To ask you if you boil and cool your mince meat before cooking it?

[BigRedBall]

Because this is what mine looks like after boiling and cooling, and I took the pic after removing another heaped spoonful. It's sheep mince from my local butchers which sells halal meat (not that makes a difference). It's always the same.

I wonder what makes it have such high fat content. I think it was meat from the leg.

Yes, 'picture this' could be the new 'ODFOD'

When I worked in a nursery we had a temporary cook (covering for our usual fantastic cook) who made sausage casserole by boiling sausages, potatoes and peas in huge pots of water. It was a grey, watery mess and we threw most of it away without any attempt to persuade the children it was edible. The cook went home after serving the main course so they got extra fruit and yoghurt for pudding and a bigger afternoon snack instead.

willi I second that, can't wait to start using it

msryangosling yes I did - I think she looks fantastic and hope she's back on the radio soon.

They could be a bit close to the bone at times but they did used to make me laugh on my daily commute. It's not half as good since she left.

Aaw all these lovely comments are making me feel all warm inside . Who knew a thread about mince would make people angry, happy, mean, rude...all kinds of emotions for one pot of boiled mince.

OP I wish we had more people like you on MN.

You're a bloody good sport and you have a fabulous sense of humour.

Ah thanks Alibali.

Boiling mince! By boiling the mince you are removing all the juices which contains the flavour. Firstly you need to buy better quality mince or make it yourself and secondly, cook your mince longer and slower and skim off the rendered fat when done. If I'm being lazy I will drain the mince during the sealing process and cool the drained liquid. The fat will solidify and the meat juices will remain liquid, which I will return to the mince during when I'm cooking cooking it at a lower temperature.

By cooling the fat it makes it easier to dispose of and chucking fat down the sink is an unecessary burden for our sewage system.

Isetan - just nosey, is your name from the dept store?

Okey dokey...to try to actually answer the question...if I was so moved to boil my mince, to remove surplus fat, before cooking it, I'd be wanting to add herbs/ spices, and in that instance, yes, I'd cool it right down so that the other ingredients could be thoroughly mixed in. Otherwise there might be the risk of 'clumping' with here a pocket of x, there another of y.

Otherwise, if your intention is to use plain mince without any seasoning, no reason to delay binning it as I'm sure you could spread it/whatever in its hot state.

Can I have a gold star please for actually answering the question? Is there a reverse of the 'picture this', so beloved of some of us?

Bambambini yeah it is, that store totally scuppered my backpacking budget .

Ha, spent many an hour shopping there! Fond memories!

Haven't read the whole thread, but Rosemary Conley's books used to tell you to boil the mince to remove the fat. You were supposed to chill the water so that you could throw the solid fat in the bin and perhaps use the water to make a gravy. Her food was dire, I didn't last long on that diet!