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Did you know you can brown ground beef in the crock pot??
Did you know all you do is add the meat in with 1 cup of water and cook on High for 6-8 hours?
Doesn’t that sound like a great way to simplify cooking? I saw this tip on Once A Month Mom and thought yesterday was a great day to try it. I’ll just put it in before I go to bed, let it cook for about 8 hours and when I get up, I’ll have the meat already browned and ready to add the rest of the ingredients for spaghetti sauce. Then I’ll let that simmer in the crock pot all day and have dinner ready for tonight and another batch done for the freezer with very little work.
Well, did you also know that my crock pot cooks very hot? I haven’t tried this before and should have known to try it during a time when I could check it half way through. So this is what I got.
2 lb. of charred ground beef in the TRASH
Have you tried something to simplify things only for it to fail?
Yikes!! That’s not good! Did you know you can cook the meat with the sauce? My mom taught me that trick and it’s the only way I cook chili and spaghetti sauce now! I use my crockpot and put the meat in first (usually frozen) and then add all the other ingredients on top. The meat cooks perfectly. So much better than when I use to brown it first. I usually just skim the fat off the top as it rises to the surface.
What a great idea, Kristen! I’m assuming that would work with meatballs too. Do you know?
WOW! I wouldn’t have thought that would happen…It’s always frustrating to waste something when trying something new.
Oh no! I haven’t tried ground beef in the crockpot yet (which is odd, since I use my crockpot all the time).. thanks for the warning! I once tried a Chinese recipe in the crockpot that involved soy sauce… left the house all day, and came home to a horrible odor. Charred soy sauce does NOT smell good, especially since we lived in a small apartment then, LOL! I have to admit, you did make me giggle just a bit with your post… and I really needed that, on a day that I’m home with two sick kids. So thank you for sharing!
My WFMW post this week is about a fun project with my kids- Pillow Pen Pals. I’d love for you to stop by and check it out!
Glad you could laugh!!
I bet that soy sauce DID smell bad! Checking out your post. Thanks for stopping by!