Ground Beef Gravel

[fungi601]

I wanted to try something different today just to see how it did. I took a lb of lean ground beef (96/4) I got at the store this morning and flaked it apart into a colander. I then placed the colander over a glass bowl and put the whole thing into my pressure cooker/caner. I pressure cooked it at 10lbs for 90 minutes and when I took it out of the caner it was some amazing stuff. Perfectly cooked and "almost dry". ( I think I could have gone with less time )

I then put it in the dehydrator and the stuff dehydrated in nothing flat. It looks like gravel but the stuff is great to eat, just like it is. Its not at all hard on the teeth, even un-hydrated. I think it will be a great addition to some trail dishes.

the glass bowl had all the blood and what little grease was in the meat. I was surprised that the blood didn't coagulate with the meat but It was like the pressure cooker squeezed all the blood and grease out. Really cool!

[orions_knight]

im pretty sure thats not blood. it looks like blood and most people assume it is since its coming off of raw meat. but its just water. thats what ive been told. makes sense thogh, since its so runny and borderline transparent.

[fungi601]

No, its blood. If its not, its some other brown coagulated stuff that comes out of hamburger when you cook it. Liver will do the same thing.

[orions_knight]

check this out. http://www.todayifoundout.com/index....-is-not-blood/
i dont know. the post isnt about meat water or blood so whatevz. but regarding the original post, pretty cool stuff. ive been pondering ways to get some ground beef a long way on a hike without dehydrating fully. i LOVE chili! and i cant think of anything better than hot chili after a long day of hiking in the cold.

[JAK]

I was just in another thread about pemmican thinking about using ground beef, and what it was exactly.

In Canada lean ground beef is 17% fat, which is 17g fat per 100g, but interestingly only 18g protien per 100g also, because the lean portion is about 75% water. So I take it you are using some super-lean ground beef there, which if 4% fat and 96% lean would contain 4g fat and perhaps 24g protien per 100g. It would be interesting to see what your total yield was. You should have gotten close to 1/4 pound of gravel from the pound you started with. I would guess there would still be some fat in there, but even if most of the fat stayed with it, it would still not be very much. You could weigh the grease left in the pressure cooker, and boil away the rest of the water. Then you would have an idea how much of the 4g per 100g is still in the gravel.

[The Weasel]

Ground beef, dried, with the addition of onion powder, garlic powder, and fine ground black pepper (about 1 tsp of each per pound) is easily dried after browning, to remove grease and water. Dry in a 150-200 degree oven (door open 1") overnight. Shelf life is about 1 year. I add it to any water based dish as I start to cook (rice, noodles, polenta) and it rehydrates easily.

TW

[russb]

I cook my ground beef with a bit of Worcestershire sauce and then dry it. The WS gives it some good flavor since all/most of the fat is now gone. Other options abound such as The weasel posted. Taco seasoning works well, as does almost any of those mcormick packets.

[fungi601]

I was just in another thread about pemmican thinking about using ground beef, and what it was exactly.

In Canada lean ground beef is 17% fat, which is 17g fat per 100g, but interestingly only 18g protien per 100g also, because the lean portion is about 75% water. So I take it you are using some super-lean ground beef there, which if 4% fat and 96% lean would contain 4g fat and perhaps 24g protien per 100g. It would be interesting to see what your total yield was. You should have gotten close to 1/4 pound of gravel from the pound you started with. I would guess there would still be some fat in there, but even if most of the fat stayed with it, it would still not be very much. You could weigh the grease left in the pressure cooker, and boil away the rest of the water. Then you would have an idea how much of the 4g per 100g is still in the gravel.

I ended up with 3.2 ounces. Almost 1/4 lb of gravel. I put it on a piece of paper for a little while just to see if it left any grease marks and I couldn't see a thing. I was very amazed with the whole process.

[fungi601]

i LOVE chili! and i cant think of anything better than hot chili after a long day of hiking in the cold.

This stuff would be perfect in chili. I was trying to think of what I was going to use it in and that fits the ticket perfectly.

[fungi601]

I cook my ground beef with a bit of Worcestershire sauce and then dry it. The WS gives it some good flavor since all/most of the fat is now gone. Other options abound such as The weasel posted. Taco seasoning works well, as does almost any of those mcormick packets.

I really like the idea of adding some Worcestershire sauce before I cook it. Next time im going to do that and use it in a noodle dish with some onion and cheese I like to do on the trail.

[atraildreamer]

I wanted to try something different today just to see how it did. I took a lb of lean ground beef (96/4) I got at the store this morning and flaked it apart into a colander. I then placed the colander over a glass bowl and put the whole thing into my pressure cooker/caner. I pressure cooked it at 10lbs for 90 minutes and when I took it out of the caner it was some amazing stuff. Perfectly cooked and "almost dry". ( I think I could have gone with less time )

I then put it in the dehydrator and the stuff dehydrated in nothing flat. It looks like gravel but the stuff is great to eat, just like it is. Its not at all hard on the teeth, even un-hydrated. I think it will be a great addition to some trail dishes.

the glass bowl had all the blood and what little grease was in the meat. I was surprised that the blood didn't coagulate with the meat but It was like the pressure cooker squeezed all the blood and grease out. Really cool!

Something similar has been on the www for a while now.

http://www.endtimesreport.com/hamburger_rocks.html

Your idea of pressure cooking the meat seems to be a better method of removing the fat from the beef than the frying pan method used at the above mentioned website. I tried pressure cooking roast beef jerky prior to drying. The finished product broke up into flakes, but tasted fine.

[BobTheBuilder]

Dehydrated ground beef weighs almost nothing and I add it to almost any lipton dinner, rice or noodles. Best food idea I know.

[The Weasel]

My recipe omitted to mention the Worcestershire Sauce, which does add flavor. The other ingredients - onion powder, garlic powder and pepper - are preservatives, however, and prevent/minimize rancidity from the remaining minor amount of fat.

TW

[JAK]

I like the idea of separating the fat and bringing it along after rendering it. Could it be mixed with canola oil to stay liquid, or would it still separate? Probably still separate I guess. If you mix it back in with your gravel, wouldn't this be pemmican? Would this make it all keep longer, and save some space? Would it be more convenient to add to your food this way?

What is the best ground beef for this purpose? In Canada I think extra lean is 10% fat, and lean ground beef is 17% fat. 17% fat works out to roughly 1g of protien for every 1g of fat, which I think is about right. But if you also wanted to bring olive oil or canola oil, then you could use extra lean. You might still want to add some of the fat back in though. Does it need to be separated out and then added back in, or if it is extra lean to begin with is it low enough in fat that you don't have to get it all out for the meat to dry and keep reasonably well?

[BigRing]

I have used lean ground beef and ground chicken....adding Morton's Quick Cure before dehydrating. I like to use ground venison, but I have seen ground bison in the grocery and suppose that it will work too. Also, I like to add a little dried italian style or panko bread crumbs when the meat is almost cooked, it will be less mushy when rehydrated.

[Farr Away]

I have used 93% lean ground turkey - seasoned; cooked, and dried. No rinsing or other steps to get rid of fat.

I have also used the turkey raw mixed with jerky cure and seasonings, and dried.

Both kept exceptionally well - the gravel in the chest freezer 4+ years (double bagged & still going), and the jerky on the counter 3+ months (that's when the last was eaten).

YMMV, and I do NOT recommend storing this stuff for as long as I did. It just worked out that way for me. I may have gotten lucky (or you may be unlucky). I was very, very careful during processing too.

If anything looks, smells or tastes questionable, throw it out.

-TM

[Rasty]

I like the idea of separating the fat and bringing it along after rendering it. Could it be mixed with canola oil to stay liquid, or would it still separate? Probably still separate I guess. If you mix it back in with your gravel, wouldn't this be pemmican? Would this make it all keep longer, and save some space? Would it be more convenient to add to your food this way?

What is the best ground beef for this purpose? In Canada I think extra lean is 10% fat, and lean ground beef is 17% fat. 17% fat works out to roughly 1g of protien for every 1g of fat, which I think is about right. But if you also wanted to bring olive oil or canola oil, then you could use extra lean. You might still want to add some of the fat back in though. Does it need to be separated out and then added back in, or if it is extra lean to begin with is it low enough in fat that you don't have to get it all out for the meat to dry and keep reasonably well?

You could further render the beef fat into tallow which is room temp stable but solid. The only drawback is that much of the flavor disappeares also.

[Grinder]

IT does seem that pressure cooking is a big help to the subsequent rehydrating. In another post someone pressure cooked chicken and remarked how it rehydrated very well.
I have been unable to rehydrate my chicken beyond the pretty chewy state.

I intend to pressure cook all my freeze dried meats for this spring's hike. But it will be months before I start

Thanks for the report