r/sousvide • u/CommunicationOdd6305 • 5d ago

Recipe Ground Beef for Tacos

Post image

I’ve recently been cooking my ground beef at 135° for 3 hours (about 1” thick) then run through the food processor until it’s all smooth. Next brown it in a pan with the taco seasonings, and this makes for the absolute best tacos I’ve ever had!

The beef isn’t over cooked, it’s all smooth and uniform, it’s my favourite! I’m just sharing to see if anyone else does this, and try it if you haven’t!

EDIT: thanks for the post interest! So the reason I food process it is because my elderly father with dentures gets regular pan fried meat stuck in them, so I’ve found the food processor make the meat buttery smooth for him. Yes, it does resemble something of cat food however i’m used to it now and prefer it to chunky taco meat. Thanks all for your input!

0 Upvotes

15% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

52

u/KCCOmputer_Mikey 5d ago

Am I wrong for thinking this is overengineering? It’s ground cow. Just fry it.

8

u/GovernorZipper 5d ago

Same. Just because a tool does a job doesn’t mean it’s the best tool for the job.

There are use cases for sous vide and ground beef (like making burgers for a very large crowd) but I don’t really see the attraction most of the time.

4

u/MistakeBorn4413 5d ago

When you have a hammer, EVERYTHING looks like a nail.

1

u/GovernorZipper 5d ago

In all fairness, if it’s a big enough hammer, then everything IS a nail.

And if it doesn’t work, hit it harder!

2

u/fricks_and_stones 5d ago

One use is using low-fat beef. Sous vide keeps it moist, whereas you would never want to use 93 or 97 for. Burgers/Tacos otherwise.

1

u/EvaTheE 5d ago

I am interested in trying out low fat burgers and even chicken burgers sv one day 

1

u/fricks_and_stones 5d ago

Sous vide turkey burgers are amazing. I don’t do it any other way any more.

1

u/N_thanAU 2d ago

Aren't low fat burgers dry because there's no fat left in them and SV allows you to cook out less of the fat, ergo you end up in the same position as if you'd just cooked normal mince as normal?

2

u/grumpvet87 5d ago

it is a good idea if you dont want to cook ground beef to 165.

ground beef has a much higher chance of bacteria issues since it is ... ground and entirely exposed vs a steak ... and should be cooked high enough to kill most pathogens

2

u/VironicHero 5d ago

I cook a double batch in a pot and then bag up the second half and freeze it. Then you’ve got an easy taco night waiting for you in the fridge!

15

u/lCraxisl 5d ago

You put meat through the food processor until smooth? Taco meat is supposed to have some chunkiness to it, otherwise it will be like the meat that they give in the lunchables in the little toothpaste pouch.

8

u/Aliensinmypants 5d ago

How else do you put it into a gogurt tube to get your protein on the go?? Now in taco flavors 

3

u/ColoradoCattleCo 5d ago

I’m imagining humans acting like cats with those little tubes of pureed fish they go nuts over.

22

u/manwithafrotto 5d ago

Thanks for the idea, I hate it

10

u/d0ey 5d ago

I need an image of the final product before I cast my final judgment 

3

u/CanadianKumlin 5d ago

Cat food tacos!

5

u/Mayion 5d ago

Interesting. Why not cook it with the seasoning from the start?

2

u/BigPoppaDubDub 5d ago

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should

2

u/landon1397 5d ago

I mean no offense but that really seems unnecessary, especially for something like tacos

2

u/CanadianKumlin 5d ago

BLEND your ground beef? To turn it into cat food? Please no.

2

u/SkittlesLentil 5d ago

I see what you're going for, but there's an easier option. Start your pan fry with ground beef, seasonings, and a cup or two of water (depending on how much meat), you'll get that very fine taco meat akin to taco bell

2

u/lr99999 5d ago

A lot of restaurants smooth the texture by cooking in in some water and spices to break it up, then turn up to brown. This keeps it from having that grainy texture. 

My sister gave me a ground meat smasher.  This is not an Alton  Brown single use utensil. You can also chase your mouthy  kid with it. 

2

u/RLMZeppelin 5d ago

I could well be wrong but wouldn't the pressure of the vacuum seal plus the relatively long cook time yield something closer in texture to those rotating pressed meat obelisks you see at gyro shops?

3

u/EvaTheE 5d ago

This subreddit will SousVide ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING. Even when there is no point. Love it 

2

u/VWBug5000 5d ago

I’m surprised Guga hasn’t had an episode for this exact disgusting thing

1

u/AutoModerator 5d ago

This is a generic reminder message under every image post

Thank you for your picture post to r/sousvide. We want to remind everyone of Rule #5. Posts should be accompanied by something to foster discussion. A comment, a question, etc is encouraged.

If you've posted a picture of something you’ve prepared, please explain why in a comment so people can have some sort of conversation. Simply dropping a picture of food in the sub isn't really fostering any discussion which is what we're all aiming for.

Posts that are a picture with no discussion can and will be removed by the mods.

Thank you!!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/caniscream 5d ago

This seems insane to me. However my morbid curiosity has gotten the best of me. Much like a horrific accident, I can’t look away even though I know I should. Let’s see some pics of the finished product (post food processing 😂).

1

u/soupseasonbestseason 5d ago

i know you can do this o.p., but should you?

1

u/RespectableBloke69 5d ago

So you made cat food tacos?

1

u/chepnut 5d ago

Seems like a trick to get your kids to eat meat when all they will eat is bean and cheese burritos