Using milk when cooking mince

BhoscaCapall

I've seen a few recipes which call for adding milk when cooking a ragu sauce. What's the purpose of this, and will soya milk work?

Davidth88

Hi

I always add milk when cooking with mince . My understanding is that the proteins in the milk make the mince very tender.

So you can use the cheap mince , and it will taste much more expensive .

Of course , you cook the mince slowly with the milk added after you have browned it , and let it cook off. I add a ' large splash ' thats all . I also try to use the ' full fat ' milk because the skimmed stuff doesn't seem to do the trick.

One thing , it smells pretty horrible while cooking it off.

As for soya milk, I am not sure sorry.

cson

Just buy quality steak mince from a butchers tbh.

Tastes a million times better than the ****e you get in packets.

BhoscaCapall

Milk smells disgusting regardless...

Thanks for the info though, can anyone else tell me if soya milk works? If it is down to the proteins in cow juice then I'd imagine soya milk wouldn't work, being different proteins.

Darkginger

I don't think soya milk would work, since it curdles at high temperatures (as you'll know if you've ever used it in 'too hot' tea or coffee!).

rubadub

Never heard of normal milk & mince. Have heard of buttermilk with chicken though, it is acidic which is meant to tenderize it.

anewme

I always use a pint of milk when cooking mince for bolognese or chilli. I let it simmer off for about a half hour and it does tenderise the meat but makes no change to the taste.

I let it simmer off very slowly just after the mince has been browned but before adding the tomato pureeee, tinned tomatoes whatever.

The longer you let it simmer off, the softer the meat will be.

Mellor

BhoscaCapall wrote: »

If it is down to the proteins in cow juice then I'd imagine soya milk wouldn't work, being different proteins.

I doubt its the protein tbh. The person above who mention proteins also said it doesn't work with skim. Which has the same protein.

Makes more sense that its the acid nature of the milk. Or a milk enzyme

Davidth88

cson wrote: »

Just buy quality steak mince from a butchers tbh.

Tastes a million times better than the ****e you get in packets.

May taste a million times better , but TBH if you are feeding a load of hungry mouths on a fixed budget then it's not a choice .


Mellor ... thinking about it , you may be right .

I actually got tip from two people ,
a ) my mother who had to feed a large family for many years with very little money
b) A TV chef back in the 80's , I think it was Robert Carrier

BaZmO*

If you're looking for tender mince just cook it off for longer in the sauce, and if you can afford it, buy better quality mince.
Adding milk just sounds odd, and unnecessary tbh.

Carawaystick

cson wrote: »

Just buy quality steak mince from a butchers tbh.

Tastes a million times better than the ****e you get in packets.

Or buy shin or other cheaper cuts with plenty of marbling for flavour