Will 93% lean ground beef stick in a non-stick skillet without oil?

Question

I often cook 85% lean ground beef in a non-stick pan. When I first started doing this, I always added some oil to the pan before I cooked it, but then I learned that the beef had enough fat on its own, so I started cooking it without adding any oil. I just put the beef in the skillet and turn on the heat, and it turns out fine.

I bought 93% lean ground beef today, and I plan to make food with it tomorrow. But I'm not sure if it has enough fat to cook it without adding some kind of oil to the pan. If I try to cook the 93% without oil, will I run into problems?

Answer 1

There isn't a way to predict this. Non stick pans are produced in different quality and can be anywhere from "water pearls off the surface" to "as bad as enamel". And all of them lose their non stick properties over time, at wildly different rates depending on quality and usage patterns.

If you want to know it for your case, you'll have to try it. Worst case, you'll have to thoroughly clean a pan from clingy residue. If it burns onto a white ceramic coating, it can also leave a permanent discoloration, but this is a purely cosmetic problem.

Update: You can certainly save your meat even if it starts to stick. Use Joe's method from his comment, or simply stir it constantly with a flat edged spatula (I don't know which method is better). If it is patties, loosen them again and again using a spatula, maybe turning them often.