Browning is the process of partially cooking the surface of
meat to help remove excessive
fat and to give the meat a brown color crust and flavor through various
browning reactions.
Ground meat will frequently be browned prior to adding other ingredients and completing the cooking process. The process is commonly used when adding ground meat to
casseroles or other prepackaged food products like
Hamburger Helper, where the final cooking temperature will not be high enough to initiate the
Maillard reaction.