We've all been there: Your family needs a quick meal on the table, and you succumb to the allure and promise of a quick dinner from the brightly colored packet of taco seasoning. Pretty much everyone knows the drill: Brown the meat, breaking it up as you go, sprinkle the taco seasoning over it, and add a specific amount of water, simmering and stirring until thickened. As the water evaporates away, you wonder, hey, what does that water really do, and is it necessary? Turns out it's essential for giving the proper consistency to the taco meat because those seasoning mixes contain cornstarch, which requires water and heat to create a sauce.
What you're doing when you add water is helping the cornstarch create a smooth sauce flavored with the spices. The heat then activates the cornstarch, thickening the mixture. Without it, the meat would be very dry and crumbly, and it could spill out of your taco shell instead of holding together, an issue you've probably noticed if you make your own taco seasoning blend.
While either cornstarch or flour can be used to thicken a mixture, cornstarch is the popular thickening agent when creating smooth, translucent sauces.Flour-thickened sauces tend to be opaque, like gravies. It also doesn't take as much cornstarch to thicken a sauce, making it ideal for including in a taco mix packet. The amount of flour needed would make the packet unwieldy. However, because cornstarch needs to be dissolved in liquid, you have to add water when cooking. Luckily, cornstarch is a forgiving substance that dissolves relatively easily, though you must not skip the cooking step because it needs high heat, just below boiling, to thicken.
Some taco mixes contain modified corn starch, which is not a genetically modified ingredient. Modified starches have the same effect as traditional starches, but they work faster. They can thicken quicker and are often used in sauces that need a specific temperature to thicken or are considered instant. This means there is less user error with a modified starch.
How To Make Your Own Taco Seasoning
If you've ever made your own taco seasoning mix from your stash of cabinet spices, you might have noticed that the resulting cooked meat is less cohesive. This is because most recipes do not include the addition of cornstarch.Now, you can create your own blends with a mixture of chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and other spices -- depending on the flavor you are looking for and what region you want to emulate. Once you have the flavor you want, add some cornstarch to the blend of spices. Just be aware that a little cornstarch goes a long way. A typical 12-servingtaco seasoning mix recipe uses about 1 ½ tablespoons of cornstarch.
If you want to skip the cornstarch in your homemade seasoning to use it for other purposes, just sprinkle ⅓ to ½ teaspoon of cornstarch per pound of browned, spiced meat before adding ¾ cup of water and heat until thickened.
Turns out it's essential for giving the proper consistency to the taco meat because those seasoning mixes contain cornstarch, which requires water and heat to create a sauce. What you're doing when you add water is helping the cornstarch create a smooth sauce flavored with the spices.
Put the ground chuck in a large pot or Dutch oven and add seasonings. Add just enough water to cover the meat, bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for about an hour. Every 15 minutes or so break up the meat with a large spoon or a potato masher so that it isn't lumpy.
The best way to prevent taco meat from drying out is to use ground beef with a high enough fat content, usually 70% lean 30% or 80/20. The leaner the beef, the more likely it is to dry out, so you'll want to add extra beef broth or water as it's cooking.
If you want to skip the cornstarch in your homemade seasoning to use it for other purposes, just sprinkle ⅓ to ½ teaspoon of cornstarch per pound of browned, spiced meat before adding ¾ cup of water and heat until thickened.
Turns out it's essential for giving the proper consistency to the taco meat because those seasoning mixes contain cornstarch, which requires water and heat to create a sauce.
Both hamburger and ground beef can have seasonings, but no water, phosphates, extenders or binders added. The labeling of meat food products must comply with the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) and the meat inspection regulations and labeling policies.
Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants boil raw ground beef with water and seasonings until cooked through to achieve a super fine texture, and the aforementioned Maid Rite sandwiches (aka Loose Meat Sandwiches, which are NOT Sloppy Joe's!) use steam to keep the cooked ground beef soft after cooking.
Also, meat ground too many times will become “mushy” or if the meat has warmed above 37 degrees F. If you must stuff off a grinder using a stuffing tube, grind the meat first through a kidney plate (2 or 3 hole plate).
Even recipes for homemade taco seasoning that don't include cornstarch can be used to cook meat without stirring it in water. But by adding water to your taco seasoning, you essentially create a sauce for the meat to simmer in.
Cook and stir ground beef in the hot skillet until browned and crumbly, 7 to 10 minutes. Drain and discard any excess grease. Pour water and seasoning mix over beef; stir to combine.
To use: Use about 2 tablespoons of the taco seasoning for every 1 pound of meat. Use more or less depending on your preference. Brown meat and drain the fat. Add your taco seasoning along with about 1/2 cup of water.
How do I cook ground beef without drying it out? Use olive oil first to sauté the onion and garlic.Then add the meat and cook it until it's no longer pink. It takes a keen eye here but once that last pink is gone, take it from the pan immediately and it won't dry out.
For every pound you use 2 Tablespoons of taco mix, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 cup water. 4 Pounds of meat uses 1/2 cup taco mix, 4 teaspoons salt, and 2 Cups of water.
Water: You'll need enough to fully submerge the beef in the pan. Place the ground meat in the pot first, then pour cold/tap water over it until it's covered.
The animals are often “watered" to hydrate them, increase their weight, and inflate profits. Water can also be added during processing. Why are supermarkets allowed to sell beef, lamb, pork and chicken that has been pumped with water to increase its weight? The question is price.
In addition, valuable water-soluble proteins and vitamins are lost along with moisture. Water-holding capacity of meat can also influence processing characteristics. Meat with low water water-holding capacity often tends to produce inferior processed products.
HPP (High-pressure processing) is a very effective way for companies to make sure their meat products are safe. HPP uses high, but safe levels of water pressure to kill bacteria and prevent the growth of mold and fungus.
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