How to cook ground beef for tacos, or a burger???!
How to cook ground beef for tacos, or a burger???
i am in the process of learning to cook. help with the ground beef
Answers: The above answers are great. But let me give you some advice: do not learn how to cook from a cookbook, not even from an experienced cook (they usually do things automatically and have a hard time explaining them).
Watch the Food Network. I had never set foot in a kitchen until I was 22 and married (kids were not allowed in the kitchen because there were people working there). I knew NOTHING.
I learned all of my cooking watching chefs who are trained to teach, printing out recipes AFTER seeing them on TV.
Now, I entertain and whipping up a four course meal with homemade everything - including dessert - for 12 people is easy. It's been 5 years, but I was doing really well with the basics after a couple of months. Now, I LOVE to cook and bake!
Try it! For a taco: Put in a pan with a little vegetable oil. Break up the beef with a wooden spoon and fry until it is all brown. Add in a bit of water, some cumin, some chili powder, and whatever other seasonings you want.
For a burger: Mix 1 lb. ground beef with 1 egg and some breadcrumbs, coarse, salt, and pepper. Shape into patties and fry to your desired doneness. for burgers mix the ground beef with garlic salt, and black pepper. mash and make balls of meat, flatten them slightly and stick them on the griddle or grill, then cook them until they are done the way you like!
For tacos, put the ground beef on the grill and cook until there is no pink left. Drain the fat,and put two tablespoons of water and your taco seasoning in, distribute the seasoning thoroughly and serve on tacos!
Hope this helped!
*J Put beef in the pot raw, make sure your stove is on medium to medium-high heat. If it has a number on the dial, it should be between 5 and 7, but even the 7 is pushing it, so stick with 6. Using a wooden spoon or cooking spatula, separate the beef as it cooks.
It will be done when it is browned thoroughly, and crumbly, and the juices are clear in the bottom of the pan. If making tacos, drain the grease by putting the beef into a strainer in the sink and running water into the pan and dumping it out over the beef, along with running a little water over the meat - it can cut fat over 50%. Then put the meat back in the pan and follow directions on the package of taco seasoning mix. Fill shells, add whatever is desired (tomatoes, onions, etc.) and enjoy!
Now, for burgers:
Pull off portion of beef that comfortably fit in the palm of your hand. Squeeze gently between palms and shape into a patty with your fingers. You don't have to wash your hands in between patties, but you do need to wash after you have put them in the frying pan. You can do this on a stovetop on medium heat, on a George Foreman grill (my personal preference), or on an outdoor grill. Cook the patties until they feel firm when you push down on them, are completely browned all over, and the juices run clear, turning them about every 5 minutes. Make sure the first time you turn that the patties look done around the edges but still raw on top - they don't cook through unless you turn them, but if you turn them too soon, they fall apart. That is the real test of doneness when you are done, btw - juices run clear. Unless you like a more 'medium-well' sorta thing, and then they can be slightly cloudy, but that's about it. Eating undercooked meat is dangerous.
For tasty hamburgers you can mix in Lipton Onion Soup Mix, you can also mix in some Worchestire Sauce, or even some BBQ sauce - it's up to you. You can also make two hamburger patties and cook them with onions in the middle, or cheese, but watch the cheese, it gets awfully hard to control in there.
That's another tip, btw - don't add cheese to the burger until it is done and you take it off the heat. If you add it before you get a scorched, stinky mess when you turn the thing over.
Good luck! To cook a burger you first need to form a patty with the meat. Then you can season the patty with like pepper, lawry's seasoning salt or whatever you wish. Then you just fry it on a medium heat. You cant put the fire to high or your patty wont be don't inside.
As for tacos.. MmMm I made some beef tacos for a church plate sale today.
Okay enough about me-- All you do is get a pot.. or a pan whatever you have and put enough oil to cover the surface (Not too much because the meat is going to produce its own grease) and then you just break it up and stir it on a medium high heat. When it starts browning... add in some sazon, lawrys seasoning salt.. cumino.. whatever you want.. maybe a little garlic ... and its delicious For tacos you want ground beef that is lean brown it, drain the fat into an old can (it can clog your sink) then return to heat add about 1 teaspoon of chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin and corriander, a little salt, pepper and fresh garlic or garlic salt, If using garlic salt don't add regular salt, cook the meat with all the seasonings for a few minutes then stuff your tortilla shells or make taco salad with lettuce, tortilla chips, refried beans, etc. The very best burgers start with ground chuck, you don't want to smash the meat too much but gently shape into burgers, not too thin (about 1/4 lb. per burger), put a generous amount of seasoning on them (salt, pepper or my favorite McClintock's) then heat a cast iron skillet until it's really hot, lay your burgers in the pan and cook 4 minutes per side. They will have a very nice crust on them and will be nice and medium rare and juicy. If you want to make cheeseburgers, put slices of your favorite cheese on them for the last 3 minutes of cooking time