You would think after cooking for over 10 years I would have figured this out, but what is the easiest way to drain ground beef after you've browned it? Normally I use leaner cuts, so there isn't a lot of grease anyway but getting it off is always a pain. Any ideas?
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.
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 rinse it with very hot water.. The fat just rises and floats away. Any excess water evaporates away also.
I use a pasta calander to drain it off when need be.
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.
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.
I use the lid of the pot and drain it into a measuring cup or empty can or bowl.
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.
Strainer.
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.
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).
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 strain mine over the trash can....do not put grease down your drain!!
I just use a regular strainer, like you would with pasta. Good luck!
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!
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.
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 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
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.