have used for much smaller amounts.

 

[caseydog]

Think ratio of meat to pan size.
I gather from what taxy said that Chef John was cooking a large amount of meat in a pan we would normally have used for much smaller amounts.

No. I saw the video a long time ago, although I don't remember all the details. But, he never crowds the pan when he browns any protein. If he needs to, he browns meat in batches, which is what I do.

CD