How to make mince meat go soft?

[Veggy]

whenever my pasta bolognese only eating daughter orders bolognese in restaurants it is always soft. But whenever I cook bolognese at home it is gritty and the meat goes into hard lumps. I'm a vegetarian so not had much practice at meat cooking! Can anyone give me any tips on turning mince meat turn into lovely soft bolognese (instead of grit in tomato sauce!).
thanks

Cook.
The longer the better.

How are you cooking it?

The essentials I think are using a decent quality meat, then browning it off before adding tomato sauce.

This recipe for mince and this one made my mince soft!

I don't do it exactly as it says, I add mushrooms and carrots to the basic mince and sometimes courgettes but if you are veggie then it will deffo be a good starting point if you don't want to be tasting it!

it wants a long slow cooking and use milk instead of stock, the milk will soften the meat.

How are you cooking it? When you cook mince you need to start by browning it quickly, breaking it up as you go. This is not the time for casual, gentle stirring - get in there and break it up, turning constantly over a high heat.

Then add your tinned tomato/herbs/bay leaves/stock. (assuming you have fried your chopped onion already). Then simmer gently with lid on for at least an hour.

Gather round my children and I will impart the 3 secrets of perfect bolognaise sauce.

1. Start off by browning a mix of finely chopped onions, celery and carrots.
2. Use 1 part pork mince to every 3 parts beef- this will solve the "hardness" problem.

3 Cook it twice as slowly and for twice as long as you think.

Bling is right - it's the thorough browning first according to my Top Chef friend.

Then cook for at least an hour and a half, 2 if possible.

If you do it in the slow cooker it goes REALLY soft, but I find the texture too soft this way.

Cook for 2 hours

Turkey mince also stays very soft and is a lot healthier than all but the leanest beef mince.

I do buy very posh mince indeed, it's for children! (I eat the mouldy vegetables, they get the good stuff!)
I cook it in a bit of olive oil, but it goes greyish so I guess not hot enough. Then I had v finely chopped onion, garlic, celery, carrot - cook a bit more then add tin of toms and some dried herbs with about half a crumpled oxo cube. And then yes I turn it all down and leave it for ages - an hour maybe. Still it's hard and gritty.
Will try milk, and hotter from the start. Not sure I'll buy pork mince - what else would I use it for??

I cook my meat ragu for lasagne for 4 hours in the oven so an hour on the hob is not long enough.

Add the milk, enough to cover once you've added the other stuff and then cook slowly for about 2 hours, add more milk if it gets too dry.

Personally I find that the frozen bags of mince go to mush.

Ahhhhh - if you buy the really good stuff it will be very low in fat - you need to buy cheaper mince....

Thanks for links MrsHP. I think I'll give it a go
Cheers!

Milk, wine, tomatoes and stock for perfection but it's the time that really matters - at least 2 hours.

It sounds like your pan is not hot enough and instead of frying it you are in effect boiling it in its own juices.

Get your pan really hot, do the mince in two portions. Dont just put a big pack of freezing cold mince (from the fridge) in the pan as a block or it will cool the fat so much it just boils the water out of the meat making it tough.

Also do slow cook for at least an hour.

Brilliant tips. I'm sure I'll get perfection next time. Thanks so much everyone!

Slow Cooker, works every time, it's all you need

I agree with using the slow cooker. Fantastic! Just like in a restaurant.

Those of you saying slow cooker, do you pre brown? I have just started doing mince in the slow cooker but without browning first. It comes out v lovely and soft but a bit greasy. How do you do yours?

Slow cooker gets my recommendation too. £15 from tescos. Amazing

Always pre brown it or the neat comes put cooked but grey...

Always fry the onions first, it really does work!

Mine doesn't come out at all grey. Just a layer of grease which I guess I could skim.

Agree with seeker re chopped onion/carrot/celery first, I've not tried mixing in pork mince, but cook it a long time and then, my extra tip - is to get a hand blender and whizz it a bit - not enough to turn it to puree, but enough to reduce the texture a bit.

I had bolognaise tonight and did just that.