When making a mince stew.........?

Question

Does anybody still boil the mince then skim the nasty stuff off before adding other ingredients. I learnt from my nan and have been told recently its "an old fashioned way". But i prefer it.
How do others do it?

I do brown mince when making a bolognese but with stew i have always skimmed it

Answer 1

look im irish we started stews you cant beat irish stew yeah skim that fat then use full onions carrots cellery parsley thyme and of course a beef stock cube this time of year now you cant beat a good stew enjoy :)

Answer 2

I never use mince in a stew. Stews are for slow cooking tougher bits of meat. Like stewing steak. Mince cooks very quickly so stewing it for hours merely makes it all rubbery and tasteless. Good old English cooking eh?
Use some large beef cubes for stewing. Fry first to seal the meat juices in, then start adding the other ingredients and cook slowly over a low heat. All the flavours join together and you have tasty melt in the mouth chunks of flavoursome beef to eat instead of rubbery mince granules which have been overcooked until they have no flavour. A waste of good mince.

Answer 3

I usually buy extra lean or steak mince which has very little fat, but if I have bought 'ordinary' mince (which can be quite fatty) I remove the fat by laying a sheet of kitchen roll on top of the cooked meat, removing it and repeating as necessary; this sucks up any fat and leaves lovely lean meat.

Kitchen roll can even be used when the dish is completed - as any fat will be floating on top.

I do this a lot when I make Chilli as the oil used to fry the onions and garlic, combined with the fat that comes out of the mince, can make it quite a greasy dish.

Answer 4

I have to be honest with you i have not eaten mince or red meat since being in UK. The mince smells different and it is that [nasty stuff ] that puts me off. When i make cottage - pie for family i fry onions, add mince and stir till it is fine , never boil it, add herbs, carrots, peas and some Bisto [ UK] Bisto is fabulous , i always get told that it is delicious but i still wont eat it. Too fussy i suppose. It is the boiling that spoils the mince, never boil, fry instead:)))

Answer 5

I brown the mince and onions in a little oil, then add carrots, turnips, add water with a beef stock cube and slowly cook it for about 2 hours, then I thicken it. Thats the way my granma used to do hers.

Answer 6

Look
I am a man living alone !
Stew !!
Cut it up and put it into the 'Slow Cooker' for maybe half a day.
60 watt- low energy consumption.
Leave !
No Nasty stuff !
Just go ahead.
...and Enjoy !!

Answer 7

yes,i always de-fat the mince but in a different way,i boil it a few times and seive it through a collander to drain the fat off then its perfect

Answer 8

Alway's brown the mince first it'l be tenderer and tastier and it wont break up and go mushy .

Answer 9

Try extra lean pork mince, no fat !

Answer 10

yes always boil and get rid of the fat its nicer