Crock Pot Cooking

[Freelander]

Has anyone tried to make Hamburger Helper in a Crock Pot?

I am looking at just adding the meat and contents of the box and just letting it cook. The recipes I see say to brown the meat first, but I see how letting it all cook at once hurts anything.

I have cooked Chile that way, all at once without browning the meat first, and it turned out pretty good.

 

[tx2sturgis]

I tried taking that shortcut with a regular crockpot meal one time...just tossed in the raw ground beef...but after many hours of 'cooking' the meat came out kinda soft and not very appetizing....

Hey, give it a try...maybe I did something wrong...who knows....

 

[Freelander]

I figure if you can cook meatloaf without browning the meat, I can cook ground beef in the crock pot mixed with other stuff.

 

[tx2sturgis]

You can, it just won't be brown and crumbly....

 

[highdesertranger]

what about the grease? how will you drain the fat? highdesertranger

 

[Uncle Todo]

Yeah, you can "brown" it, it's really just turning it into taco meat as I call it.

As HDR says, you can't drain the fat really, not like browning it anyway. May want to stick to 90/10 or lower fat ground beef.
I've also bought clearance steaks and ground them myself, pretty good and really low fat.

 

[Freelander]

I just skim the fat off as I eat it.

 

[Dingfelder]

Has anyone tried to make Hamburger Helper in a Crock Pot?

I am looking at just adding the meat and contents of the box and just letting it cook. The recipes I see say to brown the meat first, but I see how letting it all cook at once hurts anything.

I have cooked Chile that way, all at once without browning the meat first, and it turned out pretty good.

 
There is no meat I cook now, from hamburger to chicken breasts to thighs to thigh/drumstick uncuts to beef to shrimp to scallops, that is not injected full of "weirdjuice."  It increases the weight of the product so they can charge you more. Sometimes it makes the meat very gummy -- you can find this with individually frozen chicken parts especially, or KFC chicken, which can be gooey because of it.  At the very least it results in meat releasing a lot of "juice" of questionable origin in a pan when you are trying to sear or ... really anything but boil.

For years I have typically had to take the pan to either a sink or a drippings container(like an old coffee can) to get rid of the immense amount of juice from supermarket meat. The meat can be swimming in its liquid -- which are not at all drippings or anything remotely like it.

For one thing, you can't get caramelization on stuff that's boiling or steaming, for the most part.  So forget that crispy crust. But also, boiled meat - and whatever you tossed in with it - is unappealing and generally not the plan.  

So I find myself tilting the pan over a sieve in the sink regularly, to get the watery fake-juice out, and catch any wayward pieces of meat or the veggies I was hoping to saute them with.

Sooo much flavor lost.  But you don't need that water and those chems.

Pre-fry or -saute your meats before adding them to anything.  Pour off the dross.  And consider adding the meat way into the cooking cycle, after draining, and after things like onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, or garlic, have had a chance to create actually USEFUL taste and liquids.  Throwing your aromatics in with your hamburger that is being boiled to death in a swimming pool of ... "water"(????) is the way to get a tasteless greasy dish out of what you thought started out with a thoughtful range of quality *and not cheap* ingredients lovingly- and well-prepared.

Except you pretended the meat was good or just didn't realize .........

 

[Freelander]

Of course if you know what was really in your food, it wouldn't any of it.

I shouldn't need a College Degree to read the list of additives in my food.

About the only way to ensure your food is safe is to grow it yourself, but even then you may have doubts. A lot of animal feed has stuff in it that it really should have.

 

[bagabum]

Has anyone tried to make Hamburger Helper in a Crock Pot?

I am looking at just adding the meat and contents of the box and just letting it cook. The recipes I see say to brown the meat first, but I see how letting it all cook at once hurts anything.

I have cooked Chile that way, all at once without browning the meat first, and it turned out pretty good.

I think you will be ok. Browning  the meat makes it taste a little better and improves the looks so it doesn't look anemic.  Seasoning should bring the color of the meat out. When I make my Cincinnati Style Chili, I do not brown but the chili mix gives it a good color.  Good luck, let us know.

 

[bagabum]

I just skim the fat off as I eat it.

Maybe you could help with the fat by also starting with the 93% meat, it's a little more pricey though.

 

[crofter]

I just skim the fat off as I eat it.

I eat the fat, in my pan cooked version.

My best loved meal is a pound of ground beef crumbled into the pan. Brown lightly.

Add any veg, such as chunked onions, celery, zuchini, carrots, potatoes, etc. Cook stirring for 5 minutes. 

Cover with water, about 32 ounces.  Add garlic to taste (I add a lot). Sprinkle in a cup of uncooked rice or noodles and cook for about 45 minutes on low.

If adding canned veg or beans, add during the last 10 minutes of cooking time.yum.
-crofter

 

[XERTYX]

Normally when I brown hamburger I add water to the pan anyway. I find it's easier that way to get it into really fine pieces as that's how I like it anyway.

Once it starts frying you know most of the water is gone now. Then I tilt the pan and scoop the meat out into a container leaving most of the juice behind.

Dump out the grease into a can etc and then I return the meat to the pan and add the next step (hamburger helper, taco seasoning, pasta sauce, etc)

This clearly doesnt remove all the fat but enough for my standards. Its notable that I only ever buy the lean ground beef if it's on clearance. So this is the way I always do it. But I have never tried to brown ground beef in a crock pot. I'd imagine it would take a very long time to do this step as I normally do this on medium-low heat which is considerably more heat than a slow cooker on high.

 

[delvadj]

Yes. Not the best. Better to use tvp or canned chilli no beans.

 

[JDub]

I always brown my hamburger first per XERTYX's method (I really dislike the extra fat) if it's destined for anything besides Burgers or meatloaf. I don't like Hamburger Helper (though my wife and son loved it so I'd make it for them). My favorite recipe to use ground meat in is:

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/08/curried-jamaican-beef-patties-recipe.html

Note! DON"T use butter in the dough (makes it too chewy and not flaky), use LARD. I also deep fry the pies instead of baking. Crisp, flaky goodness! Add extra peppers too...

Cheers!

 

[nature lover]

For those of you interested in crock potting. Look for a series of books called fix it and forget it. They were originally conceived, written, and published By my friends Phyllis and Merle Good in Lancaster County PA. I think it became a franchise and others became involved but they’re pretty good recipe books. Especially the original one.

 

[vanbrat]

I agree with JDub. I like to just use what I like in my casseroles' don't much like helper stuff. They have to much sugar and salt. But not everyone likes to cook from scratch.
The browned meat in a skillet is tastiest, but not always needed. I do a lot of ground beef all at once and then freeze a few packets for what ever, and just take out what I need for today. I have packets for tomato sauce stuff, tacos, burritos, gravy, chili, etc. I have the same packet stuff for chicken and ham too. They are simple seasoned salt pepper etc. That way I only have to keep the meat cold and not all the other 'stuff'. And it tastes more like fresh cooked.
You should not have a problem with your hamburger cooking in the crock pot. It just won't taste like browned meat from a pan. Brake it up and pre heat the pot before putting in the meat. If you add liquid at the start, heat it if you can, less chance for bad bacteria to grow.

 

[user 37446]

Master chef that am (not) I have switched from the low end 70% lean drain a cup of grease per pound hamburger to using 85 or 93% lean. On sale it is 2.99 a pound and the 93% has about a tablespoon of grease total.