When using ground beef cooked for a soup, spaghetti or tacos etc., drain hamburger through a colander before adding to your soup recipe. This takes away the extra fat and tastes great, even in chili.
By 123helen from Senoia, GA
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I actually drain then rinse my browned hamburger in hot water. Removes lots of fat and doesn't affect the tast. I drain it in the sink with hot water running to be sure not to clog the drain.
I also drain then rinse my ground meat. I only buy ground sirlon as opposed to ground beef but it still contains more grease than I prefer and draining and rinsing works well every time.
Although this is a great idea for reducing fat intake, please - please do not send the grease down the drain. Especially solid grease. Even if it doesn't harden in your house drain, it will somewhere down the line, even as soon as your house clean-out. It only takes one time, and then wherever it hardens in the line, it will become the stopping point for all other grease, oils, and sediments.
Instead, I put down a few layers of paper towels, spread out the cooked, hot beef, then put a few more layers on top. Place a cutting board of any sort on top and apply pressure for a few minutes with something relatively heavy, maybe while prepping other ingredients. This will absorb the grease and it can be thrown away.
I keep a small empty can (soup,beans) near the stove and drain all the grease into it. When it gets half or full I just toss it into a garbage bag and dispose with the rest of the trash. This has worked well for many years for me. My daughters I notice do the same at their homes.
I drain my ground beef in a colander over a disposable bowl to go in the trash. But after it drains a bit in the colander, then I spread it out onto several layers of paper towels. It's amazing how much more grease comes off even after the colander.
I have done this for ground beef and sausage for 25+ years, but I keep all my metal cans to strain it into. Rinsing is unnecessary if meat is good and hot when strained and left to drain long enough. While it is draining, I saute onions or other veggies.
I drain and rinse mine, also. I am a home canner and when I do this before canning it there is very little fat in the jars, a lot healthier. I use empty coffee cans, etc to drain the fat into.
Not only do I drain it, I also rinse it with hot water. I've done this for years. It's great.
When I feel lazy & don't want to wash the colander I use clean newspaper & just throw it away.I don't have to worry about clogging up the drain.
I stand the colander in a bowl and the cooked ground beef drains into the bowl. Once the grease firms up, I use a rubber spatula to scoop it out of the bowl and into the trash. A paper towel removes any grease residue before the bowl gets washed. By using a bowl, I no longer have to keep a can of grease in the kitchen waiting to get filled up!
I drain mine. Tried rinsing it but had no flavor so why even bother. I have to eat bland so I can't handle the spices to bring back some sort of flavor so now I drain it then pat it dry with one or two paper towels. It gets most of the fat and is tolerable.
When I was still drinking sodas I used to keep a steel funnel by the sink. I drained the grease with a colander, allowed it to cool for an hour then funneled it into old 2 liter bottles. I kept them in the fridge until full then tossed them in the trash.
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