Does Ground Beef Have Meat Tenderizer Cooks Illustrated Hamburger Baking Soda

I Can't Believe How Well This One-Ingredient Fox Works for Cooking Footing Beef

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Credit: Sara Tane

When I caught wind that there were some videos going around on TikTok offering their 2 cents on how to melt ground beefiness, my firsthand reaction was to cover my ears and run the other way. Why? Because the last fourth dimension someone on TikTok decided they had some ground meat cookery communication, they were suggesting that you bleed and launder your cooked meat under h2o. I'm surprised my phone screen didn't shatter later playing this video. The HORROR!

Luckily, this most contempo footing beef cooking tip has naught to do with the previous nonsense that my virgin eyes had to suffer. In fact, the hack is merely a unproblematic improver of a pantry ingredient for seriously improved ground beef results. Footing Beef TikTok™ was a place on the internet that I swore I'd never render to, merely afterward this hack, it looks like I'm here to stay.

TikTok Wants You to Add Baking Soda to Your Ground Beef

Here's the tip: For every pound of ground beef, a good rule of thumb is to add together about 1/iv teaspoon blistering soda and to let the meat sit for about 15 minutes before cooking. From there, you tin throw the ground beefiness in a hot, dry pan and cook it upward.

Why would you want to do this? The chief quarrel with cooking ground beef is that information technology expels so much moisture while cooking that it's hard to achieve nice caramelization and browning due to all the liquid in the pan.

Some cooks get effectually this difficulty past cooking the footing meat in smaller batches so that less moisture is expelled, simply this blistering soda hack solves this issue with science! Since TikTok is a place where your brain cells go to die, the video doesn't really delve too far into the reasoning backside why this works, but basically (punny) the high pH of the blistering soda prevents the proteins in the beef from bonding. These stiff bonds are what forces moisture out of the beefiness and leaves you lot with a pool of water in the pan, then by keeping these bonds from happening, you're going to see mode less moisture while you're cooking.

Volition this work with other meat? Since nosotros understand the science, we can make an educated guess that this volition hold up across all ground meats, but give it a endeavour and let me know how it goes with turkey, chicken, lamb, or even sausage. Same goes for the fat content of your ground beef — based on the science, nosotros can assume this hack works with your preferred fat content. The fattier the beefiness, the more rendered fat y'all might see in the pan, but it shouldn't affect the success of your golden brown beef.

My Honest Review of Adding Baking Soda to Footing Beef

SMH, TikTok, you've done it once more. I largely avoid cooking ground beefiness because information technology's not my favorite flavor-wise, and on elevation of that, you have to throw in the agony of the fatty beef liquid that you're left with when yous cook it. Pitiful, simply I'll respectfully pass. The baking soda not only prevented a large pool of wet from accumulating, only it helped dark-brown the basis beef bits and kept the meat juicy and tender. Forget that rubbery texture you might be used to with your ground beef — this was annihilation but that.

Don't get me wrong, there was a pocket-sized amount of liquid that accumulated, simply most of it was rendered fat and it did not impede the meat from achieving glorious, caramelized results. Is this hack going to make me a weeknight footing beef consumer? Probably not, but next time I'm throwing together tacos or a stir-fry, this is certainly going to be a trick that I continue in heed. I knew that blistering soda could take your boiled and roasted potatoes to the side by side level, but now I know that information technology can also greatly amend your ground meat.

My Tips for Trying This Tip at Home

1. Embrace the hot, dry pan. At that place are not many meat cookery applications where you've got a hot, oil-less pan, merely this is definitely 1 of them. The beefiness will render some fatty which it can cook in, and y'all will accomplish better results with as little oil and moisture in the pan as possible.
2. Let the meat melt undisturbed. Letting food cook without fussing with it is an extremely underrated cooking skill. I know it'south tempting to want to arrive in that location with your spatula and constantly stir. Instead, you will have better results if you lot just barely suspension up the meat and let heat and science do its thing. The caramelization volition be deeper and darker, and the meat is less likely to be overcooked.
3. Flavor! The video doesn't accost seasoning but that's every bit important. Don't be afraid to add in your favorite ground spices (smoked paprika, cumin, and cayenne are all keen with beefiness) and some salt and pepper to your taste.

Sara Tane

Correspondent

Sara Tane is a food writer and private chef based in Brooklyn, New York. She is a graduate of the Found of Culinary Education and has written for Cooking Light, MyRecipes.com, and The Feedfeed. She also has a serious thing for oysters.

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Source: https://www.thekitchn.com/best-ground-beef-baking-soda-tip-23143702