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.

It'd be cheaper and easier to use cardboard.

The only reason the food cooked thrice and rinsed (Which made me do a wtf face) tastes of anything at all is because of the seasonings. Ps 10 tablespoons of salt?! Really?! So there is no need to spend £6 on sheep. Cos you won't taste any sheep. At all. Rip up a cereal box and it'll taste the same.

What's wrong with fat? It gives meat its flavour, and fat and protein are what fill you up. I'd add fat rather than remove what's already there, but then I avoid processed carbs rather than fat...

Ps you say you know a lot about food and love it but if you have to wonder why the high fat content in mince meat, plus you call it by the name of the animal rather than its given name, plus the 10 tablespoons of salt added to a meal makes me doubt that quite a bit.

I'm grumpy tonight, does it show?

Having previously boiled mince hanging around the kitchen until tea time

Back to proper cooking - does anyone blend and make their own garam masala?

Boiled mince which is then fried will be fucked. It would be overcooked, rubbery or probably hard and horrible.

That can be masked by the other flavours you are using, but that doesn't mean your mince would not benefit from not being boiled. I bet if you stopped boiling and frying it you would see the difference.

Fat is not that bad for you. It won't make you fat or clog up your arteries (if all the new information coming out is to be believed). You are making the fat stick to the mince more by allowing it to harden.

My husband ever drains the fat but I drain some off.

You are killing mince

Fatbergs, they're called? Thanks.

Actually the only dish I know where meat is boiled is an Italian bollita- a mix of different meats all boiled together and served with salsa verde. That's nice. Boiled mince tho?....(goes away shaking her head, thinking "this'll never catch on"...)

TEN SPOONS OF SALT?

Whole garam masala mix:
www.natco-online.com/acatalog/S8360.html

Available in Asian food shops or if you are in the right area the ethnic aisle of large supermarkets.

I wouldn't add curry leaves/nuts to a curry with mince. I think we forget curry is a big catch all term with different types from many different countries. I make keema lot of mince bit like this recipe but sometimes with peas instead of potatoes.

www.quickindiancooking.com/2009/11/17/something-different/

Generally I find mutton less fatty than lamb but depends on time of year etc and individual batches.

Grays

Thank fuck, I thought it was just me! I'm a self-confessed salt addict and I am heaving at the thought of 10 SPOONFULS OF SALT!

10 tablespoons of salt?!!?

Please, PLEASE tell me that is not for your 1kg of "minced sheep".

10 tablespoons of salt is what I use when I am overseeing meals for my DH's hobby group - we usually feed 50-60 men heartily and with a hell of a lot more than 1kg of meat

Blending own garam masala, we were taught at cookery school. Learned all the different spices and blended our own according to our individual taste. Then years later you could buy it ready made everywhere and also buy chilled/frozen dishes, so haven't bothered since. The lessons were great, tho.

Mmmmmm....washed, boiled, drained "sheep mince"

Appetising.

That is fantastic littleducks, thank you. Perfect amount as well. I'm thinking I need to make a trip to the ethnic grocers in Belfast for that.

I was having flashbacks of the industrial amounts of garam masala my granny used produce and the days it took to make it.

No she doesn't add 10 tbs

She said 'if' she did.

silent im terrible for salt. And I mean I love it on everything. I like sitting there with tomatoes and a pile of salt. But I wouldn't dream of adding that much to food. If it's seasoned properly with other things it just doesn't need it!

I can just imagine OP saying to her DC "you will eat the sheep mince and you will LIKE it"

Sorry OP. you are very very wrong though.

Thanks u2 I didn't see that post myself I went off other posters. Sorry OP!

Sometimes I part-boil mince before bunging it into a cottage pie, pasta-sauce or lasagne. Very important to keep the 'juices' because they're full of fat & flavour. If I stupidly pour juices off then there's no flavour left. It's very striking how important fat is to make things taste nice.

OP: you should buy minced steak to get lower fat content if that's important to you.

she didn't actually say she uses 10 spoons of salt, she said the saltiness would be bad IF she used 10 spoons so she doesn't actually use that amount

I'm still not sure why she's referring to it as sheep mince. I just call it minced lamb

I've never heard of boiled mince before or rather boiled sheep mince. It sounds about as appetising as a spam fritter

Boak.

I hope sheep mince isn't going to be the new phrase now

'Im a regular, pom bears, sheep mince etc'

There was, IIRC, a classic thread entitled "Do You Rinse Your Mince?". Or do I not recall correctly?

I remember the how far does a pack of mince get you and there were posters claiming to feed the thousand.