Cooking mince

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Mo
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Cooking mince

Post by Mo »

I have some bags of mince which I want to cook for this evening (and freeze the rest). Our butcher sometimes has a 'buy a pack of braising steak, get free mince' offer. Trouble is, my mince always has the taste and texture of rags.
Any advice - do I cook it slow in the oven?

BTW any mention or sniff of onion is grounds for divorce in this house (he doesn't like cheese either which is even odder).
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albertajune
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Re: Cooking mince

Post by albertajune »

I always simmer mine on top of the cooker. I usually add a chopped onion and maybe garlic if liked, a couple of beef stock cubes and whatever herbs take my fancy. Just cover with water or chopped tinned tomatoes, depending on what I am using it for.
I do cook it slowly and add seasoning and anything else as I go along. If stock cubes are used, salt is not always necessary.
Thicken if wanted when the meat is cooked. )t'
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Mo
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Re: Cooking mince

Post by Mo »

Do you brown it first? all the recipes seem to say so - but that's not slow is it.
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silverback
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Re: Cooking mince

Post by silverback »

Jan always fry's the mince in a hot pan and quickly drains off any moisture as she cooks it, otherwise the mince will boil instead of fry!, then adds her magic ingredients )eat( )eat(
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Re: Cooking mince

Post by Freeranger »

Just to confuse the picture, I accidentally did the opposite to Mrs SB and got the best results I've had. When we moved in here there was an old range which had stuck in the fire position instead of the cook position, so I couldn't get the plate hot enough. The texture was soft and I've always thought it was because it didn't get hot enough to make it wince.

I really had to think about recipes. I do pre-cook the mince and I'm afraid all my recipes have onion in them, but I also add worcester sauce, garlic and herbs to the stock. I wonder if you did a naughty thing whether he'd notice..... you could blend an onion with some of the gravy into a pulp and add it to the pan once it was cooking so you didn't get the cooking onions smell? Could you use something onion-ish, like leek or celery? Or maybe cook it with a packet sauce or soup - undiluted condensed mushroom is quite nice.

If you found any good recipes I'd be pleased if you'd share, cos it can get a bit repetitive....
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Re: Cooking mince

Post by Totally Scrambled »

I must get new glasses as when I saw the thread title I wondered why anyone would want to cook mice.
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Re: Cooking mince

Post by tosca100 »

Just to put my pennyworth in, to get the best flavour from mince I believe you should brown it well. If you have a lot, use a large frying pan for more surface area. Pre-heat, add your meat as broken up as possible then leave it till it smells nice. You will get water, but it will dry off again, if you pour it off you may pour off flavour. Once it smells better, stir it and leave it again. If you keep stirring from putting it in, it will be more likely to stick and also will not brown, but stew. You will know when you have browned it enough as the sound will change from bubbling to spitting as the fat comes out. Once it is browned then you can pour off any fat before adding your liquid, whether water, stock, tomatoes, wine, whatever.

Alternatively, if you have the oven on, put into a casserole or roasting dish and barely cover with water, don't cover the dish, roast till it smells nice, adding more water if needed so it doesn't stick and burn.

If OH likes burgers, they are mega easy. As he doesn't like onion you could just add herbs and spices. Again, hot pan and don't keep moving it and only turn once it's brown.

Did I mention I'm a vegetarian? {rofwl} {rofwl} {rofwl} But was also a chef, and relied on my nose to know when meat was cooked and seasoned well.
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kitla
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Re: Cooking mince

Post by kitla »

If its pieces of onion that are a no no perhaps you could add a large chunk of onion
during cooking, then take it out afterwards. I always add chopped celery, few herbs,
garlic, salt & pepper, tiny pinch of cayenne or chilli, maybe Worcester sauce and most importantly a dash of red wine! and tinned tomatoes depending on what I'm making.
Cook it gently for about 1/2 hour then leave sitting for a while.

hmm...hungry now!
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Re: Cooking mince

Post by Maggie1 »

Mushrooms, tomatoes, Worcester sauce, oxo cube, and a big spoonful of mixed herbs
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Re: Cooking mince

Post by p.penn »

Will he eat leeks Mo? That would give some more flavour. If not, have you tried marigold stock powder? I use it in all my soups and it really is very flavoursome.

As for your texture issues, I always brown my mince. Then add whatever - usually (onions, garlic) carrots, mushrooms, tinned toms plus purée, sometimes curry powder or even just cumin to spice it. As I said before, with no onions try marigold powder or even a beef stock cube for flavour.
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Kuikentje
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Re: Cooking mince

Post by Kuikentje »

I can't stand the smell if I cook mince in a pan - I put it in a casserole dish, nothing added, just by itself, in the microwave (no need to drain off the fat) and just cook it till it's done, which keeps the smell in, keeps it moist, and then it's ready either to freeze or to use in whatever recipe you like.
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Mo
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Re: Cooking mince

Post by Mo »

What power setting do you microwave it? And for how long (ish)
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