Perfect Ground Beef - Part 2 - Frying and Draining Ground Meat

What we're going to do:
Fry ground beef. Sound too simple? Read on and I'll show you an interesting and healthy twist.

Why it's important:
Will show a way that few people know about that allows you to drain the fat yet keep the flavor of the beef juice.

In Part 1 we showed how to select and grind your own beef. So at this point you have the best ground beef possible. You selected the cuts of meat, ground it yourself, and now you have the freshest, tastiest beef possible. Right?

OK, I understand. Not everyone has the equipment, the time or the motivation to grind their own meat. I get that. So if you're going to buy packaged meat at least put the odds in your favor by developing a plan...

• For browning meat you need go no leaner than 85-15. For one thing once you go above that the price per pound of lean meat rises fast. As you will see later we will remove most of the fat so there is less need to pay an excessive premium for lean meat.
• Buy meat ground in clear-see through packages that are wrapped in your local meat store or grocery. That rarely contains pink slime. Pink slime, a.k.a. lean finely textured beef is something that I totally avoid. Most ground beef that contains pink slime - at least to the extent that I'm aware of - comes in those prepackaged boxes that are in the frozen food section.
• Is pink slime safe? Some say it is. I don't know if it's safe but:

1.  I don't want ammonia gas in my meat
2.  When people will add pink slime because they can, what else are they adding?

• If you buy your ground beef in a store that doesn't have an in-house meat department the chances of it containing pink slime are higher.
• Don't take the percentages (e.g., 85-15) that you see on the package as gospel truth. Look at the color of the meat as well as the package. The redder the color the leaner that the grind is. If meat packed in the same locale was packed on the same date and the color is the same I will bet you that the fat percentages are the same. I still won't know what the correct percentages are (and I suspect many of the meat packers don't know either) but I won't pay a premium for meat labeled 85-15 that is the same color as the 80-20. 

Get the show on the road - Let's brown the beef, rid the fat, save the flavor!

The pictures below will tell the story of how to brown meat in a way so that you can keep the flavor and get rid of that disgusting fat. I hope you find this useful.

Into some cooking oil place your ground meat. Here I am using a 50-50 blend of chuck and bottom round that I ground myself.

Brown the meat until it is almost to your level of doneness.

Crank the heat up to high. Add some water. For this one pound batch of meat I used about a half cup of water. Once the heat is high and it starts boiling stir like crazy to try and combine - if only momentarily - the water with the fat.

Once the water is boiling and you've stirred like mad, quickly drain the liquid from the pan into a clear, heatproof container. After sitting for a minute you can see the fat has risen to the top while the meat broth sits below.

This is the secret to flavorful, low-fat ground meat. Using a turkey baster remove the broth and return it to the pan. Discard the fat. Continue with your recipe for chili, tacos, sloppy joes - whatever!

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