/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>17535246
>Buy Lean Ground Beef(Not extra lean)
>Buy Taco Seasoning Packet
>Follow instructions on taco packet
>????
>Profit

Literally just cook the beef until it's browned, then add a cup of water and your taco seasoning, then cook it until the waters mostly evaporated, then remove it from the heat, and bam, taco meat.

If your old lady is fucking that up, she's unironically not following the instructions on the seasoning packet, or the instructions on her online recipe. You should probably talk to her about not being stupid. Women often need that kind of talk. When my wife had to take over most of the cooking I had to sit her down and explain that she has to actually follow the fucking instructions on her recipe/the box.

inb4 that browning jackass comes in

>>17535246
The secret is to use 50/50 ground pork/beef instead of lean beef.

>>17535246
Post photos of your failures then we can criticize it and call you a faggot

>>17535246
Tell her to stop dumping the grease. 99/100 times dry, crumbly, shitty meat always comes from some "health" trend of dumping all of the grease to make inedible piles of shit. If you're hardset on "healthy," (or as it really is, pretending and suffering for it) at least keep half the grease, minimum.

>>17535368
I strain the grease away and add some butter to make it a little less dry

>>17535373
That's an acceptable method, however it removes the more distinct beef flavor for a more mellow generic meat flavor.

>>17535246
How is it being made? If you just crumble the beef and add spices it's going to seem a bit dry, you need to make a sauce for it. Either with pureed tomato/chili peppers or other liquids with some kind of thickener. Then simmer it for 30-60 minutes, it actually improves the texture of the meat.

>>17535246
Honestly, I never really liked ground beef tacos very much at all? Would be easier and better to choose other choices of meat.

I've noticed a lot of recommendations online in favor of adding tomato sauce to mix
It reminds me of the tang that taco meat from some restaurants have
That mixed with slow cooking seems like it might be ideal

>>17535373
>strain away grease
>add more grease
tf

Cook the meat on high to dry the outside and can develop some browning not like that shite in pic.
Put a tiny tiny squeeze of tomato paste and mix it in to coat after sufficiently browned. Brown the tomato paste a little to develop flavour.
Deglaze with wine, vinegar, stock or water. Smoked paprika and plenty of salt and pepper.
I use lean lean game sausage meat for this shit and it’s not that hard.

>>17535246
>how do I make tender juicy taco meat
put a lid on the pan as it cooks.

>>17535407
It's just a little more fat to keep it from getting really dry

>>17535246
Use 85/15, cook through in pan, don't drain fat, add seasoning and water, simmer, eat.
If you can mix ground beef and pork that's even better.

Dumb beef into pan
Push into layer
Cook for a bit, until brown underneath
Mash it all up
Cook until all the water evaporates and the beef is frying in the fat
Keep on frying until it's completely dry and brown
Put knorr beef stock pot in with 500 ml water
Cook slowly for 1 hour

I've been experimenting with browning the everliving shit out of half the beef then slow cooking the rest to get a balance of flavor and moisture. Another method is dumping it all in the pan but barely stirring it so the top only steam cooks.

>>17535246
LISTEN, ALL YOU FUCKING NEED IS RIGHT HERE, I SHIT YOU NOT, DONT LISTEN TO THESE OTHER "COOKS" OP.

- the fuckin ground beef
- taco seasoning packet
- small can of tomato paste

you put the fuckin beef in a pan, medium heat, break it up, wait till its all pretty much decently browned

(optional but reccomended, its ur fucking choice)
- remove some of the grease, about half

after that, scoop the can of tomato paste into the beef, then fill half the tomato paste can with water, mix that shit in, give it a little bit, then add another half can of water, then add the taco seasoning packet, mix that shit in, boom. done, juicy tasty meat, none of that disgusting dry dog food bullshit

>>17535854
no slow cooking to make it more tender?
no one seems to have mentioned slow cooking at all

>>17535869
>tender
it’s taco night nobody wants to wait. plus why would you want a sloppy joe fucking taco

>buying pre-made packets of taco seasoning
disgusting subhuman behavior. do you not own any spices?

>>17535869
>no one seems to have mentioned slow cooking at all
>>17535390
>Then simmer it for 30-60 minutes
>>17535469
>simmer
>>17535484
>Cook slowly for 1 hour

>>17535246
If it's dry and crumbly sounds like she's either draining any fat that's in the beef or using super lean ground beef. You can solve this in a number of ways.

I rarely make ground beef tacos, but this is what I'd do if that's what I had to make.

>80/20 ground chuck
>cast iron pan or dutch oven rippin hot with corn oil
>minced white onion, a bit of tomato paste or just tomatoes, and beef goes in the pan
>wait for it to properly brown, add some spices and salt here, but not all
>deglaze with beer, beef stock, chicken stock, or really whatever you have on hand
>add chipotle peppers packed in adobo if you want that smoky/barbacoa flavor
>let simmer for 40min
>make rice while simmering
>while simmering taste and add more spices and salt to build desired flavor over time, adding them closer to the end will have a greater affect on the final flavor. Dried spices can lose aroma if you blast them with heat for a long time.
>put on warm while you prep tortillas and set table

wala

Pic related is chicken tinga I made using a similar method and chicken thighs.

>>17535251
>add water
>cook until the water is gone
genius

>>17536421
It’s to ensure the meat doesn’t dry out too quickly, retard. Put a lid on the pan and it helps steam the meat whilst keeping it juicy

Anyone that exposes themselves as a cooklet should be IP banned

>>17536546
no it's to rehydrate all the fake shit they put in those little packages. you'd know that if you had ever cooked with actual ingredients instead of buying Knorr™ Instant this or Kraft™ Fast and Easy that

>>17536560
I don’t, you obsessed tard. Minced beef dries out extremely quick when frying in a pan.

>>17535462
just throw away less grease you dipshit

>>17535251
man, women are fucking stupid

>>17535246
leave meatwater in the pan, thicken it with starch. taco seasoning packets have corn starch in them for a reason

>>17536560
>Spices are fake shit
Excuse me?

>>17536995
They really are
This time out, though.
She didn't ruin the taco meat by draining every bit of grease and over cooking it

Thanks everyone in the thread for the advice, was kind of hoping for advice on the slow cooking or crock pot advice but I will look into creating my own spice mix like >>17536421 this faggot advised and of course some tomato sauce.

>>17535246
Have you ever seen Mexicans using ground beef? Use that crockpot to make carnitas.

Change the spice blend. Add a different protein. Add some veg, a little diced yukon potato and carrot. Add a little tomato product to the mix. AWork on the tortillas - sometimes you can get really good ones, if you're forced into the big brands fry the fuckers the right way. If it's corn (excellent choice) learn to prepare these properly.

Then work on your toppings. Get Oaxacan (basically mozarella) if you can. Definetly get a really good cheddar. Shred either or both finely.

Learn to make a Mexican style relish: cilantro and onion, finely minced. Finely diced tomatoes.

Then, come up with other ideas. Why not peppers? What kind of salsa are you using, is it fresh? Ditch the tapatio/vinegar sauce and make a fresh taqeuria sauce (and a lot of it for later use).

You got options my dude. Just spend some time learning how to improve the ingredients and tweak how you are cooking then assembling the taco.

>>17537180
oh, and thank your lady for cooking - treat her right for it. lest you end up a miserable broken sob like >>17536995

imagine the smell of that fucking loser

>>17535246
Just add cornstarch and water slurry after fully browning meat, stir for extra 3 minutes and ur good

>>17537560

>>17535246
fry pan, sear it good, fry the spices a with it a bit, then add chicken stock and simmer it down
fresh pico and crumbly salty mexican cheese make every taco better
i like 90/10 instead of 80/20

>>17536254
>disgusting subhuman behavior. do you not own any spices?
Wow, instead of a prepackaged mix of dry spices, make it your own blend with an assortment of other dry spices, because it's totally different

>>17536560
no its to get the spices on all the meatses evenly

>>17535869
It's fucking ground beef dude, i don't wanta make this any more complicated than it has to be. Meat, spice with some water for even distribution, fry it up.

>>17535246
If your wife or mom is that bad about cooking there's no changing her. Start cooking yourself.

>>17535290
/Thread

>>17535246
Add a bunch of spices like paprika, that will thicken it and moisten it. Cook at med, never high except to start.

>>17535246
Add butter towards the end. Not a whole stick or anything, but butter does add some texture depth in the same way basting a steak does