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I love it when cooking shows and channels are like "but here's my fav way to do x" and promptly start doing things exactly how I do.

You forgot the alternate way that my parents used: start the beef in a cold pan, turn the pan to medium low, and simmer it in its own water over the course of 35 minutes. Make sure when you drain out the grease to drop half of it into the sink and then scoop it back into the pan. Perfectly beiged beef, 70s style, with a hint of Dawn. Never salt it or it will be too spicy!

Adam back with a basic skills video? Nice.

I do like 'overbrowning' if the beef will be used in a meat sauce like Bolognese. All the browning gets dissolved, so there's no textural difference, and it amps up the beefy flavour to more aggressively compete with everything else you've got going on in there.

6:02 Adam here fights back the urge to deglaze the pan with white wine.

I always just use the pan that happens to be clean

Really my favorite kind of Adams Videos: cooking techniques and home kitchen experiments!

Down in my area a lot of people use soy sauce rather than oil, reduce that soy on medium heat to almost dry and then add the ground beef. It immediately deglazes the pan, leaves a wonderful "browned, not burnt" flavor to whatever you're putting the beef in

Basically taking the smashburger technique and applying to browning ground beef. I've been using this technique for taco meat for a while and it makes a huge difference!

I always use a wooden spatula. Way easier to scrape then a wooden spoon

there is one thing that I hate, people draining off the water. truly grinds my gears

I missed these videos :)

This is one of the best in-depth cooking channels but I really love these shorter vids tbh

A great method I developed is to add about 2t of potato starch to the pan per pound of ground meat at the start. It absorbs the liquid the meat gives off, so it effectively stays dry while cooking and therefore browns much better, even if the pan is a bit crowded. It also adds a lovely glossiness to the meat as if you added gelatin or demiglace.

The ATK Baking Soda trick is amazing for anything that will then simmer for an undisclosed length of time. (Ground beef chili or Sunday Ragu, etc.)

Last week I listened to Adam talk while walking down a street and now I am in his kitchen. I like this channel!

Any thoughts on the Brian Lagerstorm method of doing it on a sheet pan in the oven?

When I had the freezer space for it, I liked to freeze raw minced beef and cook in the pan from frozen. You let one side of the block get browned, flip, scrape off the browned layer, and repeat. Allowed for better portion control and nice not have to plan and use the ground beef asap. Tasted best for stews but also worked pretty well for taco meat imo.

I basically do the smashed patty method you like, but I pre smush it on the cutting board before adding to the pan because I worry about putting too much pressure and a finger slipping though and touching the hot pan

Good old Ragusea Experimental Kitchen is back!!! Cool!

I've switched from wooden spoons to potato mashers for browning my beef, it gets the beef down into smaller pieces faster, so you can evaporate that water sooner and get real browning.

Adding the smashburger method to my ground beef cooking from now on!

Literally just cooked satay minced beef 30 mins ago (exactly when you uploaded the video) and I'm upset that it didn't get crispy... Definitely gonna try your techniques next!

It's a countdown video, including the calling out of a specific element of the list. Wild.

Happy to get such simple content. I do like that you keep making videos

The sodium bicarb trick is also classic in Balkan and Turkish Köfte/Cevapi types of meatballs. It gives them a springy texture and makes them tender.

I'm a fan of the Kenji method for some dishes. Use a potato masher when the meat is added to the pan to totally break up all the chunk before it sets. If you want to replicate the restaurant beef taco or sauce texture, this is the trick to use.

I personally use method No. 3, and will get baking soda ASAP to try the alkaly treatment. Nice video! Very informative and entertaining, you´re looking and sounding great, man!

My favourite way to brown anything, not just ground beef, is applying heat to it. Works every time!

As someone who makes a ton of Hamburger Helper I have found this video to be very useful. Thanks Adam 👍.

I brown the same way as your favorite. Only safety caveat: a lot of store ground meat is placed into the package in almost a circle, with a hole/well in the middle. If you press this meat down with bare hands, steam can shoot through that hole and cause serious burns.

I'm surprised that you didn't go with the Brian Lagerstrom method- laying the beef flat on an oiled sheet pan and broiling in the oven. This method gives you an even browning without overcooking (since the other side stays un-broiled), is low on labor, and reduces the grease splatters and smell that comes with searing in a pan. You also preserve 100% of that great browning. Works amazing for dishes like bolognese and chilis with low effort.

Really great to see this style again!

I love these kind of videos where Adam just explains everything.

I tried your favorite way and it worked great for meal prep. Made the meat taste way better.

Great video, Adam! I learned some useful things and i was entertained.

I was today years old when I learned BAKING SODA can go on ground beef... Fascinating. I grew up with Hamburger Helper as a staple dinner (like many of us po' kids, I'm sure) - these days with various diet restrictions I don't even bother buying the boxes anymore, I just make my own "rice and gravy." Which is just my family's generic term for ground beef, browned up and seasoned in some fashion, then mixed together with rice or pasta and some type of sauce. (Usually brown gravy from powdered mix, which gives us all the salt we need for the whole pot of food: but we're all of us on low-sodium diets.) This video also informs me of just why I had immense trouble browning some meat a week or so ago... my heat was too high and the pot I was using did NOT have enough surface area on its bottom to handle the job! There were some other factors as well, bad mental health day and so forth, but this was the physics at play in my mishap. Good to know! I gotta try this "velvet" thing next time we put together a batch of rice and gravy though!

Thanks For this as always adam! 🎉🎉🎉🎉

Love these kind of videos!

I thought I was the only one who browns ground beef that way, turns out its Adam's favorite method. Cool.

This is cool, I use a method like the fourth normally but I never tried pushing it into the pan like that... excited to get into the kitchen and cook some beef now

i love the vibe of your videos so much

"You watch Adam for the video or for the ads?" "Why not BOTH?"

Thanks for this. Apart from using a sauce pan, to minimise splatter, I've used the puck-smash method whenever we have meat, though that's less often now.

I've heard of the baking soda method before and never gave it much thought, but hearing your good opinion on it makes me want to try it. Other than a wait of 15min before cooking it seems like adding the baking soda is the best method for getting that perfect combo of browning and juiciness.

this video came a day too late. Now I'm stuck eating boiled ground beef for the rest of the week :(

That last method is something I started trying after making my first smash burgers, I do flip it once though. Love it.

mr ragusea please make a video testing if bay leaves actually do anything🙏🙏

It’s impossible to show all ways of browning but i wonder if Adam has tried broiling in the oven. Brian Lagerstrom mentioned it in a video

Did this ‘smash brown’ technique tonight for taco Tuesday. My wife asked if I did something different with the beef! Great tip

You don't need to use any oil or butter when cooking ground beef in a pan.. and you also keep cooking it for longer to get a crust on all of it, THEN you add butter to make it juicy.

cooking basics video???? yesssssss..... ground beef?!!?!?!??! DOUBLE YES just what i needed

My God those pans are fantastic looking. I've always wanted to pick up a few and I'll def keep that discount in mind :)

I personally use method 3. Works every time, and leaves the meat juicy and browned to perfection.

Salt also draws out moisture. If you want it to brown more up front, then don't salt until the end.

2:37 perfect task for a separatory funnel

Browning beef is the best thing and the most fun you can have while making a meal

I really like a method that Brian Lagerstrom did in one of his videos - browing the ground beef in a sheet tray in the oven/grill (broiler). Has a fairly uniform browning effect over the whole topside of the spread but the bottom has that contrast of less browned bits. Notably he doesn't use this for every recipe but I believe he used it for bolognese (or maybe chilli)

Apearantly we have the same favorite method. Wasn’t expecting that but kinda glad

Woah here so early.alwayd happy to see another vid Adam!

The science of that is because the beef has been transmuted into fish. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Adam cooking beef and dropping a "heterogeneity"! HE'S BACK!

And THIS is why smash burgers are so good. That's basically a broken up smash burger patty. One side gets an awesome sear and that's all you need. I've been doing this for months with my ground beef.

Wow! Never seen anyone else do it like I do it. So neat to see! 😃👍 ❤ I flip it and brown the other side, and then break it apart. But still cool to see!

Ah blessed yet again with another video

Another method - in a large, deep baking tray, top half of a hot oven, kind of like the 'patty' method here, but it browns both the exposed top and the mince in contact with the tray. When the time comes to break it up use the wooden spatula but you can use a potato masher with it. Deglaze as usual at the end.

i love basic stuff like this

Been doing the giant patty thing for years. I flip it and brown both sides, because, ya know, more browning is better.

If I can shill for Adam’s sponsor, I do like madein pans good quality and versatile

I've often seen cooking videos where people cook beef in a patty before breaking it up into ground beef and just thought they buy all their ground beef in patty form for some reason. Never thought there might have been a reason for it

The big burger patty thing is what i have always done! Works great

yesss adam love this vids!

Love this content!

old school ragusea! yay adam's method for broken-up ground beef makes sense and has worked for me, where you _start_ it like it's a smash burger to get that killer browned crust on that one side before breaking it up, that way you can get some good browned flavor into whatever you're making without blasting all the beef into dried-up crumbles and before anybody jumps in with "but kenji says", i think kenji's advice about not pre-mixing salt into ground beef was for _burgers_ specifically, where it would make the patty pull together like sausage and be tough

I cannot explain how many times I've cooked ground beef for something else and ended up eating all of the beef straight out of the pan instead.... The Mrs Loves when I do that. 😂

I use a similar "patty" technique for browning ground turkey. Oil the pan (crucial for meats with lower fat content) and smoosh the meat flat across the whole pan. After a certain amount of time the sizzling noise dies down and that's usually when I take a peek at the underside. I love a lot of browning though, and Adam already thinks turkey tastes bad so eff it. I go for broke, flip the oily thing like a terrifying pancake, smoosh it again and let it brown a little more. Then I break it up and deglaze with some broth, which also helps to rehydrate it (?? it sounds gross I know). Sorry to everyone who read this far.

This is similar to how Marco Pierre white does it. He said if you start breaking it up straight after you put the meat in the pan, you're only doing to things. One - every time you stir you're releasing heat and lowering the temperature of the pan. Two - meat contains water, so if you're constantly stirring you're lowering the temperature of the pan but also you're basically going to be boiling the meat not frying it. Which makes sense. He said it's best to leave it on one side until most of the moisture has evaporated and then break it up.

I have a chili recipe that starts off putting a couple pounds of ground beef in boiling water. You then add in aromatics, spices and tomato. This is the Cinncinnati Chili Cockaigne recipe from the Joy of Cooking. Great chili, especially if you let it sit overnight. It's super easy and there is still plenty of beef flavor. I think it's because the fat over time emulsifies with the water, similar to a ramen broth...

I use a flat wooden spoon to "chop" my mince up in the pan and to scrape as well. Much better than a wooden spoon. And if smaller pan, cook portion of mince at a time for the size of my pan - batches instead of one big pile. I also use a wok with wooden chopsticks to break up and stir the beef mince.

I follow the chef john method: shove it in the pan on medium high and wait for the water to evaporate off, once it's sizzling again it's usually ready to go

Adam, your pallet and preferred techniques tend to align with mine. I'm definitely going to try the big beef pancake method next time, but it definitely looks weird at first glance

You just brought a big smile to my face, Adam. Through trial and error over many years, I arrived at the same method that you prefer for browning ground beef. Great minds think alike. lol What I'm doing now is using 8 ounces of beef, made into a burger shape, and cooked mostly on the first side, then flipped for just a minute, and then I start to break it apart and deglaze the stainless-steel pan with the juices. Then I pour off the excess fat, return to heat, and add whatever final stuff goes in. Lately, it's onion and green pepper, finishing with crushed tomatoes, and finally spices, which are basically a chili combo, but less intense than actual chili. When it's cooled to eating temperature, I add some apple-cider vinegar and mix through. Even though I eat this most days because it's easy and convenient, I never get tired of it, because it's so damned delicious. Thanks, Adam, for this video, and for helping me to believe in myself as a cook.

I do the same as your favorite method. I salt and season the top of the beef and leave it there.

one thing i tend to do is is put all the meat in the pan and press it down, then don't touch it, then as it reaches the water phase, pour off most of the water, add a bit more oil since you lose the oil from the beef fat by pouring off. Then brown a bit more. Then once you add in your spices later you can pour back on the water. this tend to work best for me because i often cook for 4 or more people, so i sometimes have 2kg of mince, which is way too much for the pan really but i cba doing two batches. its just easier to leave it in the pan without touching it to get plenty of browning.

I love how the way I started browning ground beef based on pure laziness and intuition winds up being your favorite method. I use cast iron for most of my cooking so when I make a pancake on the cold pan it's likely a bit different than your results

I cook the mince (ground beef) in the oven for 30 mins, then break up afterwards. Perfect results every time 😊

Love these “back to the basics but with a sciency twist” kind of videos

I just bought a flat top grill and browned three pounds of ground beef beautifully in just a few minutes. Never doing it indoors again!

6:12 "i like having a little textural variety in there" Adam trying his best to avoid saying heterogeneity more than once in a video.

Oh cool the beginner cookbook i like recommend's adam's method

I used to almost always use wooden spoons in pans. But last year I found a silicone spatula that was stiff enough and smooth to scrape off the sides of pans.

I make a lot of ground turkey as part of my weekly meal prep, and the "browning pancake" method is definitely my go-to. FWIW I find you can flatten it fine with just the spoon--the important part is the bottom is flat, it's OK if the top has spoon divots. That browning period is also a convenient time to apply seasoning to the top IMO, tho I'm guessing beef doesn't need as much seasoning as turkey.

"That's a feature not a bug" as a developer I've felt that

I think the squishing is the key part. The little worms from the grinder kinda glue together when sitting in the fridge between grinding and cooking (unless you grind yourself immediately before cooking). Squishing breaks this up and results in a way more pleasant texture. Extremely important for burgers or meat balls (that’s why you should NEVER buy pre- formed patties).

Many. Many hours playing with this. Thanks for the tips ;-)

Back at it again changing my habits; Adam you absolute king. How didnt i think of your method, it's genius! Guess I'm making something with ground beef this weekend. Edit: absolutely going to try the baking soda too, I've actually velveted meats before but never thought of ground meat. (Also never heard the word velveting, that's going into my lexicon)

Adam + Meat = Awesome

I find it kind of comforting too Adam

If there will ever be a video revisiting this topic, i recommend that you experiment a bit with treating the meat with both diluted citric acid or lemon juice (~7%), and also with both that and baking soda (which will result in sodium citrate). Some interesting results can come from that, in my own experience.