What’s the best way to separate these abominations of products back to being mince?

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Break it in the pan with a flat-ended spatula. But for god’s sake don’t just drain the water off and stop cooking when it’s deathly grey all over… you’ll be left with vile chewy undercooked balls of misery. When you cook mince the water is supposed to be released. No, don’t drain off the water, let it evaporate. You should be frying your mince on medium until it’s getting slightly browned, and fizzing and popping when you stir it. That’s how you know the fat’s rendering out of it and that’s where the flavour comes from. Source: been fed some absolute abominations.

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DeadBallDescendant@reddit

Surely if there's liquid in there you're not frying it at all? You're boiling it in oily water.

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A97S_@reddit

You boil it in its own water content until said water content has evaporated off. Once that’s done you’re frying it in the remaining fat that renders out of it.

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Brilliant-Figure-149@reddit

Sounds like you need a hotter pan, possibly a more powerful hob. (I recommend induction.)

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A97S_@reddit

I could if I wanted to burn the outside while it’s still full of grimey water. It’s not a steak.

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Big-Zone-3068@reddit

Is it not the fat you are draining off as liquid….TIL…

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A97S_@reddit

Partly, but the bulk of it is the water from inside the cells in the meat. That needs to come out before liquid sauces and flavour can be absorbed by the food. That’s why the mince loses so much volume when you fry it off.

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ryunista@reddit

Anyone who says its no different hasn't used it. Its clumpy af. Think its to.do with it being 5% fat. I have the same issue but the more loosely packed 5% stuff from e.g. Tesco comes apart much more easily. Not seen a solution beyond do the same, even though its way harder

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Brilliant-Figure-149@reddit

Asda too. I don't shop there very often due to an earlier "incident". However I was in need of some 5% fat beef mince on Saturday and it was the vacuum packed type. It was diabolical to cook. When I tried pressing it down on the bottom of the pann in the hope that it would break up, it just wanted to turn into a single sheet like a very thin burger.

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ryunista@reddit

You can't hint at incident like that without sharing the story. Come on, pray tell

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SissyWannabeWales@reddit

I only use the butchers these days. I end up splashing out a bit more than intended- add a few more things. Then end up not getting other stuff I would have had I shopped in supermarkets. Kinda breaks even

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djashjones@reddit

This is the only way.

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SissyWannabeWales@reddit

Thank you

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misterbooger2@reddit

Cut it across the grain every 0.5 cm or so before you stick it in the pan. Then just mash about a bit with wooden spoon

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SlicerPizza@reddit

Potato masher , just push and turn then spend 3 hours getting bits of mince out the masher

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H00tyy@reddit

Use your hands ya wimp

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Cornishlee@reddit (OP)

I did actually do this but it felt medieval

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belliest_endis@reddit

Shut up

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Jasboh@reddit

Rip and tear

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SkullDump@reddit

It is medieval but it is and was perfectly normal and acceptable in pretty much every other time period too, including today.

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NotEmoHawk@reddit

Tried this once, never going back to endless mashing with the spatula. Crumble onto pan with your hands, wash hands, relax and enjoy the cooking process.

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Elongulation420@reddit

Part of the “people love sausages but actively don’t want to know how they’re made” problem

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Yeorge@reddit

It’s no fucking different

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dprophet32@reddit

It absolutely is. It makes it much more laborious to break the mince up into even sized chunks. Whether you care or not is different

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rtrs_bastiat@reddit

Yep, when I'm making bolognese the pork mince, which is still packaged the old way, takes one minute to separate by hand, and the beef takes at least 5 minutes. Massive difference, very frustrating.

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jack853846@reddit

First world problem o'clock here. A 4 minute adjustment to food prep? I know I'm never going to Sainsbury's again now.

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rtrs_bastiat@reddit

Are we supposed to pretend there's no difference? It's not like I've stopped buying beef mince from Sainsbury's, I'm allowed to complain about how laborious their packaging change has made things though

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MarthLikinte612@reddit

I’ll take 4 minutes longer prep in return for being able to store food about 1.5x as efficiently frankly

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slade364@reddit

Also reduces plastic consumption. If it takes you 5 minutes to break up some mince, I'd suggest you're either not trying particularly hard or have a physical disability.

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slade364@reddit

>much more laborious You're breaking soft meat with a wooden spoon, not digging for emeralds in Zimbabwe ffs.

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southerna-up-north@reddit

Correct end of ! 😂

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talligan@reddit

ikr? Some people just like complaining

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showmethemundy@reddit

please for the love of god, buy mince (all meat) from your butcher - it's like going back in time

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WelshRareDit@reddit

I would consider it, but I finish work at 5:30 and the butchers close at 5...

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Dr_Turb@reddit

Most butchers open really early, so can you go before work? Or go at the weekend.

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WelshRareDit@reddit

The problem then is you've then either got to go home to put the meat in the fridge and then head to work or you shove it in the office fridge to be stolen.

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Rags_75@reddit

Mine is open during the weekend too (although he does close for lunch...)

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Splodge89@reddit

Except the prices arnt like going back in time. The opening hours however, they still think it’s 1972 and everyone is a stay at home housewife with nothing better to do all day but pop to the shops during working hours. The two butchers local to be both close AND open during the time I’m at work during the week. And only open for a few hours on a Saturday morning, nothing on a Sunday.

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JCoonday@reddit

And how do I afford this?

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The_YorkshirePudding@reddit

Butchers are actually very reasonably priced for much better produce.

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DeadBallDescendant@reddit

Hmmm. My ALDI breakfast sausages are £2 for eight. The amazing pork and black pudding ones at the farm shop are over a pound each. I'll buy half a dozen every couple of months.

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Kind-County9767@reddit

You buy less, and get the same amount of meat, because it's not pumped full of water like the supermarket crap is.

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DC4840@reddit

In fairness as a butcher supermarket mince isn’t bad at all

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Lo_jak@reddit

The only butcher close to me charges £11 for 500g of 5% beef mince.......... I simply cannot afford that

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talligan@reddit

Our butchers are like 50% more expensive. Sure the quality is improved, but my toddler doesn't care and we are so tired (and poor) now that it doesn't matter to us either. I'll go there for roasts because I can actually get what I want

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-myeyeshaveseenyou-@reddit

I’m a chef, personally a huge fan of butchers. But the nearest one to my house is 7.5 miles. It’s just not as convenient as the supermarket that delivers to my door. But absolutely butchers quality is just far better and I miss living closer to one.

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thebear1011@reddit

I didn’t change my approach when this new packaging came along. I still just bung it in a the pan, mash it around with a wooden spoon, and get the same result.

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TooMuchBiomass@reddit

Unless I'm going mad, I think it also tastes better now

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abfgern_@reddit

It certainly has a longer shelf life, so probably

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AIMBOT_BOB@reddit

I swear you get more for your money too, I think the vacuuming must prevent them from giving it a stupidly high moisture content that increases the weight.

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V65Pilot@reddit

[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Multipurpose-TAHAA-Meat-Chopper-Masher/dp/B0D6N92HHG](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Multipurpose-TAHAA-Meat-Chopper-Masher/dp/B0D6N92HHG) I love mine.

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Mapleess@reddit

I was actually happy to see this change.

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Scot_Survivor@reddit

Only issue for me is soft plastics is much less widely recycled than hard plastics

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Splodge89@reddit

Those hard plastic trays with the soft plastic glued/hot welded onto the sides and paper labels and absorbant pads stuck to it, especially when filled with meat juices - were never getting recycled anyway. Unless you were extra careful with your recycling washing, and removing labels and all the bits of film stuck to it - it was going to landfill.

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Conscious-Ball8373@reddit

Absolutely. I used to buy mince in a tray, take it home, take it out of the tray, put it in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer. Because it takes up about 1/3 as much space that way. It felt so stupid but the alternative was running a much bigger freezer. I wish all the meat came packaged this way.

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thecheesycheeselover@reddit

I understand this, I used to use my gloved hands (still do, to pre-season the meat) to mix it up, and then do the whole jabby wooden spoon thing while it was cooking, but it still was unsatisfactory, the lumps were too big. I eventually went googling and found something called a ‘meat masher’, which is a plastic, kind of bladed thing, and that helps. Got it off Amazon pretty cheaply. It’s much more effective at breaking up lumps in the pan than a wooden spoon.

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SuspiciousTomorrow45@reddit

Shop at Tesco

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Sleepyllama23@reddit

I have stopped buying mince from Asda since they started squeezing them into pouches. Tesco still has the standard packaging so I just get it from there. Please don’t let me down Tesco!

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SuspiciousTomorrow45@reddit

It tastes and smells weird when their vacuumed packed

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Sleepyllama23@reddit

I’ve never tasted it but it looks so unappealing!

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Nok1a_@reddit

Did the same in sainsburys but also, this cheeky bastards, remove 5% to low in fat, and if you checked in the back was actually 10% fat, Im glad they went back to 5%, cos for a year or so they were labeling "low in fat" I fkcing hate Sainsburys and their predatory tactics

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Appropriate-Dig-7080@reddit

Buy something plant based instead.

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Makankosappo84@reddit

I have chronic joint pain and breaking this stuff up is incredibly difficult for me. I'm happy to reduce plastic packaging, but vacuum packed in plastic doesn't seem like the best option.

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Main_Carpenter4946@reddit

None. Bought it once never again. Made the worse Ragu ever no texture at all.

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Tarjhan@reddit

I use a fork to break it up as it’s cooking, only a slight variation on how I’d do it otherwise. As one of the folks who gets these things onto the shelf, the packaging is far superior to the shell/film format - you’d invariably find pierced film or cracked shell if the packaging is even slightly mishandled (an inevitability with the depots). So purely from a reducing food waste perspective it’s better and from reducing instances of dealing with manky meat, vastly superior.

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shevbo@reddit

It's called a vacuum. There's no difference in how it's good. Well done on the silly post and well done on the engagement on your silly post lol.

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Nyx_Necrodragon101@reddit

You do know when you put it in the pan you get the same result you would with the old packaging right?

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Rasty_lv@reddit

I actually think its a better solution. Old type of packaging wasted so much space in freezer and was more waste. I will rather spend extra minute of using wooden spoon/spatula to separate mince than go back to old waste packaging.

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talligan@reddit

Don't you just jab it repeatedly with a wooden spoon or spatula in the pan while its browning? That's what I do, works the same as with any other mince.

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inevitablelizard@reddit

I find if you chuck it in the pan and then try to break it up, it will start to cook when it's still solid blobs of meat. I don't want hard chunks of the stuff in the finished meal. I haven't had these vacuum packed ones for a while, but when I did I would put it in a bowl and use a pair of forks to break it up a bit first, and then put it in the pan and use the wooden spoon and spatula.

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_Diskreet_@reddit

I made spag Bol yesterday, just made sure I used the big spoon and was done.

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Haunting_Side_3102@reddit

Definitely a big spoon job.

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Diplomatic_Gunboats@reddit

I have a heavy wok ladle for meat smashing.

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EfficientAd9452@reddit

We do that too, it looks exactly the same once cooked as it did in the previous packaging.

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southerna-up-north@reddit

Since they now compress the meat in these vacuumed bags, it dosent fall apart like it used to. (God I sound old).

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Fantastic_Ranger_723@reddit

Exactly!

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KeyLog256@reddit

I must be one of the few people who _prefers_ this packaging and the way it affects the mince, because contrary to the claims when it was introduced, it really does make a difference. I'm one of those people who _hates_ lumps or strings of mince meat. Odd, because I like a burger or steak, just really hate it when mince is like that. I prefer it to be almost like big grains of sand. You can chuck this in a pan and work and work and work it with a plastic goezunder until it's very fine grain. Shit loads of seasoning (I could get good investment on my spicy seasoning mix on Dragon's Den I reckon) until it's beautiful golden brown. Then it mixes perfectly with whatever sauce you're adding once browned.

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DeezWuts@reddit

Squash with a slotted angled fish slice as its frying, scrape and separate further with a wooden spatula. Whisk is also good but more hassle imo

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snakes_arent_friends@reddit

I find if you just open it and just leave on a plate to air for a few mins before cooking it seems to expand and gets easier to break up

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HoggingHedges@reddit

What’s with the recent uptake in [vacuumed mince chat](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/s/LQdAT8BWuz). Twice in 24hrs on something that’s been in place for years. Where’s spag bol, chilli con carne or Shepard’s pie been from peoples menu for the last few years?

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ChockyF1@reddit

I just use my hands. I don’t mind the new packaging so much but it feels like a backwards step given these ones aren’t recyclable and the trays from the old packaging were.

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Brilliant-Offer-4208@reddit

Don't eat meat. Problem solved.

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Brenduke@reddit

OP clearly wants to eat meat, you turnip.

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WoolyBouley@reddit

20% or nothing

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OmegaloIz@reddit

Once you’ve broken it up with a wooden spoon and it’s starting to brown use a whisk to break down the bigger chunks. You’re welcome.

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martzgregpaul@reddit

I bought a hand mincer so i can remince it into something that isnt a solid brick of cow

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spriz2@reddit

Cut it into a grid, then let the underside cook for 30 seconds, flip the meat and stab it. Partially cooked ground beef is easier to separate than raw. That's the secret. Wait for it to brown a little,stab. Flip the meat, let it brown stab. It's also easier to completely mince once the sauce has been added.

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TheCarrot007@reddit

Just buy steak and get a mincer and live like it's the 80s again.

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MissingBothCufflinks@reddit

This is actually way better than before. Tastes better, fresher, better value

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Chonky-Marsupial@reddit

I think that having issues with mince is probably a sign of something.

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Superspark76@reddit

Mince like this is closer to how you would buy it from a butcher, not hard stringy bits that somehow never change their shape!

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Berookes@reddit

I usually just smash it to bits with a spoon while it’s browning

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magneticpyramid@reddit

1. put that mushy crap in the bin. 2. Go to butchers, buy actual mincemeat. There's nothing else you can do.

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goldensnow24@reddit

I chop it up with a knife .. takes 10-15 seconds

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Frankydink@reddit

Mash the shit out of them. I've been calling them meat bricks

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djwillis1121@reddit

One of [these ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51vs1n2LsFL.jpg)is a game changer for any dish using mince. Search mince meat masher to find one. Can't say I've noticed any real difference between the vaccum packed and normal mince when using one of them

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TheCotofPika@reddit

Yes, I have one of these and it's really useful. Also helpful for chopping up spaghetti for small children and anything else you need to chop up for them after cooking.

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Ok_Aioli3897@reddit

https://www.dunelm.com/product/handy-kitchen-handheld-meat-chopper-1000242197?defaultSkuId=30893437&branchCode=0166&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Cook_Utensils+and+Food+Prep-PMax_%5BGOO-LIA-COOK-PREP%5D&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20006314778&gbraid=0AAAAADGqyX0SZ-vCXjvdh7i7ns9B43hmE&gclid=CjwKCAjw4K3DBhBqEiwAYtG_9KJdse9Naeu2WJgpdnwQMh41BN3dHcYZA_ySAuoSVpOKzcn9mcNOOhoCG4MQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds With a meat masher. Wait for it to Cook and then mash it

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alacklustrehindu@reddit

That's why i prefer mince from tesco

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sad-mustache@reddit

I see no difference, I use spatula

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Nok1a_@reddit

Buy tesco, it´s the only one who still doing it in the old way, I refuse to buy that shit from hell that feels and looks more like play doh than minced meat

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Rags_75@reddit

I now take the time to visit my local butcher for mince - its more expensive but thank goodness it doesnt look like some sort of lab grown shit. Its probably the most productive idea for local ships the supermarkets have had, albeit unintentionally!

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zis_me@reddit

The best way to get decent quality meat

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SlickAstley_@reddit

Shop Ocado (theyre standard rectangle plastic)

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Glass_Assistant_1188@reddit

I placed it in the chopping board and just run a knife through it multiple times. It's no big problem and it's far less packaging, it's a worthy trade off in my opinion.

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itsyaboi69_420@reddit

I use a spatula to split it into slices, do both sides of it then break it all up when both sides have been browned which works pretty well.

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you_aint_seen_me-@reddit

Use a hard spatula and work/chop until you have the right consistency. I don't mind the new packaging, but it's taken a while to hone the browning/cooking technique.

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unalive-robot@reddit

There's not enough fat to keep the meat from rebinding into a meaty mass. Get some 15%, live a little, but maybe a little less.

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NortonBurns@reddit

You can't. It completely changes the texture. It's like whan you overwork hamburger & end up with something more like meatloaf. You can't 'un-work' it. You can get it to break up if you work it hard as you fry it off, but you can't get the separation of simpler mince. It's gone. I gave up on Sainsbury's, switched to Asda, now they've started doing it I'm onto Tesco who still do actual mince.

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hsw77@reddit

Might sound crazy but a whisk does a pretty good job of breaking mince up in the pan. Not so great if you're using a metal whisk on a non-stick pan, though.

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OmniWise@reddit

Glad its just not me. Either requires getting very handsy with it to break it up. Alternatively with patience using a wooden spoon during the cooking process over a not too high heat.

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