Ground Beef Dinners - Recipes That Crock! (2024)

FAQs

Can you put raw ground beef in a slow cooker? ›

Absolutely, which is why you should always adjust times and amounts as needed. Smaller amounts of slow cooker hamburger only need a few hours before they are done.

Browning Is Better

And if you dredge the meat in flour before you brown it, your sauce will thicken up to make a gravy. You should always brown ground beef or any ground meat in a skillet before adding it to your slow cooker to prevent the meat from clumping up or from adding excess grease to your cooked dish.

If you simply pop some raw meat in your slow cooker, it won't have a chance to brown, which adds some much-needed flavor and cuts down on plenty of unappealing grease. Instead, you're better served by browning raw meat in a skillet before adding it to the slow cooker with your other ingredients.

Ground beef can be pink inside after it is safely cooked. The pink color can be due to a reaction between the oven heat and myoglobin, which causes a red or pink color. It can also occur when vegetables containing nitrites are cooked along with the meat.

However, Crockpots generally have ceramic or porcelain pots, while most slow cookers have a metal pot. As with a lot of cooking appliances, the biggest difference comes from the distribution of heat.

"Browning, or caramelizing, meat before putting it into a slow cooker isn't 100 percent necessary, but it is well worth the effort for the most flavorful and full-bodied end result," he says. "The caramelized surface of the meat will lend rich flavor and color to the finished dish."

Information. It is best to thaw meat or poultry before putting it into a slow cooker. Frozen pieces will take longer to reach a safe internal temperature and could possibly result in foodborne illness. Frozen or partially frozen foods can also cool everything else in the slow cooker.

When Meat Is a Component of a Dish. If the meat is part of a bigger dish, like pasta or curry, plan for 1/4 to 1/3 pound (four to six ounces) per person. That means you'll want at least 2 1/2 pounds of meat if you're planning to have 10 people over to dinner, and 5 or more pounds of meat if you're cooking for 20 guests ...

How much will 1 pound of ground beef feed? ›

Try serving 3/4 of a pound per person to factor in the extra weight. If you're dishing up some ground beef for taco night, ¼ of a pound per person should be sufficient. You might want to consider ¾ of a pound for those with heartier appetites. A half a pound might not be enough.

6 people – 36 oz. (2 lbs.) 12 people – 68 oz. (4 lbs.)

Slow cookers are great for cooking cheaper cuts like beef brisket, pork shoulder, lamb shoulder and chicken thighs. You can also use less meat, as slow cooking really extracts a meaty flavour that permeates the whole dish. Bulk up with vegetables instead.

Choose the right cut: Chuck roasts, short ribs, pork shoulders and lamb shanks (think fatty and tougher meats) become meltingly tender with the moist, low heat of a slow cooker. Leaner cuts like pork tenderloin tend to dry out. Likewise, dark meat chicken — thighs, drumsticks, etc.

For many dishes, particularly soups and stews, you really can just throw all the ingredients in. It can be nice to cook the onions beforehand, as the flavour is different to when you put them in raw, but experiment both ways as you may find you prefer one.

For those with this question in the future, the answer summed up: browning adds more flavor. Not browning the beef beforehand results in greasy chili and boiled mushy yucky beef.

You can put raw anything into spaghetti sauce, simmer it long enough and it will cook and be safe to eat.