This Pro-Tip Will Save Overcooked Beef In A Pinch

Anyone who's ever walked into the kitchen and prepped beef will have overcooked it at least a few times. It's nothing to be shy about, even professional chefs like Bobby Flay end up overcooking meat on occasion. You can't go back in time and uncook the beef, so what do you do when you're left with a slab of dried-out and burnt meat in the pan? 

The good news is that you don't have to send it into the trash can. Unless you've heavily charred the beef, there's a good chance this trick will help you save the precious protein: Give it a whirl in a food processor alongside plenty of lard and meat stock.

This will do two things: First, the food processor will shred away all the burnt bits in the food, so you'll no longer have a mouthful of bitter carbon as you delve into your meal. Second, the stock and lard will rehydrate the dried-out meat, giving it a second lease on life and making it easier on the palate.

Overcooked beef is basically a slab of pure protein with all the fat and moisture scorched out. By that logic, if you give the beef its fat and moisture back, it should be right as rain, right? Well, it's true in theory, but impossible in practice. You can't soak an overcooked cut of beef in a pot with fat and broth and magically turn it into a tasty medium-rare steak in a few hours.

What you'll want to do instead is to blend the overcooked meat with some flavorful fat and liquid so that it'll get a semblance of palatability back. Put the beef into a food processor and mix it with some lard and broth (you can emulsify it with some extra cooking oil, too.) By the end, you should have some tasty ground beef that you can now use for a variety of dishes, from beef enchiladas to a hamburger casserole. Sure, it's not a steak, but at the very least, you don't contribute to food wastage by doing away with the beef!