How To Give Ground Beef A Flame-Grilled Taste Without A Grill

Ground beef is a weekly staple for a quick and tasty lunch or dinner, and it's even better when it's flame-grilled. You get that juicy and tender consistency with a perfect, crispy sear and grill marks. But what do you do when you don't have a grill? Whether you don't have the extra space or can't have one in your apartment, there's a simple workaround to get that classic fire-grilled taste without the bulky equipment. According to cowboy cooking expert and author Kent Rollins, host of the Outdoor Channel's "Cast Iron Cowboy," all you need is some liquid smoke.

"To get that good smoky flavor without a grill, I use about ½ teaspoon of liquid smoke, mesquite flavored mix, into a half a cup of beef broth," Rollins explains. "Stir well, and brush on when they are about half done." Liquid smoke is made from real smoke and is an affordable and easy hack to give your food that smoky flavor since it's essentially made by capturing the vapors from burning wood and dissolving them in water. Even better, you can choose between different woods, too, including mesquite, pecan, and hickory. Brushing the liquid smoke-beef broth mixture toward the end when the sear has formed ensures you get all that flavor and none of the extra moisture seeping through.

If we boil down what makes fire-grilled ground beef so good, it's that intense direct heat from the flames that creates that crispy char and smoky aroma. To recreate this effect and add flavor when cooking ground beef, a cast-iron skillet can retain intense heat to get that seared crust you want from an outdoor grill. The secret is letting the ground beef undergo the Maillard reaction before breaking it up into smaller pieces. If you break it up into crumbles too early, you prevent that browning from taking place and release more moisture into the pan. That extra bit of care and maintenance a cast-iron skillet requires is worth it if you're looking to get the best ground beef flavor you can.

Another alternative to cooking beef on a grill is to use a kitchen torch, which is able to blast your meat to get a great char on it. While it takes some finesse, torching the cooked ground beef for a minute or two levels up the texture, all without firing up a grill. For an added boost of smoky flavor, there's also wood-smoked salt. This may be harder to find than liquid smoke, but it can replace the regular salt you typically use. While fire-grilled ground beef has a look and taste of its own, you can get pretty close with these methods and achieve a crispy and flavorful result.