Tenderizing Ground Beef?

[SheilaAnn]

I was perusing recipes and came across this tidbit in a stuffed bell pepper recipe. The recipe calls for 90/10 ground beef.

Tenderize the beef: In a medium bowl, add the beef, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/4 tsp baking soda. Use your hands to mix until evenly combined, and let the mixture sit for 20 minutes while you continue with the recipe. As it rests, the baking soda raises the pH of the meat, helping to lock in moisture and making the beef tender. (I use this tenderizing technique in many ground beef recipes, including beef enchiladas, beef chili, and shepherd’s pie.)

is this a thing?

Meathead

Spinaker

[Jerod Broussard]

As you "work" the ground meat by hand you make it sticky by extracting the proteins. Only "tenderization" I know of.

[Kascon11]

I think the technique is called "velveting" it is popular in Asian cooking. I have prepared chicken breast strips for a broccoli chicken dish. It worked pretty well.

[SheilaAnn]

Kascon11 well, I’ll be dipped in chocolate. No kidding….. I never put that together. Granted, I’ve never “velveted” before either.

[Spinaker]

Kenji Lopez-Alt advises against this several times in the Food Lab. It does bind the meat, but it also makes the meat more “hockey puck” like in my opinion. (Kenji also mentions this)

When I make burgers, I barely handle the ground beef, or as little as possible. The less smooth they are, the more wonderfully crunchy that exterior is. The same can be applied to hamburger for stuffed peppers. Work the meat as little as possible, the texture is better. Use a mixture of ground beef rib and sirloin or brisket. Richness, and bold beefy flavor. Chuck is okay, but I prefer the first combo.

You are only going to get as much moisture as you start out with. Raising the PH is not going to lock in moisture in the beef. If you want that, start with 80/20 or 70/30 ground beef. 90/10 is too lean. Instead of prematurely adding salt or baking soda, start with a more ideal ratio.

Then I only add salt right before I cook it.

Better yet, check this out! I learned a lot from this video.

[Jerod Broussard]

So far I've learned the video could have been 5 minutes long if they had never heard of Star Wars.

[Purc]

+1 on less handling of the ground beef the better the burger.

[Spinaker]

True story

[SheilaAnn]

Please know I am not going to prepare this recipe. 90\10 is stupid. No matter what you make, imho.

I just saw this and it made me think…..

[Jerod Broussard]

I've always thought it was doopid.

[Smoker_Boy]

Asking for a friend?

[Spinaker]

I know you better than that😂🫡