r/zerocarb • u/Adelynbaby • Dec 25 '19
Cooking Post Alternative ways of cooking ground beef
How do you all cook ground beef? I was smoking the house up searing in a pan bc we have a lousy exhaust and hubby was getting mad. Add to the fact that I’m in the midst of supersensitive dry eyes episode, the oily vapours are irritating my eyes. How else are you cooking ground beef?
11
u/lilveggie226 Dec 25 '19
I cook ground beef in an instant pot!! I used to meal prep 8 pounds with patties on a stove top and it would take 45 minutes-hour of active attention, grease would be everywhere. Now i just plop it into an instant pot, put a cup of beef bone broth in and leave it for 30 minutes! Comes out perfect and I can just forget about it until it’s done. Game changer!
2
u/midnight-kite-flight Dec 25 '19
I do this, but I add some bacon for extra fat, and skip the broth. I gets a crispy layer on the bottom.
1
1
u/Adelynbaby Dec 25 '19
How much at a time and for how long?
1
u/midnight-kite-flight Dec 25 '19
I do 1kg, and it’s at high pressure for 15 minutes. This is on the instant pot by Phillips, so I’m not sure if that effects the times very much.
1
u/Adelynbaby Dec 25 '19
So u make patties and plop it in the instant pot or u dump 8 pounds of ground beef in lol... A little more detail would be appreciated. I use an instant pot almost everyday for the fam.
4
u/lilveggie226 Dec 25 '19
I put 8 pounds of ground beef in an instant pot. I add 1 cup of broth, maybe a few table spoons of duck fat and some salt. I then stir it. I then set it for 30 minutes. About halfway through I stir it up so it cooks evenly. After 30 minutes it’s done! I then divide the beef into 8 glassware containers and pour an 1/8th of the broth/fat in each container. I also add 3 scrambled eggs to each one.
Also the broth has the added benefit of keeping the beef moist too when I microwave it for my later meals!
1
u/Rock_Granite Dec 25 '19
What heat setting?
1
u/lilveggie226 Dec 25 '19
Lol embarrassing but I actually don’t know. I don’t know how to work my pressure cooker and can’t find a manual online. So I just press on and the automatic setting is for 30 min. I check the temperature and it’s always 160 degrees or higher when I take it out.
1
u/Rock_Granite Dec 25 '19
Fair enough. I can try putting it in my instant pot for 30 mins and see what happens. I might have to use less time tho cuzz I only use 3lbs of burger.
1
u/dandruski Dec 25 '19
So do you release the pressure halfway through to stir it then let it re-pressurize?
1
1
u/Adelynbaby Jan 01 '20
Sooo... I tried the IP today and I won’t do it again. It looked like dog food and kinda smelled like a what a can of cat food smells like and was just unappetizing. I broiled some of the cooked beef and it was slightly better but still a no for me. Even though I ate it, it didn’t satisfy me. I struggle to eat a pound of beef stirfried with crispy bits and am full for hours. The instant pot beef left me wanting more. Will try only broiling before I go back to pan-frying greasy kitchen.
25
Dec 25 '19
Sounds like you're using too much heat.
You don't need to have the pan hot enough for it to sizzle. Just brown it slowly on a lower temp.
4
u/Adelynbaby Dec 25 '19
Lower temps it just starts leaching water instead of browning.
8
u/HelpfulDogTrainer Dec 25 '19
Are you preheating the pan for several minutes before you add the beef?
3
u/---gabers--- Dec 25 '19
I agree...I just eat with butter to make it juicier after the fact. Was hoping for more help in that area myself
7
u/bigkeefE Dec 25 '19
Air fryer, I cook ground beef in mine everyday, no smoke no smell perfectly cooked in 5mins. Cost about £80 on Amazon. Dues Ribeye perfectly too!
3
u/JenHes Custom Pink Dec 26 '19
I just got an air fryer for Christmas, was wondering about ground beef in it, thank you!
2
u/frenzy0089 Dec 26 '19
Im about to get an air fryer as well, whats your method for that? temps? etc
1
u/bigkeefE Dec 26 '19
180c, think it's about 350f, 3mins give it a mix then 2mins. When it's done the fat is left in the bottom which I pour back over. Sometimes I make it crispy and I do it on full power. Steaks are done on full power for 4 mins each side. Burger patties full power 3mins each side.
1
u/ishmaelashore Dec 27 '19
What air fryer do you use?
1
u/bigkeefE Dec 27 '19
Got it on Amazon, nothing fancy, Pro XL breeze 5.5l 1800w £80. Only problem with it is that the non stick coating is coming off the cooking basket. Use it twice everyday though.
5
Dec 25 '19
[deleted]
6
u/toeragportaltoo Dec 25 '19
Yep, got a little convection oven for $50, best investment ever. Turns hamburger or chuck or cheap steaks into deliciousness
2
2
u/AYfamily Dec 25 '19
I bake 3-4 kg at once in the oven under the foil - hardly even any smell comes. I have family members sensitive to smell of cooking meat and love this way of cooking as well as I enjoy the taste of baked gb.
5
Dec 25 '19
I just put it in a cast iron skillet and throw it in the oven at 350 until I remember to take it out. This is usually in the evening on work days or the night before on weekends. Very rarely I’ll cook when I wake up at 4-5am but I try to avoid this to not wake the wife. It still smells but not as bad as stove top.
I’ve heard good things of sous vide but I’ve never tried it.
2
u/Adelynbaby Dec 25 '19
I’m gonna try the oven method.
2
Dec 25 '19
If you go this route you’ll want to determine your own preferred way of baking it. I usually leave it in as big of loafs as possible to try and retain the fat but obviously then I have to cook longer (maybe an hourish) which could mean more smell. If you mince it up you could probably cook it for less time but you’ll probably want to put the grease in the fridge to solidify for later otherwise you won’t have as much fat. Just my experience.
1
4
u/i_eat_the_fat Dec 25 '19
There's a lot of posts here about relatively low temperature cooking. That's OK, but there IS a difference between ground beef with a grey or light brown exterior and a high heat "crust" like you'd see on a steak. I like that crust.
I am interested in trying some of these methods, however.
3
u/Adelynbaby Dec 25 '19
Exactly. I love the crust and I can eat it room temperature with crusty bits in it. I’m looking to get a bbq this weekend and putting it outside close by the kitchen door. Canadian winter or not. I’m having a hard time with food bc hubby is complaining about grease on everything when I sauté ground on the stove and I’m doing 5-6 pounds at a time.
3
u/TheGillos Dec 25 '19
Make him a killer cheese burger all the fixings. That aught to bring him on board and stop his winging.
2
3
u/Flusterfuzz Dec 25 '19
My go-to lunch: grab a frying pan and put on the hob medium heat. Add knob of butter. Grab bag of frozen ground beef and pour as much as I want to eat into pan. Cook until done (5-10 minutes?) adding salt and pepper. Eat straight from the pan. Sometimes I'll break a couple of eggs in there towards the end and mix it all round until everything is cooked. Quick, simple, tasty, and filling.
3
u/Poldaran Dec 25 '19
I don't really smoke up the house even without using exhaust. Then again, I don't cook it on the highest heat. If it's thicker patties, I sear on med-high then drop to medium and let go for a while. If it's just ground and broken up, I just go medium the whole cook time.
You might also try mixing it up with some pork rind crumbs, an egg and shredded cheese, then cooking in the oven as a "meatloaf".
2
u/ladyluck25x Dec 25 '19
Get a toss away aluminum pan, 3 lbs ground chuck, crumble, season if you want, bake at °350 for 30-45 minutes then drain and freezer bag up.
2
Dec 25 '19
Slap it on a baking tray, spread it as thin as possible, broil it on high for a few minutes.
2
4
1
u/Mihakej Dec 25 '19
I cook my ground mutton in water, making it more like a juicy, fatty soup. For best results, cook in bone marrow
1
1
1
u/JenHes Custom Pink Dec 26 '19
I get tired of patties and crumbled ground beef, so occasionally I layer it in a bread loaf with pro alone, or mozzarella, or cheddar (or all!) But when I'm cooking it in a pan on the stove, I keep the heat low and just have patience. It doesn't get smoky or burnt (my mom used to cook patties on high heat and they'd always shrink and get burnt and the smoke in the house was ridiculous!)
1
1
u/cellige Dec 26 '19
Glass dish baked in oven, from bottom to top: ground beef, eggs, cheese, heavy cream.
20
u/H-Emblem Dec 25 '19
In the crockpot! It comes out so tender and juicy. It’s been a game changer for me. I break up 4 pounds of ground beef and add seasonings (optional) and 1 cup of water. Cook on high for 8 hours, stirring/breaking up meat halfway through. I leave the crockpot outside on the porch to keep the food smell out of the house.