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.

God no. You would surely boil out the minimal semblance of flavour and texture that mince ever had. Mince is bad enough as it is. Boiled mince is just a grey, tasteless joke, surely?

Sheep mince? You mean lamb?

No I would never boil mince and then cook it. The fat is partly responsible for the flavour of the food and a good thing in my opinion. Sometimes lamb can be a bit too fatty and I may drain off some of the fat after frying, but only if absolutely necessary.

I had a friend who used to fry her mince and then rinse it under the tap in a strainer. I was a bit about that and can only assume that some people are just afraid of food and use it for fuel rather than enjoyment. I definitely live to eat.

It sounds to me that you don't particularly enjoy either cooking or eating.

LurkingHusband Try using beef skirt for chilli. Much nicer than mince.

Yuck, no.

Lamb mince tends to be about 15-20% fat, anyhow. Lambs are young and fatty.

It isn't especially cheap, but presumably there's some premium paid for Halal meat.

This can't actually be real?? Boiling mince??! If you're making a bolognese sauce you are basically triple cooking it... Boiling it, then frying / browning it, then letting all of the sauce reduce down slowly together. I've never heard of this in my life!!!!

Mince = fatty offcuts

Cheap mince = more fatty offcuts

Lamb = fattier than beef

Therefore you are using a high fat product from a high fat animal and - of course - getting a lot of fat.

Do you not eat beef for some reason? I get steak mince from the butcher and it is very lean, I just dry fry it then put it on kitchen towel when I start the rest of the sauce, there's usually very little fat on it.

what? do what? No I don't! Does it not make it really tough.

And rinsing mince is a recipe for food poisoining.

Me neither Mouthful. A whole new food phobia for me to ponder on.

I line a bowl with kitchen roll, then sit the sieve on top of that whilst I fry the mince. Empty the pan into the sieve, drain, return to pan and bin the kitchen roll, the bowl goes straight into the dishwasher but there is no fat in the bowl.

Please don't put fat down the drain, I watched a tv programme once that showed them hacking at the stuff with shovels to allow the drains to flow easy. Was beyond disgusting.

Now we know whose blocking all the drains and causing fatbergs. It's the mince rinsers.

But then I didn't know people washed chicken until joining mn. Every day is a school day on here.

I used to work with a man who enjoyed no meal more than boiled mince and boiled potatoes. He put an Oxo in with the mince, but that all got drained away before he ate it. He was as thin as a rake

Mince boiling is just plain wrong & should not be done under any circumstances.

You fry mince & drain off any fat.

This sounds vile.

You're really not supposed to rinse mince. It causes food poisoning.

I just drain the fat off, and let it solidify, then throw away.

Cheap cuts often have loads of fat, so that would explain the quantity. I tend to buy lean cuts, and save myself the effort.

I know, it is an education, learning all of the unusual food habits people have. Rinsing meat is the most puzzling to me. But now cooking minced meat before cooking it has got me

I've never heard of boiling it, it's always cooked on the hob into a Bolognaise or whatever and the fat presumably soaks into the meat to add the flavour?

I use the left over water (without the fat) as I brown it. It tastes lovely.

I love cooking and eating! I always make all our food from scratch and I have friends lining up to have dinner at our house! I resent whoever made that comment! I love food!

I can't imagine that is a nice background/household smell.
And, what a waste of time!

When frying mince there is a point when loads of fat and juice appears, that is when I drain it and not down the sink! I never buy lean. I think you are wasting your time boiling/cooling it. As said earlier, the mince cooks with whatever recipe you are using.

I was gonna say don't chuck meat fat down the drain too, not even with washing up liquid. That stuff's no joke once it cools and hardens. My saucepan lids have a perforated section you can use to pour the liquid fat through when you drain off the mince; I put it into a ramekin, old mug or small bowl (depending on how much there is), let it harden, then scrape it into the general waste kitchen bin.

BTW 'boiling' mince sounds absolutely gross IMHO, but each to their own. I fry it off, drain it then cook it at a lower temp for between 40 mins and 1hr with veg, sauce and seasoning.

I don't boil mince. I don't even drain the fat. Fat is flavour

Tho I am curious enough now to try both and see which is more efficient at removing fat. Especially if you reuse the boiled water.

wishmiplass

thanks for that - we're due a cook up soon, I'll mention it to MrsLH.

Er no!

Also lamb is a fattier meat than beef naturally, but you'll find with mince of any type the cheaper it is the more fat there is.