Mince dish problems!

Qwerty27

Im looking for some help for cooking mince based dishes, in particular Lasagna and Shepards pie. Whenever I cook either dish, they tend to be very runny and dont keep their shape when I try to remove them from the dish. For example, last nite, gravy came over top of mash and so dinner was a little mushy!
Any advice appreciated!

brianthebard

could try a few things, like adding less liquid to the mince, cook in the pan for a little longer to reduce it, or add a little flour to the gravy to thicken it. There the things I would think of doing.

kmick

How long do you cook the mince before you put it in the oven. I have found if you cook the mince for longer (2-3 hours) and then leave it sit overnight to cool it absorbs all the liquid and makes the meat much more tender. Then you build your lasagne/shepards pie with cold meat sauce and add your layers as required. Also dont pack to the top as things expand in the oven. Make two portions in two seperate dishes and freeze one.

muckety

Try reducing the liquid in the sauce (simmer on a low heat with lid off) before adding to the pie... als +1 for leaving the mince to sit for a while, even a couple of hours.

psycho-hope

hey, i find sometimes it helps to drain any fat from the mice before i start makin the rest of the sauce, and sometimes just fiddle about with the receipe, some call for a little bit too much liquid i find.

brianthebard

+1 on the draining, especially if it came from a package in the supermarket, there's probably a lot of water in the mince too. Sometimes I put a lid on the pan for a few mins to cook the water out and drain it before adding everything else.

superficies

Drain excess juices and always cook on a low heat for well over an hour before progressing to next stage/eating. Also, tends to help with flavour (if not with shape) if bung in a glass of red wine and let it reduce right down into the meat before adding your other liquids (whatever they happen to be)

Minder

For lasagna, I use a wet sauce because the lasagna sheets are not pre-cooked and need the extra liquid to be absorbed into the pasta. Shepherds pie doesn't need the extra liquid so I make that sauce a little thicken by cooking out the excess liquid.

syklops

What type of mince are you buying? The tesco own brand stuff has alot of water in it. Spend a few extra pence and get better quality mince. Go down to your local butcher. Its often cheaper and much better quality, and wont be 80% water.

LimeFruitGum

+1 Get the lean mince so there won't be as much grease and fat to drain out of it. And it is better for the arteries ;-)

How do you cook the mince exactly? Are you just chucking in whatever sauce/wine happens to be available? Perhaps the amount of liquid you're putting in is out of proportion to the amount of (undrained) mince in the pan.

irish_goat

Don't drain any juices off, that's where half the flavour is! Chances are you are just adding too much water to the mix. If I'm doing bolognase or shepherds pie I always cook it in the oven a good 1-2 hours as well which reduces some of the liquid too so maybe up your cooking time.
Are you using a stock cube as well? If you are you could try adding a little more to thicken it up or like someone said, add a bit of flour to the mix.

leopardus

Make sure to begin with that you brown the meat rather than stewing it, if the meat is releasing liuid then it's not gonna brown properly. This will happen if you've added stuff to the pan beforehand (Onions, garlic, ginger, whatever) or the pan isn't hot enough.
So brown the meat, at a very high heat, in a seperate pan before adding it to your cooking onions, garlic. Add the liquid (stock/tomatoes etc.) and then cook long and slow (over a very low heat), with lid half on for two hours, until thick. Leave overnight for best results; place dish in fridge once cooled.

Qwerty27

Thanks for all the replies. Sounds as if I need to let the mince sit for a while. Will definately try that the next time!

Spanish Eyes

I'm kinda new here so, Hi everyone.

Anyway, I am going to give my take on the whole mince lark.

Buy good quality stuff, as someone said earlier. My butcher minces round steak before my eyes (and adds the fatty rind if I want it - that's when I am not trying to get rid of my belly!, and that's rare too).

I never ever ever brown the mince before making any type of mince dish. I just bung it into a big pot, throw in the saucy things and seasonings. Then I leave it for about twenty five minutes with the lid off to reduce down. Adding a drop of Worcester sauce and a bit of red wine if you have it is great too for that great flavour that you just cannot pin down.

Then I put the pot in the oven for about two hours. Yes, I know you think I am mad, but believe me, the longer mince is cooked, the better it tastes, honest.

When done, I cool it down quickly as I can, and leave in the fridge overnight, (or freeze it), - someone else said that too, so I am not bonkers.

Assemble your dish and cook for half an hour or until you think it's ready, the meat's already well cooked, so you only need to worry about the dry lasagne sheets.

BTW, I make mean meatballs using the same method. Make the meatballs, (no pre browning), put in the sauce, and cook for two hours. Delish. You won't believe the difference when you don't pre brown. It makes the mince deliciously silky, with no hard bits. The flavour comes from the reducing down during the long cooking.

Sorry for the long post as a newbie, but I might jump in now and again....again!