slowcooking mince

[hargi]

Whats best for this.

Going to put the slowcooker on for chilli tonight...

Is it best to fry the mince first or just put it in uncooked ?

When I do Stew and that I just put all the ingredients in Raw.

But seen some that say cook the mince first and others that say just throw it in.

 

[Skillmister]

Should always brown meat regardless of whether its mince, chunks or whole to be honest

 

[FrenchTart]

Yup, brown it.

Next time I'd get some ox cheeks or some shin instead of mince for a slow cooked chili though

 

[hargi]

Thanks. Always scared of giving myself food posoning

 

[Scam]

Thanks. Always scared of giving myself food posoning

How exactly would you do that? Unless you brown the mince, leave it in a hot kitchen for 24hrs, then eat it rare

Always brown meat. As I always tell my girlfriend when she's cooking and being a bit of a "girl" about the heat; colour is flavour. It's that simple. Slow-cooker stews without browning meat and sweating veg first? Yuck!

Next time I'd get some ox cheeks or some shin instead of mince for a slow cooked chili though

Actually I do pig cheeks mixed with beef shin. Mixture of pork and beef is really nice in a chilli. It's probably 75% beef shin, 25% pig cheeks. And a ton of beans to bulk it out (kidney and borlotti). Love it, you just reminded me I've got about 10 portions in my freezer

 

[FrenchTart]

Sounds awesome I'd probably do the same (or at least have ox *and* pig cheeks) but sadly it's much harder for me to get hold of pork cheeks than it is ox :/

 

[Scam]

Yeah you could do pig cheeks and ox cheeks. In fact last time I did it with beef shin and pork shoulder so you could do that? As long as it's a super-fatty cut for slow cooking you'll be fine! Make sure you leave the cuts in big hunks though, at least 2-3" square.

I spent years (well, sort of) perfecting a chilli recipe but then someone bought me the first Wahaca cookbook. Thomasina Mier's recipe blows any I've done before right out of the water; http://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/recipes/braised-beef-chilli-con-carne/

I was unsure about chorizo in it, but it is absolutely excellent. Essentially I do that recipe but with beef shin and pig cheeks (or pork shoulder). I add more beans (she does borlotti so I add kidney beans as well). The key is to take all the meat out and shred it before mixing back in. The ancho chillis are awesome too. Very authentic

 

[jellybeard999]

You can just chuck everything in a slow cooker and it'll be fine. The mince will need breaking up however and it may be a bit fatty if it's cheap mince.

It's always better to brown the meat and onions and give the veg a quick fry off if you can though