Why is my mince dry?

[Thistle72]

Hi All,
Just that really, when I have made cottage pie or spaghetti Bol in the past my mince has always turned out dry and a bit hard despite cooking it for a stated time. I think my browning technique has something to do with it.
Can someone help me please? 💐💐

How are you cooking it?

Roughly what is the stated time?

Didn't you boil it?

Well I tend to heat the oil and add the mince until it browns but I don’t know if I brown it for too long as I notice some of the juice has come out of it by the time I add the other ingredients. I tend to cook it for about an hour or I might add it to the slow cooker but even then it’s still a bit dry which leads me back to thinking it’s the browning.

What stock or liquid are you adding?

Hmm... think you’re frying too long

I normally fry my onions first then
Add the mince and brown it (takes about 10 mins to brown)

Then add any other ingredients.

Eg tinned toms for spag Bol or stock for a shepherds pie

what mince are you using?
turkey needs more oil and long slow cooking, or really fast.
mix of beef/pork and not the leanest seems to get the smoothest.

I add onions first, then mince. I find that the mince only takes 5/10 minutes depending on heat. You're cooking it for an hour after the browning stage- so it has to be brown on the outside not cooked right through.

What is the fat content of the mince you use? (It says on the packet - something like 20%, 12% or 5%) if you use the really low fat one it can get VERY dry very quickly, you have to be very short and sharp with your cooking times I find!

Maybe too much browning? I will just add that quality of mince counts. The mince from Costco is top notch.

Thank you for your replies!!!!
Liquid would tend to be stock or tomatoes. I do tend to get lower fat mince so maybe that’s were I’m going wrong.
I do tend to buy Aldi mince which is fine but I did get M and S mince and it didn’t go as dry so maybe that’s another thing. Thank you TDHmanchester I’ll try Costco’s

I find the lowest fat mince goes dry & gritty feeling in the slow cooker.

I brown my mince for quite a while for bolognese, I find that the brown, crispy bits add a lot of flavour and the mince crumbles down into smaller bits, rather than staying in lumps.
I then simmer it for at least an hour and a half, usually two. It's never dry. I get the 10% fat mince.

If it's getting too dry i just add water