Mushy Ground Beef

[TheTInCook]

I made a batch of potstickers today, and the beef just didn't bind together after cooking them. Even though it was cooked through, it just remained mushy and pasty. I didn't measure or weigh anything, but my best guess is that the non beef ingredients were <25%. IIRC, the beef was 80% lean. The only thing I think I've done different was using bamboo shoots in the filling.

Any ideas what causes this?

[larryroohr]

Where did you get the beef?

It was a year or two ago I noticed the mass marketed burger had gotten weird, didn't like it, mushy and pasty is a good description. It was enough that I stopped buying it and started grinding my own when I wanted it. Now we hear about pink slime. Whether it actually correlates or not I don't know but it is something to consider. Hate to fuel possible hysteria as there is so much of that out there, but consider getting a grinder and a chuck roast. I did and have no regrets even though it's not nearly as convenient.

Just my experience, take it with a grain of salt, ymmv.

Edited March 19, 2012 by larryroohr (log)

[Mjx]

Pink slime was my thought, too.

[gdenby]

Not the most prestigious source but:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2116097/Taste-testing-pink-slime-burgers-confirms-dont-know-eating-retailers-dont-either.html

this one columnist reports that the addition of the "lean fine textured beef" just made the burger dry and rather flavorless. No problem with binding.

[lindag]

Had the ground beef been frozen? I've found that thawed gb won't hold together properly.

Linda

[TheTInCook]

Had the ground beef been frozen? I've found that thawed gb won't hold together properly.

Linda

I bought it unfrozen, but I don't know if it was frozen before purchase. I don't recall seeing any previously frozen label.

I did portion some of it out to freeze it for later, but I didn't freeze the part I used. Later this week, I'll thaw some of it out and cook it to see if its different. FWIW, I don't think I've had this problem when I've frozen ground beef.

Think it might be a problem with the meat packer;s grinder?

[dcarch]

Try using a cleaver to chop the beef, not grind with a grinder.

You will get a different texture.

dcarch

[TheTInCook]

Try using a cleaver to chop the beef, not grind with a grinder.

You will get a different texture.

dcarch

True.

However, I don't own a grinder, and I usually buy already ground meats to economize. I usually get it from places like Vallarta or Ranch 99 which have their own butchery operations and use up their own trim.

Speaking of chopping, I've read a couple chinese cookbooks that recomend chopping your already ground meat to 'loosen it up.' I've never tried it though.

I keep thinking about the texture I ended up with yesterday. The little bits of beef remained separate. It was almost like I filled the dumplings with a ragu bologense. Makes me wonder if there is something interfereing with the albumin or whatever causes ground meat to knit together when cooked. Almost sounds like a job for transglutamase.

[annabelle]

How was this beef packed, TInCook? You said on the pink slime thread that you had purchased beef in chubs before, but since you didn't say that here, I was just wondering. I usually make pot stickers with ground pork, so I have never had this problem.

Ages ago, probably 25+ years, I made a batch of eggrolls with ground beef and I had the same problem you are describing. I never figured out what it was, but it convinced me to use ground pork after that.

I would try adding an egg white if you make another batch with the leftover beef.

Edited March 19, 2012 by annabelle (log)

[heidih]

I am confused about it being "slimy & mushy" and at the same time "little bits of beef remained separate". Had you used a lean ground beef in potstickers before? I find that lean ground meats do separate into nublets without some ground shrimp or egg white/egg to bind. Was there any binder used?

[qrn]

for burgers,I only use meat that I grind myself,and use a 3/8inchplate for the grinder (which is very course)I do hit it with a bit of salt and pepper,before I make the burgers,and it turns out very well....only use store bought stuff for meatloaf...it has enough other things in it that you couldnt notice the pink"slime"

Bud

[TheTInCook]

How was this beef packed, TInCook? You said on the pink slime thread that you had purchased beef in chubs before, but since you didn't say that here, I was just wondering. I usually make pot stickers with ground pork, so I have never had this problem.

Ages ago, probably 25+ years, I made a batch of eggrolls with ground beef and I had the same problem you are describing. I never figured out what it was, but it convinced me to use ground pork after that.

I would try adding an egg white if you make another batch with the leftover beef.

It was the same beef. Egg is a good thought.

I am confused about it being "slimy & mushy" and at the same time "little bits of beef remained separate". Had you used a lean ground beef in potstickers before? I find that lean ground meats do separate into nublets without some ground shrimp or egg white/egg to bind. Was there any binder used?

It wasn't slimy. The texture was almost like I had sweated it, and been very careful to smash up all the clumps. It was very juicy though. No binder was used. The beef was fatty, at least 20%.

I'm at a bit of a loss. Maybe I didn't stir it enough, or stirred it too little. When I defrost the remainder of the beef this weekend, I'm thinking about adding a little alkalie like they do for making chinese style beef balls. They have a 'springy' texture.

[sculptor]

How did you season it?

[TheTInCook]

How did you season it?

Grated ginger(it was on the older side), garlic, cilantro, cumin, soy sauce, aji no moto (I'm expiramenting with it), and I think I added sesame oil to the first batch. There were also bamboo shoots. These were in julliene, and packed in water in a plastic bag. I diced them up.

[IndyRob]

Not the most prestigious source but:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2116097/Taste-testing-pink-slime-burgers-confirms-dont-know-eating-retailers-dont-either.html

this one columnist reports that the addition of the "lean fine textured beef" just made the burger dry and rather flavorless. No problem with binding.

Not to start this whole thing again, but that test was fatally flawed.

Despite the odds, I had lucked out. Between the two grocers, I'd managed to identify two packages of 85 percent lean ground beef, one with pink slime and one without. Time to taste.

This sounds like a fair comparison was found. But then...

By label alone, it was clear we were talking different beef demographics. The pink slime-free product bragged that it was minimally processed and that the cows had been raised without antibiotics, growth hormones or animal byproducts in their food. Price — $5.99 per pound. The pink slime version? Just a minimalist 'compare and save.' Price — $3.09 per pound.

So the comparison was between $6/lb meat and $3/lb meat. The pink slime alone wouldn't make up for that price difference even if it were free.

A scientific approach would've taken some of the $6 beef and found some pink slime to add in.

Anyway, count me among the ground pork demographic.

But I suspect you were on target in your initial assessment and there was a new source of water in the bamboo shoots - along with wilted shoots.

[sculptor]

How did you season it?

Grated ginger(it was on the older side), garlic, cilantro, cumin, soy sauce, aji no moto (I'm expiramenting with it), and I think I added sesame oil to the first batch. There were also bamboo shoots. These were in julliene, and packed in water in a plastic bag. I diced them up.

Hmmm... according to the MC (3-234) salting ground beef extracts myosin from the meat which forms a gel on cooking so the soy sauce should have bound the meat together. Maybe this was poorly slaughtered beef and you got some that was Pale Soft Exudate or PSE (see MC3-43) which is commonly described as "mushy."

Edited March 20, 2012 by sculptor (log)

[TheTInCook]

Huh, I thought PSE was only in pork.

[sculptor]

I don't have that bit of the MC memorised and my copy isn't handy but I believe that it was said that it was a bigger or more common problem with pork. It could be the store you bought it from was cutting corners and buying the cheapest ground beef it could,,,

[TheTInCook]

Update: I defrosted the last bit of that ground beef yesterday. I made some zha jiang main with part of it last night, and it aquitited itself well. I'm about to make some kimchi mandu with the rest, adding raw egg to see if it helps with the bind.

One thing that that didn't strike me as significant when I started the thread, but seems odd now, is that when I stirred the dumpling filling, some of the beef fat stuck to the spoon and the sides of the bowl.

[TheTInCook]

The problem didn't reoccur, though the center seemed a tad more tender then usual.