Ground Beef in Skillet Add Water

How to Cook and Dark-brown Ground Beef the Best Mode

Get perfectly browned meat for tacos, chili, and more.

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Browning ground beef is a skill every dwelling cook needs in their tool kit. And while it might seem fairly intuitive, in that location's a lot that can go incorrect without proper technique.

E'er wonder why your ground beef turned out more than gray than brown? Keep reading to learn how to become perfectly browned ground beef using a skillet. Plus, refer to our troubleshooting guide for all your ground beefiness questions.

How to Buy Footing Beef

Cooking the best ground beef starts with choosing the right meat at your supermarket. Ground beef only lasts about two days in the refrigerator, which means you lot'll want to choose the freshest meat possible, and employ it as soon equally you can. That is, unless you plan to freeze it (more on that to come).

Fresh ground beefiness should be vivid red in color. You should likewise refer to the sell-by appointment on each package. Choosing the meat that has a sell-by appointment furthest from today's engagement will ensure your ground beef won't get bad on you also soon.

Y'all'll too want to consider fat content. The higher the fatty content, the more flavorful and juicy the meat. Most ground beefiness you find at the supermarket has a beef to fat ratio of 85/15. This is a good choice for most culinary purposes. Even so, if you're wanting the juiciest burgers possible, y'all can opt for a higher fat content like 70/30 or 80/xx.

Lean or extra-lean ground beef on the other hand is best for taco meat, since it won't shrink up when cooked quite equally much as beef that is college in fat. Really, it comes down to personal preference and how you intend to use information technology.

How to Cook and Brown Footing Beefiness

The skillet method is the tried and truthful way to brown ground beef. Hither we'll intermission down the best way to cook footing beef using a skillet.

Browning basis beef in stainless steel pan with wooden spatula

Credit: Marty Baldwin/Meredith

Hither'due south What You'll Need:

• A large, stainless steel or cast iron skillet
• A spatula, sauté paddle, or wooden spoon
• ane ½  lb fresh or thawed ground beef
• ii teaspoons vegetable oil
• ½ teaspoon table salt
• Other spices (optional)

Instructions:

1. Allow your meat to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes.
2. Estrus the oil in a big stainless steel or cast iron skillet over medium-loftier heat. If y'all're using a nonstick pan y'all don't have to use oil (unless you're using extra-lean footing beef). Cast fe and stainless steel are the all-time pick for getting that beautiful, dark-brown sear.
3. In one case the pan is hot, add together the meat, and employ a spatula to break it upward into pieces.
4. Allow the meat dark-brown without touching for about v minutes. This gives the meat more than contact with the pan, and thus, a better sear.
5. Sprinkle salt and any other spices (similar taco seasoning). Continue to let the meat brown, stirring in one case after every minute, until all the moisture has evaporated.
6. Make sure in that location are no signs of pink, and break up any larger pieces. You've done it! At present it's time to drain the fat. (More on that beneath.)

How to Bleed Fatty from Cooked Ground Beef

Fat is an inevitable past-production of cooking ground beefiness. One time your basis beef is completely browned, your adjacent step is to carefully split the fatty from the meat. Here'due south how:

1. Tilt the pan to one side so that the liquid is on one side and the meat is on the other. Watch out for any splatters of hot fat.
2. Use a slotted spoon to remove the ground beef and place it on a newspaper towel-lined plate.
3. Let the remaining fat to sit in the skillet until completely cooled. Discard it in the garbage. Never dump it down the drain! Whether solid or liquid, fat volition clog upwards your drain and atomic number 82 to a time to come plumbing headache.

Ground Beefiness Troubleshooting Guide: 3 Common Mistakes To Avoid

1. You lot put cold meat in a hot pan.

Pulling footing beef directly from the fridge and placing it in a hot pan is going to cause the meat to release those juices immediately. For best results, allow your meat to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes before cooking. But never leave ground beef out at room temperature for more two hours.

two. You overcrowded the pan.

If y'all want to attain that well-baked, brown crust, overcrowding the pan is merely going to work against y'all. Considering the meat doesn't have enough contact with the pan, it's not going to sear — it's going to steam. The consequence? Wet and gray ground beef. No thanks.

If you're cooking a large corporeality of ground beefiness, either melt it in batches or make certain you take a skillet that'south large enough to suit it.

3. You use a nonstick pan.

Okay, you can use a nonstick pan to brown ground beef if that'due south what you prefer. It's certainly convenient. But for truly the best sear, you'll desire to go with cast iron or stainless steel. The reason is nonstick pans just don't retain estrus besides. And non all nonstick pans tin handle the high heat that'southward required for browning meat. To forestall the meat from sticking in stainless steel or cast iron pans, simply use a little oil and make sure your cast iron is well seasoned.

How to Store Basis Beefiness

Raw ground beef can exist stored in the fridge for up to two days or in the freezer for upward to 3 months. To freeze, wrap the package tightly in freezer wrap or transfer to a freezer-safe bag and characterization with the date.

Cooked ground beef, like many other leftovers, will concluding 3 to four days in the fridge, or three to four months in the freezer. Keep it stored in an closed container or freezer bag.

five Succulent Basis Beef Recipes That Aren't Burgers, Tacos, or Meatballs

1. Easy Korean Ground Beef Bowl: Ground beef is flavored with garlic, fresh ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, dark-brown sugar, ruddy pepper, and green onions to make a quick and piece of cake dish that'due south fix to serve over rice in about 25 minutes.
2. Beef and Bean Chimichangas: Shake up Taco Tuesday with chimichangas! Ground beef, onion, bell pepper, and corn go spiced upward with taco sauce, chili powder, garlic common salt, and cumin, then rolled into tortillas spread with a layer of refried beans. To crisp them up, brush with butter and bake in the oven.
3. Instant Pot Lasagna Soup: Everything you lot love about lasagna, merely in soup grade. Cooking this comforting soup in your Instant Pot slashes the time down to about 45 minutes from start to finish.
4. Kibbee Lebanese Style: This Middle Eastern recipe calls for footing lamb, but you can substitute basis beef if you lot like. Ground meat is combined with bulgur, onion, and fragrant spices, and layered with pine nuts in a blistering dish. Scoring the ground meat mixture into a diamond blueprint before blistering gives information technology eye entreatment and makes it easier to cut and serve.
5. Stuffed Peppers: Whole bell peppers are hollowed out and blimp with a mixture of ground beef, rice, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, salt, and pepper before baking under a coating of more sauce.

Related:

• twenty Ground Beef Dinners for Beginner Cooks
• 15 Upkeep-Friendly Ground Beef Recipes
• Browse our entire drove of Basis Beef Recipes.

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Source: https://www.allrecipes.com/article/how-to-cook-ground-beef/

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