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Can I Cook Ground Beef in Cast Iron

How to Melt and Brown Footing Beef the All-time Way

Go perfectly browned meat for tacos, chili, and more than.

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Browning footing beef is a skill every home melt needs in their tool kit. And while information technology might seem fairly intuitive, there's a lot that tin go incorrect without proper technique.

Ever wonder why your ground beefiness turned out more gray than chocolate-brown? Go along reading to learn how to become perfectly browned ground beef using a skillet. Plus, refer to our troubleshooting guide for all your ground beef questions.

How to Buy Ground Beef

Cooking the all-time ground beef starts with choosing the right meat at your supermarket. Ground beef only lasts about 2 days in the fridge, which means you'll want to choose the freshest meat possible, and use information technology every bit soon as you can. That is, unless you programme to freeze it (more on that to come up).

Fresh ground beef should be vivid ruddy in color. You lot should also refer to the sell-past engagement on each package. Choosing the meat that has a sell-by appointment furthest from today's engagement volition ensure your ground beef won't go bad on you too soon.

You lot'll also want to consider fat content. The higher the fat content, the more than flavorful and juicy the meat. About ground beef you detect at the supermarket has a beef to fat ratio of 85/15. This is a proficient choice for well-nigh culinary purposes. However, if you're wanting the juiciest burgers possible, you can opt for a higher fat content like 70/30 or lxxx/20.

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

How to Melt and Brown Ground Beefiness

The skillet method is the tried and true way to brown basis beef. Here we'll pause down the all-time way to cook ground beef using a skillet.

Credit: Marty Baldwin/Meredith

Here's What Yous'll Need:

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

Instructions:

  1. Allow your meat to sit down at room temperature for about 15 minutes.
  2. Heat the oil in a large stainless steel or bandage iron skillet over medium-high heat. If you're using a nonstick pan you don't take to use oil (unless you're using extra-lean ground beefiness). Bandage iron and stainless steel are the best selection for getting that beautiful, dark-brown sear.
  3. In one case the pan is hot, add together the meat, and use a spatula to suspension it up into pieces.
  4. Let the meat chocolate-brown without touching for about 5 minutes. This gives the meat more contact with the pan, and thus, a better sear.
  5. Sprinkle salt and whatever other spices (like taco seasoning). Continue to let the meat brown, stirring once after every minute, until all the moisture has evaporated.
  6. Make sure in that location are no signs of pink, and interruption up whatever larger pieces. Yous've done it! Now it's fourth dimension to drain the fatty. (More on that beneath.)

How to Drain Fat from Cooked Ground Beef

Fat is an inevitable past-product of cooking footing beefiness. In one case your basis beef is completely browned, your side by side step is to carefully split the fat from the meat. Hither'southward how:

  1. Tilt the pan to one side so that the liquid is on ane 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 beefiness and place it on a paper towel-lined plate.
  3. Allow the remaining fat to sit in the skillet until completely cooled. Discard it in the garbage. Never dump it downwards the drain! Whether solid or liquid, fatty will clog upwardly your bleed and lead to a future plumbing headache.

Ground Beef Troubleshooting Guide: iii Common Mistakes To Avert

1. Yous put cold meat in a hot pan.

Pulling ground beef straight from the fridge and placing information technology 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 xv minutes earlier cooking. Just never leave ground beef out at room temperature for more ii hours.

2. You overcrowded the pan.

If you want to reach that crisp, brown crust, overcrowding the pan is only going to work against you. Considering the meat doesn't have enough contact with the pan, information technology'southward not going to sear — it's going to steam. The outcome? Wet and gray footing beefiness. No thank you.

If yous're cooking a large amount of ground beef, either cook information technology in batches or make sure you have a skillet that's large enough to accommodate it.

3. You utilise a nonstick pan.

Okay, you can employ a nonstick pan to brown ground beef if that's what you prefer. It'south certainly convenient. But for truly the best sear, you lot'll want to go with cast iron or stainless steel. The reason is nonstick pans just don't retain heat likewise. And non all nonstick pans can handle the high heat that'south required for browning meat. To prevent the meat from sticking in stainless steel or cast iron pans, only utilize a piffling oil and make sure your bandage atomic number 26 is well seasoned.

How to Store Ground Beef

Raw ground beef tin can be stored in the fridge for up to two days or in the freezer for up to iii months. To freeze, wrap the parcel tightly in freezer wrap or transfer to a freezer-prophylactic bag and label with the engagement.

Cooked footing beef, similar many other leftovers, will last 3 to iv days in the fridge, or three to four months in the freezer. Go along it stored in an airtight container or freezer purse.

v Delicious Ground Beef Recipes That Aren't Burgers, Tacos, or Meatballs

  1. Easy Korean Ground Beef Basin: Ground beefiness is flavored with garlic, fresh ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, brown saccharide, cherry pepper, and green onions to make a quick and easy dish that's set to serve over rice in about 25 minutes.
  2. Beef and Edible bean Chimichangas: Milkshake up Taco Tuesday with chimichangas! Basis beef, onion, bell pepper, and corn get spiced upwards with taco sauce, chili powder, garlic salt, and cumin, then rolled into tortillas spread with a layer of refried beans. To crisp them upwardly, castor with butter and broil in the oven.
  3. Instant Pot Lasagna Soup: Everything you beloved about lasagna, but in soup form. Cooking this comforting soup in your Instant Pot slashes the time down to well-nigh 45 minutes from beginning to cease.
  4. Kibbee Lebanese Style: This Middle Eastern recipe calls for ground lamb, but y'all tin substitute footing beefiness if you lot like. Ground meat is combined with bulgur, onion, and fragrant spices, and layered with pine nuts in a baking dish. Scoring the ground meat mixture into a diamond design before baking gives it centre appeal and makes information technology easier to cut and serve.
  5. Stuffed Peppers: Whole bong peppers are hollowed out and stuffed with a mixture of ground beef, rice, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, common salt, and pepper before baking under a blanket of more than sauce.

Related:

  • 20 Ground Beef Dinners for Beginner Cooks
  • 15 Upkeep-Friendly Ground Beefiness Recipes
  • Browse our entire collection of Ground Beef Recipes.

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