Novice Breadcrumbs & Oats added to mince questions

ScoobieGirl

Hi sorry for asking such basic questions, but I've looked at a loads of threads and cant see the answer.

I am very keen to start adding oats to my mince dishes to pad it out, but I am not sure when to add them. I am planning on adding about 1/4 of the weight of the meat in oats. Do I just add them in the last 10 mins of cooking or as soon as the mince is browned.

Also I would like to use up any stale bread the same way, but I don't have a food processor. Is the best way to leave it out for a few hours and them use a cheese grater, or can I just add lumps because they will break up when cooking?

carolt2

ScoobieGirl wrote: »

Hi sorry for asking such basic questions, but I've looked at a loads of threads and cant see the answer.

I am very keen to start adding oats to my mince dishes to pad it out, but I am not sure when to add them. I am planning on adding about 1/4 of the weight of the meat in oats. Do I just add them in the last 10 mins of cooking or as soon as the mince is browned.

Also I would like to use up any stale bread the same way, but I don't have a food processor. Is the best way to leave it out for a few hours and them use a cheese grater, or can I just add lumps because they will break up when cooking?

Hi, Its' generally up to you when you add the oats but i mostly add them about 1/2 hour before cooking has finished.

You could also add grated carrot, lentils, soya mince, grated courgette.
These also will bulk your mince out.
Not sur about the breadcrumbs. Couly you not dice the bread up. Or try and invest in a mini chopper. (like a food processor but smaller)
Have you looked at the grocery challenge thread,
Plenty of posters in the thread to give advice/recipes for making meals stretch further.

fizzel81

i mainly use grated carrot or lentils to pad mince out (and then i mainly make cottage pie) i add mine at start when im browning mince

ScoobieGirl

carolt2 wrote: »

Have you looked at the grocery challenge thread,
Plenty of posters in the thread to give advice/recipes for making meals stretch further.

Yes, it's really good, its where I got the idea for the oats from, but all the posts I found mentioned that they are added, not when and I was a bit worried I'd just end up with a soggy mess.

Thanks for your help. I'll try it out this weekend.:)

Bunny200

I did this today, I put beef mince, oats, lentils, soya mince & grated carrot in the slow cooker all at the same time, turned out fine. I wanted a fairly plain base to use for chilli, bolegnese, cottage pie etc and so got 4 meals out of 1 pack of mince. I put 4 tins of toms in as well and also added water a couple of times as the lentils, oats and soya all soak up the water.

As long as the oats are well mixed in I wouldn't have thought you'd have any problems. I'd suggest mixing all your ingrediants dry and then add liquid otherwise its more likely to sick together.

We had chilli tonight so I just jazzed up some of the mix in a seperate saucepan and froze the rest in labeled containers. Will be having cottage pie soon! Yummy & frugal!:rotfl:

ScoobieGirl

Ooo, slow cooking too even better. Thanks for the warning, I will add when dry. Looking forward to trying this. Thanks also for the suggestion of keeping it plain, makes for sense than have 20 portions of the same sauce

COOLTRIKERCHICK

i used oats last week for the first time..... dont know if it was right or not..... but i browned off the onions.... added garlic.. then the mince and as the mince was more or less browned off.. i added the grated carrots and the oats..... i dont it that way so the oats could really soak up the flavour of the mince.... after about 10 mins.... then i drained the exccess fat off....

i didnt tell the family until they had eaten it all, then i told them there was oats in it.... the youngest said he would never eat it again....lol... but he injoyed it while he was eating it, just goest to show to.... dont tell them what you are cooking....;)

jumblejack

Bumping for others.

gayleygoo

I kept meaning to buy a food processor as I thought it'd be a great money saving piece of equipment (breadcrumbs, soups, pastry etc), but actually I've been using our smoothie maker up til now and it's done the job just as well! If you don't have one, leave the bread sitting out overnight (or for a few hours) so it gets nice and stale for grating, sometimes you can just rub the bread between your fingers like pastry making, and it will fall to breadcrumbs in the bowl. You can also dry it out in a low oven, place in a bag then bash with a rolling pin.

I wouldn't fancy using breadcrumbs as a meat replacement in a meal, but I'm sure you could if you want. I like to make stuffing balls/loaf or dumplings with the breadcrumbs, as an accompaniment to a meal (add things like cooked onions and garlic, herbs, chopped apple, grated carrot, courgette, dried fruits, cheese etc to make different kinds of stuffing balls. If it doesn't hold together well, do it in a loaf or cake tin). Breadcrumbs are also great for coating leftover cooked chicken to fry, fishcakes, bulking out meatballs, burgers and rissoles and of course anything else that requires breadcrumbs.

[Deleted User]

I have always used a handfiul of oats when browning the mince and it does help to 'bulk' it out a bit If making a mince based sauce for spag bol or chili or even lasagne I try to add what ever veg I can When my DDs were small the eldest one wasn't keen on veg so grated carrot disappeared into the mince and was eaten without any 'I hate veg Mum ' moments.Also a handful of lentils does the same thing.I usually add both plus a tin of toms (I never buy the chopped ones I can easily chop up a normal tin :))I also add diced mushroom as well.My eldest DD said to me once that I could write a book entitled 'A thousand winning ways with mince' Cheeky mare ,during the 1970s when mortgage rates hit 15% Mums had to find all sorts of ways to streeeetch the money and mince was brilliant for that.

I have always put the mince into a half a pint of water first and brought to the boil then drained it off as it gets rid off excess fat as well.I never used gravy granules (they weren't on the market then anyway)Its always been a tablespoon of bisto powder and a crumbled up oxo cube mixed with a little cold water to a paste then add a bit more water at a time until you have about three quarters of a pyrex jug and add to the mince This makes really nice gravy and if its too thick you can add a bit more water a bit at a time.Lots cheaper than granules and tastier as well.Diced onion and sliced carrots added help to make it a bit more filling as well. I can get an amazing amount of portions out of half a pound of mince, but then I was brought up with two great advantages, a tiny little Scots Mum who could make a shilling streetch until it snapped :) and rationing where you had to eke things out as there was restrictions on the amount of meat available.
JackieO xxx

Ilona

Think about how long it takes to make porridge in a pan, a few minutes and it's ready. You only need to add them in the last five minutes of cooking time. Don't bother measuring how much, look at the consistancy, if it is already thick, add a bit of water to absorb the oats. If it is not thick (runny), just add the oats. Add one spoonful at a time, stir, and stop when it is the required consistancy. You will need less than you think. I add oats to veggie stews. I wouldn't add bread to them.
Ilona