Draining Ground Beef

Put it in a strainer and run water over it into a container that you can "skim" and throw away the fat when at room temp. The excess fat will run thru w/ the water and solidify when at room temp. I seem to get the most excess fat off the meat this way.

If I don't have very much grease, I move all the beef onto one side of the pan, angle the pan just a little, and soak up the grease with paper towels. If I have a lot, I use a lid and drain it into an old coffee can

I use leaner ground beef as well, so there is not much to drain. But I just use a colander and run hot water over the cooked meat. This gets even more of the grease off of it.

If it isn't a huge amount, a slice of bread will sop it up and then you can throw the bread out. That is what I do and it works well.

I use a splatter cover. One of those metal screen pan covers with a handle. It was from the $1 store. Place it over the skillet after I am done browning, tilt the pan and dump the grease into a can. The cover stops the meat from falling out. Easy!

I want to preface this by stating that I am a vegetarian, and I've never cooked real beef. But I wasn't raised that way, so I've watched my mother make beef repeatedly. She spoons the grease off of the top of the water before draining it in a colander, if she boils it. If you fry it, try to minimize how much oil you use (with some types of pans, you don't need any at all). You might even rinse the beef in water before serving. Good luck!

I use a slotted spoon to get the meat out of the frying pan and onto a plate with some paper towel to soak up the excess grease. I pour any grease left in the pan into the trash - usually into an empty soup can or other container.

I always strain the beef into a bowl using a colendar (sp?). That way the grease and the meat do not go down the sink. I know its not a new trick but, its always worked for me.

Just use a strainer like you use for pasta. No, don't do it in the sink, will eventually cause major problems. I drain it into a bowl or whatever and then put it in some sort of bottle and throw it away. Putting it in a bottle helps trash from smelling.

I just use a regular strainer, like you would with pasta. Good luck!

I use a colander or sieve and drain into a large can or bowl. I do it in small batches and set the beef to the side as it's drained.

I rinse it with very hot water.. The fat just rises and floats away. Any excess water evaporates away also.

I use the lid of the pot and drain it into a measuring cup or empty can or bowl.

I use a pan lid and put it in a tin can. I have a crock container that a soup can fits in and I leave it in the fridge. It solidifies the fat so it doesn't smell.

I tilt the skillet and spoon it out. I then place the meet on a plate or platter with folded paper towels on the bottom and "wrap it" in papertowels to get remaining greese off. I then throw away the papertowels.

I frequently drain the browned ground beef in a colander with very small holes (so as not to lose much of the meat) and sometime I even rinse it with water.

Several years back we bent a serving spoon from an old flatware set a bit, so it is like a small shallow ladle. We tip the skillet and push the meat out of the way and use this spoon to remove the grease into a emptied can. Put the can in the fridge and throw it out when it's full.

We'd be lost without that old spoon!

I recently started using a turkey baster to suck the grease out of the pan. It saves me the trouble of having to wash my colander, and I can squirt the grease right into an old can so it doesn't go down the sink. Just be careful if you use a plastic baster - if the grease is still very hot you can burn your fingers.

i strain mine over the trash can....do not put grease down your drain!!

Sometimes, I drain the meat through a strainer with a bowl underneath to catch the grease.

I use a pasta calander to drain it off when need be.

i put my strainer in a bigger bowl and pour the meat into the strainer. once the grease is more solid I put it in the trash.

After I am done browning the beef, I add some water to the pan, and then use a ladle to remove the grease and the water which I put into a small wide mouth glass. I get out as much as I can, then continue cooking the beef briefly to dry it a bit. I put the glass with the grease and water in the refrigerator, when it is cool, I take a fork and lift out the grease, and throw it in the trash; I use the remaining water in soups or for cooking.

Dear Meredith,
Normally, I put it in strainer over a bowl. You can rinse the grd beef too to get more grease out. Don't throw it in the sink. Throw it out in the grass or in the garbage. Make sure it won't leak through the bag. L. J

I tilt the pan so the grease collects in one area and use a turkey baster to suck up the grease and release into a can or glass jar.
J

Hi, Meredith! Honestly, I use a strainer, then I rinse it with water to get as much fat off of it as I can. It works!

Do NOT put a strainer in the sink and drain it that way. Even if you run hot water and add some soap down the drain it'll still harden and clog up your pipes. And actually it's worse if you add soap and hot water because that means it won't harden until it's in some unreachable place in your house... if you just dump it down it'll get stopped in the trap under the sink. But you'll be cleaning that sucker out alot if you pour grease down there every week. (a friend of mine is a plumber, he says that is one of the main reason he gets calls!).

I do what my mom did when I was little... tilt skillet to one side, push meat to the side that's 'up' and let the grease flow to the bottom. Then I take a large tablespoon and simply scoop it out into a tin/aluminum can. I put the can right next to the pan so there's no drippage. It's fast (less than a minute), easy and clean up is easy -- just leave the can on the counter until the grease hardens then toss in trash.

I use the same method to save bacon grease, only I save that to a clean glass jar to use later (great for adding flavor to stuff like baked beans, green beans, etc).

This may be strange but I hate when beef gets caught in the holes of the strainer. I line a plate with a few layers of paper towel, put the meet on it, and use a few more pieces of paper towel on the top and push down.

Dump it in a colander and shake it a little to get as much grease out as you can. This always works for me. I use a large colander so that i don't spill any of the meat when i shake it.