Cook Perfectly Browned Ground Beef By Adding One Pantry Staple

Ground beef is such an ordinary ingredient that it's easy to overlook the meat's nuance. For starters, there are all the forgotten classic ground beef meals, not to mention its often-missed varying fat percentages. Even nailing perfectly browned ground beef — which should come out moist yet caramelized — can take some practice. Thankfully, you can easily improve this preparation by relying on a common pantry staple.

To explain the savvy enhancement, Food Republic turned to John Politte, owner and executive chef of It's Only Food (which also has a YouTube channel). According to Politte, "Baking soda helps ground beef brown more quickly and evenly."

Typically reserved for doughy creations, you may not expect this pantry staple to meld with meat. However, some fascinating science supports its addition. Since the powder is a strong base, just a small dusting "raises the pH level on the surface of the meat," explains Politte. The less acidic composition "helps keep moisture in and supports the Maillard reaction," he adds. Accelerating this process changes the ground beef's protein structure into a more mouth-watering, charred form. And best of all, your ground beef "does not dry out during cooking," says Politte — a common downfall during preparation.

Baking soda's pH-raising effect is also employed in other savory culinary applications. You can add it when boiling potatoes to accelerate softening, or craft baking soda slurries to velvet meats (a Chinese technique that makes moo goo gai pan superior to your standard stir-fry). Yet using the powder to help brown beef is different, as it goes directly into the pan — so you'll want to keep a close eye on the process.

To start, John Politte recommends using "about ½ teaspoon of baking soda for each pound of meat," cautioning that adding too much will alter the flavor. The beef should then "sit for 15 to 30 minutes," and be rinsed thoroughly before adding it to the skillet.

Try this technique when making three-ingredient old-school beef cottage pie, beef tacos, or pasta. The method may require only baking soda and some patience, but the resulting tender consistency will certainly impress.