Ok stupid question regarding lean meat

[Rach79]

But where would you get lean meat from? In the supermarket does it say something like low fat meat. In the butchers would I have to ask for the meat without the fat trimmings? Ok I know this will be easy as pie to answer but I really don't know and am slightly embarressed about it

 

[hanadr]

Don't be embarrassed, you may just not be an experienced cook.
what do you want to cook with this meat?
In general, you just look at it and if there's not much fat visible, it's lean However do note that very lean meat takes more cooking.
Venison is always very lean, Turkey is always lean. Lean cuts of beef, like silverside, can be tough. the tastiest joint of lamb is shoulder, which is fatty.
Also, how you cook the meat makes a huge difference to how much fat ends up on your plate.
Mince will say, on the pack or the butchers tray, how much fat. It's usually sold as extra lean (10%fat)
lean (15% fat) and standard (20% fat.)
If you see some meat you like the look of, PM me and I'll suggest a recipe

 

[Trinkwasser]

If you are fortunate enough to have a proper butcher, ask them! Ours is a mine of information as to where the meat comes from and how it is raised as well as its content and suitability to different recipes.

 

[phoenix]

Hana is right you can mostly see the fat on the outside of cuts of meat but some of it is 'marbled' , Its within the muscle. Unfortunately Its the fat that gives much of the flavour so very lean meat can have less flavour and can be dry.
Heres some info from a little diabetes cook book. To anyone else reading. Please don't shoot the messenger. Where I've put low, moderate and high , the book says, choose for preference, eat moderately and avoid. With many of the cuts in the moderate section you can cook the meat with the fat and then cut off the visible fat. Its hard to do that with roast leg of pork with crackilig though!


I've just included the most usual cuts. but there are some regional variations in names so to confuse things, your butcher may use a different term.
Beef
low fat
mince at 5%, fillet, flan or skirt trimmed of surrounding fat.
Moderate
mince at 10%, sirloin, topside, silverside, rump steak, chuck or blade steak, neck
High
mince at 15-20%, ribs, shin, rib eye steak

Pork
low
fillet
moderate
leg, loin, gammon
high
shoulder, belly, ribs

Lamb
low
none
moderate
leg,
high
shoulder, saddle, neck, chump, scrag, breast

Veal
low
escalope, fillet (won't include the rest because they're not generally available)

Poultry and Game
low
wild duck(if you happen to find one!),
chicken and turkey without skin
all other game ie venison, hare rabbit
Moderate
duck,duck breast
Chicken and turkey with skin
guinea fowl,
chicken liver
high
goose
and foie gras!!!!

Offal
low
liver
(and if you're into them heart and tripe)
moderate
kidneys
(I'll miss out the rest cos I doubt many British people would eat them today)

Incidently, although there appears to be an awful lot of fat on duck it renders (melts) easily when cooking and probably is nearer in quality to the beneficial fats found in fish than that in other meats

As Hana says the way you cook it makes a big difference. You can, for example ,fry mince off in a pan, allowing the fat to melt and then drain it off. You can brown meat for a caserole, and then drain it on kitchen paper before putting in the liquid. After cooking a casserole or stew,allow it to cool down then you can skim off any surface fat. You can cook chops, steaks etc on a grill, griddle pan or portable electric griddle, once again allowing the fat to run off.

 

[Rach79]

Hey thanks guys I love meat but I am trying (or rather attempting) to eat healthier these days and they say the less animal fat the better so either low to moderate amounts of high fat meats and high amounts of low fat meat such as described by Phoenix. Also thanks Twinkwasser. Hanadr thanks also and note I might ask for a few recipes from you from time to time. It turns out you're right though and I'm not an experienced cook as I've been spoilt in the past. My parents were such brilliant cooks and two of my exes used to cook for me. Also my boyfriend cooks wonderful food for me (and is cooking as I speak) :mrgreen: I wouldn't mind returning the favour more often though and learning about where to and how to shop for healthy food. I didn't think that how you cook the meat would make a difference so that is handy to know also. Thanks for all the information, it is very useful

 

[hanadr]

I don't think about fats at all. I'm a low carber. I do cook a lot of chicken. Even though we had frozen veggies tonight, that's a rarity. most of our meals are cooked from fresh. I shouldn't have let T1 husband near the freezer, or previous to that, near Iceland. (the freezer shop not the money one,we don't have any :lol: ) STill I got him to eat fish without complaining, which is an achievement 8)

 

[Trinkwasser]

My parents were good cooks (even my father though he seldom indulged). Most of my friends are and were good cooks. My ex was an excellent cook (I kick myself often for not learning more of her recipes)

The problem is that I pretty much cook on automatic, describing what I do is harder than just doing it.

However here's one.

Fry a couple of venison steaks in olive oil, sprinkled with coarse black pepper, until browned.

Put the steaks under the grill to finish off and add horse mushrooms or portobellos to the oil in the frying pan

meanwhile boil purple sprouting or calabrese broccoli, or any other veggies you feel like using (I use a lot of seasonal stuff)

With careful timing it will all be finished simultaneously, doesn't take long and the fats involved are beneficial especially if you use peppery EVOO

you can also use beef, rump steak or similar

Chicken and pheasant I wrap with streaky bacon then roast for about half an hour at 6 and turn down to 5 to finish off, the pheasant especially can be a bit dry without the added fat from the bacon but once roasted you could put it in a casserole with veggies and other stuff, don't forget some black pepper and bay leaves, carrots and celery along with the onions. Rabbit I do straight in the casserole but again I tend to add some streaky bacon to bring the fat content up or it can be dry.

Hmmm, I'm not helping much with the details like timing or temperature am I?

 

[Bubsy Malone]

Hmmm, venison used to be my late dad's favourite meat - he hated white meat (opposite from me) so he used to have a fried venison steak for his xmas lunch. I've been toying with the idea of trying it myself - I used to be veggie for 7 years before I had my son and it still takes a lot of getting used to actually cooking meat. Our local farmer's market do venison sausages so I might try them out next time they're in town. Who knows, even my son might try them once he smells them frying! :wink:

 

[fergus]

Exactly right Eddie.
One of the privelidges of a low carb diet is that there's little need to restrict fat. Fat and carbs is a deadly combo, but fat without carbs is very healthy I believe.
One of the wrong turnings of dietary advice in recent decades has been to focus on reducing fat (down in the US from 44% to 33%). The consequences are there for everyone to see. More sugar, more starch, more insulin, more weight, more cholesterol, more trigs. Need I say more?

fergus

 

[gillyh]

German xmas market is in Birmingham now so I'm going to have a mooch round it next weekend. I loved the many varieties of sausages there last year. Must have a look at what meat they sell too, :lol: If i buy something different I'll be back for cooking instructions too!!

 

[Rach79]

Ok I cooked Morrocan chicken fajitas today (meanwhile takes a few bows) :!: :!: :mrgreen: Ok so it ain't much but I used olive oil and the chicken is low fat so it is healthy and it tasted yummy (yay) :!: It can only go up from here.

 

[phoenix]

well done Rachel
I really enjoy fajitas.
Why not look for some cook books.
The very cheap bookshops selling remaindered /cheaply produced books that seem to be springing up everywhere are a really good source (rather than the expensive celebrity books)
I bought two for ten pounds a few weeks ago.
One was on wok and stirfry cooking, the other on Mediterranean cookery. They both had step by step photos and Wok one even had nutritional info.

 

[Rach79]

well done Rachel
I really enjoy fajitas.
Why not look for some cook books.
The very cheap bookshops selling remaindered /cheaply produced books that seem to be springing up everywhere are a really good source (rather than the expensive celebrity books)
I bought two for ten pounds a few weeks ago.
One was on wok and stirfry cooking, the other on Mediterranean cookery. They both had step by step photos and Wok one even had nutritional info.

I have a few cook books, I'm just a bit afraid to use them :!: :shock: I guess it can do me no harm to try

 

[Bubsy Malone]

I have accumulated a nice big pile of them unfortunately, I need a bit of courage to tackle them - they're starting to take on a life of their own!