Browning meat (merged)

lbt_2

davetaylor wrote: »

So has anyone ever browned under the grill before?

Hiya Dave

I never brown beef, I just put it straight in, but I always brown my sausages under a really hot grill - just to give them colour.

Personally I don't think it makes a difference to the taste, but I don't think that pale sausages look very appealing!! I brown them under grill so that any fat drains out.

If you really wanted to brown other meat, I don't see why you couldn't do it under the grill. I would just do it very quickly on a very hot grill so it colours quickly on the outside and doesn't cook much inside, otherwise you may lose the juices and flavour.

So have you just got your slow cooker?

Give me a shout if I can help anymore.

kazmc

Hi all
I am going to make the cottage pie meat bit in the slow cooker, and my question is, do I need to brown the lamb mince first???
Many thanks all
Karen x

pelirocco

Tbh if you brown the mince first you might as well do the whole cooking bit , so i would just put it all in

claireac

I haven't been slow cooking long, but mince is the one thing I do brown first. Just to get the fat out of it.

bellrooster

I aways think that meat tastes a bit better and adds more flavor to a dish if it is browned first, then added to the slow cooker. However, you don't NEED to brown it first. It depends if you're in a rush, if you are, just shove it all in the slow cooker. If you've got a bit longer, I'd just prepare it the traditional way and let it cool and it'll heat up fine later.

zippychick

Hi Kazmc

Hope your cottage pie turned out lovely!

There is another thread about browning meat when using the slow cooker, so I have added your thread to that one to keep all the suggestions together.

Thanks

Zippychick

PasturesNew

In looking at cooking mince in a crockpot, I am finding they all say to brown the mince first and drain it off.

This is not possible for what I am trying to achieve.

Can anybody say absolutely, one way or the other, if mince can be used in a crockpot without browning it first.

I'm sure if it must be browned, there'll be some reason given.... and I need to find out if it's possible to just bung it in raw, or not - and why.

Cheers

lcbjcomc

I have used mince raw without browning first. I just used top quality lean mince as obviously all of the fat will come out of the mince into what ever you are cooking. I think browning is more to add flavour and drain off the fat than anything else.

ifonlyitwaseasier

yes you can, a lot of recipes in the states have mince cooked in water/stock without browning, (yes i watch too much food network!)

tanith

I agree browning mince gets rid of most of the fat and gives better flavour IMO....