I need tips for cooking mince, please!

archie9uk

I bought some beef mince on offer a while back and froze one of the packs. The one we ate (in bolognese sauce) was horrible - really fatty, with big lumps of rubbery fat in it. I'm really reluctant to use the other pack, so it's been lurking at the back of my freezer for ages. Any tips on how to make it turn out better? If I cook it in my slow cooker will it come out less fatty? (I've only ever used it for big joints of meat.)

littleredhen

i would not fry in any oil to start with - get a frying pan on and heat put the mince straight in and brown - stir all the time - crumble a stock cube in - a vegetable one - add a little water so mince doesn't burn and stick to pan - then cook for 10 mins (if you find grease forming in pan skim off with a spoon) then add onions/leek/carrots and a tin of chopped tomatoes and cook for about 30 mins - i personally would fry off onions and leek in a sep pan first and part cook carrots in a steamer for 5 mins - makes delicious bolognese - good luck

Olliebeak

I agree with littleredhen - you need to dry-fry the mince first to get rid of all the excess fat.

I actually pour off all the liquid that comes out of it and put to one side in a jug. Let it cool somewhere (maybe on the window ledge) and then stick it in the freezer for a short while. When it's gone solid, I then remove and discard the fat from the top which leaves a jelly-like beef stock at the bottom of the jug which can be used in cooking/gravy.

The resulting 'browned minced beef' can then be used in savoury mince, cottage pie, chilli, bolognese, minced beef cobbler, minced beef hotpot - anything that takes your imagination .

V.Lucky

I would dry fry as others have said, then pour it into a coulinder over the sink to drain the fat off then you can pick through it to see if they are any big lumps of fat lying around.

Best of luck, the first pack sounded gross.

nesssie1702

watch though if you drain the fat down the sink that it doesn't congeal in the drain and give you plumbing problems :eek:

Make sure that the hot water is running at the same time and use a skoosh of washing up liquid to emulsify the fat, so that it's less likely to solidify.

tanith

V.Lucky wrote: »

I would dry fry as others have said, then pour it into a coulinder over the sink to drain the fat off then you can pick through it to see if they are any big lumps of fat lying around.

Best of luck, the first pack sounded gross.

But please don't tell me you let the fat go down the sink into the drains. Thats how all our drains get blocked up.... put it into a container and let it set then wrap in newspaper and dispose of it in the bin

Swan_2

if there are actual lumps of rubbery fat in it, it's unlikely that browning will get rid of those

can't stand that kind of thing myself, & if I've accidentally bought fatty mince, have often ended up just eating the gravy ... which fortunately I love :j


do you have any animals you could give it to as a treat?

mouseymousey99

Make fat ball thingies for the birds? Pour the fat into an old yogurt pot add some dried fruit/seeds etc - do your good deed for the day!!! : )

Stephen_Leak

As a bloke, who therefore lives on minced meat in all its various forms, the obvious thing is to avoid the very cheap mince. It's fat content is higher, so you are left with less actual meat. The better quality stuff, with a lower fat content to start with, can end up better value.

Personally, I find minced pork the best VFM - not only <10% fat but also cheaper than minced beef.

maman

One thing I've done before is dry-fry to brown and then put it in a sieve and pour on boiling water. This seems to remove most fat (gristle you will just have to pick out). From there just put it back in pan and add your tomatoes or whatver you were planning to make. I read this somewhere for low fat dieting. For the future though, I agree with Stephen.

Olliebeak

Agreeing with Stephen here - pork mince is very tasty, as is turkey mince. Got little parcels of both in my freezer.