Another silly cooking question??

torianut

I feel like I am always asking for advice - sorry!

Here goes - can I put raw mince and a jar of dolmio sauce (using up store cupboard stock before starting 'real' old style cooking!) in the oven to cook at the same time as jacket potatoes to save time & gas??

Or would the mince need browning first - therefore may aswell cook it in pan?

Thanks for any replies!!

soappie

I would brown it in the pan first - not least to drive off the fat which can then be poured away.

Lord_Lardington

My advice would be to give it a go.

Browning the mince gives more flavour but I've noticed that a lot of people don't REALLY brown mince, they just warm it up to the grey stage and call it browned. I'm sure what you'd end up with would be totally acceptable as long as it was thoughroughly warmed through.

Plum_Pie

Erm, mince should be heated up v thoroughly for hygene reasons. I would go for a good browning in a pan then chuck it in the oven with the other stuff.

torianut

Thanks for the replies - will brown it first I think - never thought of the fat!!

Swan_2

it'll work just fine, the browning does give the mince a bit more flavour, but you might be quite happy with the result

if you're using decent quality mince, draining fat off shouldn't be an issue

& if it's in the oven with jacket potatoes, it'll be cooking at a fairly high (I'm guessing 180/200 GM 5/6) temperature for long enough to take care of any hygiene issues

give it a go & see if you like the result, it certainly won't do any harm

Addiscomber

There is no such thing as a silly cooking question if you are near the beginning of your cooking career What would be silly would be to not learn and keep asking the same question.

I would agree that browning the mince first and being able to eliminate some of the fat is the best way to go. You could include a chopped up onion too, for extra flavour - or perhaps there is onion in Dolmio already?

About saving gas - do you have a microwave? I give jacket potatoes about half the recommended time in the microwave and then stick them in the oven to finish off. They are drier than purely microwaved ones and it cuts the oven time significantly.

Swan_2

torianut wrote: »

Thanks for the replies - will brown it first I think - never thought of the fat!!

cross-posted

draining the fat is only necessary with value mince & the like

if you brown & drain better quality mince, you'll find you're pouring the flavoursome juices away too. unless you brown it, then allow it to cool enough to actually lift the solid fat off the top

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there

I never brown mince on the hob,,,,

Whenever i do anything with mince,(shepherds pie, bolognaise, chilli the works - i always do it in the oven, just shove it in a casserole dish/pan -add carrots onions etc, BUT no liquid (just give it a stir in the middle of cooking, so it breaks up and browns allover), stick a lid on and you will find the meat "roasts" so you get loads of flavour, i then take it out and drain if fatty, and add liquid etc ..so you could then pour your sauce in and put it back in the oven to heat through....