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I have been using a propane torch to brown up the ground beef at the end of frying it on the pan, but there must be better way that does not involve the torch; can it be done? Here's what I currently do (before utilizing the torch):

• Heat pan on high, until sizzling hot.


• Lower heat to medium-high and add fat (duck fat)


• Lay down the ground beef


• Begin breaking it down to small pieces


• Stir constantly as I break it down


• Stop when no pink pieces remains

Note that I stir constantly, and leave no large pieces on the pan.

At the end the beef is still gray, and not the dark brown color I desire; which is why I use the torch to finish it up.

Use a bigger pan...or much less beef in the pan. Stop stirring. If you over crowd the pan, nothing will brown. It will steam, then braise because the water can't evaporate fast enough. Secondly, browning happens when an item remains in contact with the pan. So, stirring (unless you are using very high, wok-type temperature) will only defeat the browning process. Allow it to brown, perhaps longer than you think is necessary, then stir, and repeat.

If you get a lot of liquid from the meat, whether water or fat, removing some of it helps (spoon or pour). You don't need to add much fat to start with, just enough to stop it sticking.

Cooking it in two batches can help (as can a bigger pan but only if you've got one and can deliver enough heat to it). I found that quickly breaking it up as soon as it was in the pan was a good idea (in my case using a wooden spatula in one hand and something else in the other). After that it was possible to be more patient and let it brown, just breaking up the few residual big lumps.

On my stove with my pans I'd also leave the heat on full at least until the initial breaking up was complete. Adding chilled meat takes a lot of heat out of the pan, and you can't really get it up to room temperature before cooking (the surface maybe, but the middle will be cold when the surface has been too warm for too long and it's mostly middle). Even room temperature isn't much warmer than chilled, when compared to frying temperatures.

I actually saw a video on this recently. The reason that a lot of times ground beef doesn't get that browned look is because people take it out too early. You're supposed to let it cook until all the water has evaporated, then keep frying.

So if you aren't concerned with cooking the meat until it's well done, you can continue with your current approach and evaporate all the water off, and then at that point turn the heat down to low or med-low and then let the beef sit in contact with the pan for a while to brown, then stir/flip it over. You can do this for as long as you want, eventually the meat will dry out but then if you stir in a sauce it will reabsorb and have nice flavors from the browning.

If you want it crispy and not too well done, then pat out out the ground beef into thin patties (put a hole/depression in the middle to help keep them thin if you don't have a grill press) and dry them with a towel or paper towel. Then toss in hot pan with heated oil and let brown away if you use nonstick pan you can check the browning as it progresses. If you use steel/aluminum the meat will stick as it browns but will eventually release. The trick with that is to have the heat low enough to still brown but not too high where it will burn before the internal meat is cooked. Flip over and repeat, then if you want to chunk it up do that last with heat on med/high.