Cheap beef mince can be made more tender and juicy by adding a single staple ingredient before cooking, according to a technique shared online.
The baking soda trick
In a TikTok video, America's Test Kitchen demonstrated a “quick trick” to make minced beef juicier and tastier. The cook explained: “There is a quick trick to make any ground meat recipe more tender and more juicy, and it’s probably in your cabinet right now. Just add baking soda. This is a trick inspired by a technique in many classic Chinese stir-fry recipes. Baking soda raises the pH of the meat, which alters the charge in the muscle filaments so that they repel each other. As a result, they can’t contract as easily and squeeze out their water, so the meat is going to hold onto moisture better, which makes it more tender and juicy.”
The higher pH also leads to better browning, resulting in more flavour in the finished dish.
How to apply the hack
The cook added a quarter teaspoon of baking soda to a tablespoon of water, then mixed it through about one pound of mince. Mixing it into the water first helps distribute it evenly. He advised: “For the full benefit, let the mixture sit for 15 minutes, but it will start working as soon as five, and then you can continue your recipe as normal.”
The trick has been used on ground beef, chilli, turkey burgers, pork meatballs, shepherd’s pie and stir fries. The cook concluded: “It’s just one easy step that really makes a delicious difference.”
