Can you settle this meatloaf fight!? Water vs. Grease!!?

Question

My fiancé took a bag of ground beef and added hot water inside the back to defrost it. When I got home, it was already defrosted and floating in water. Not thinking and tired, I drained the meat the best I could and then made my meat loaf that I always make- 1 egg, bread crumbs and cheese in the center.
The meatloaf started to smoke up the oven and whole house after 45 mins and was spitting grease everywhere..... my whole oven was coated. It was a giant mess. No since I make this meatloaf constantly- I yelled at him for soaking the ground beef in water.
He told me the water would evaporate and had nothing to do with it. He blames the grease smoking on the cheese because 3 thick slices cheese would have all that grease in it. He actual called 1 of his guy friends who completely agreed with him.... I ask two friends at work and they agreed with me.
Who's right and who can give me a good explanation of why this happened?
Thanks!!

Answer 1

Your fiance and his friends need to brush up on their physics, at least where food and physics intersect.

Hot oil and water do not "explode." Water, however, sort of explodes when it is converted to steam. This is how a steam locomotive works. Steam puts off a LOT of energy, that's how it could drive all of those tons of iron down the track.

All of that water in the meat came out all right, but as steam, not evaporation, and it brought a lot of fat with it. I'm surprised that you didn't end up with beef splattered all over the oven. You must have compacted the loaf quite a bit. Think about what might have happened if you had had a pocket of water trapped inside the meatloaf.

All of that smoke is from the bits of beef and fat that were driven off the meatloaf as the steam escaped. This is why you put slits in pie crust - to let the explosive energy of the steam escape without cracking the crust.

It is the water in the popcorn kernel that makes the kernel pop as the steam escapes.

Read the ditty about super-heating water in a microwave causing the water to explode in the third link below.

You're right; good luck getting him to admit that.

Answer 2

GOD I hate it when my hubby does that crap! he doesnt open the bag though! He will defrost meat in water in the sink and i totally hate that! i always try my best to defrost any meat in the refrigerator or if worse comes to worse the microwave! The water is definetely at fault! NOT you or your recipe! The water mixed with the grease and the heat which caused a huge amount of splattering and a huge mess in your oven! I sure hope HE cleaned your oven for you! Damn men! cant live with them or without them! BUT his heart was in the right place! Spank him- tell him never to do it again- then continue to love him! After all he is JUST A MAN!

Answer 3

I agree with you. I cook with cheese all the time (and lots of it) and never have this problem. Why on earth did he put water in with the hamburger? (He could have put a closed Ziploc bag- or a vacuum sealed package- into mildly warmed water and it would have defrosted just fine.) Of course his friend agreed with him, they stick together thick as thieves...LOL.
As for the water evaporating; I imagine it would if it was on the surface, but if it is contained (by the meat and cheese) it will build up as steam resulting in small geysers.
You have experience on your side- this is something you have cooked before with no problem (I assume), and no one should ever defrost meat by adding water to it (again I have defrosted a vacuum sealed package of meat in tepid water, but shudder to think of actually pouring water into the bag).

Answer 4

You are correct. Any time water is mixed with grease or oil it will splatter. It sometimes takes time to occur, as the water molecules need time to warm up and get released.. You can see this for yourself by putting a frozen piece of meat into a skillet of warm oil. As the oil gets hotter, the frozen juices in the meat begin to splatter.

Answer 5

Too much water in the meat.As the natural grease left from the meat as it cooked, the water got hot and they don't mix.You had hot grease hitting on water that has cooked out of the loaf.....The soaked meat....Period..Women rule......

Answer 6

OK so i make meatloaf the same way.. and my oven does not sound like that... why does he put water in with the hamburger??? yuck... i put warm water in the sick , put frozen meat in a bowl and put that in the water... water never touches the meat... or use the microwave... although i don't suggest that for steak... good luck i am in total agreement with you... yuck watery meat!

Answer 7

he is to blame water and grease dont mix and if water is intoduced to hot grease it will splatter but you already know that ie your oven what happens is that the water gets trapped in the fat and heats up but when it evaporates it builds up pressure and spits grease everywhere srry about the oven

Answer 8

sounds like both to me, the moisture from a lot of grease and water/juices from the meat spilled over from what you were cooking the meatloaf in and ruined your oven. maybe the pan was too shallow or the meat contained LOTS of fat....it's hard to say. if the meatloaf was covered, then I do know that meatloaf makes excessive moisture and that could be what happened.

Answer 9

You're right. It was not the cheese. Ask him what happens when water and hot oil combines. It explodes! Between the grease from the burger and the excess water, it went nuts.

I'm on your side, hon. It's simple chemistry.

Answer 10

so perhaps you need to either take the help he offers and bite your lip when he makes a mistake...or tell him kitchen is YOUR part of the house and to leave it to you. In our house I don't do a thing in the garage...he does nothing in the kitchen...if he decides to help and it's not exactly what I had in mind, I remind myself that he wasn't heart-set on dinner sabotage...sometimes stuff happens.

as for who's right...the grease & water combined was the reason for the mess

As for the chick that gave all the advice of "spank him, tell him he'd done wrong...yadda yadda yadda..." it would be a frosty Friday in he|| before I would try to help you after being treated like that...eff THAT!!