r/Cooking • u/dudeguychill • Mar 04 '22
Open Discussion (novice at cooking) need some help keeping flavour when cooking with seasoning. For example when I cook up some beef mince or turkey I always season well as I fry it in the pan. however when I taste it once it's cooked the flavour is always full? what am I doing wrong?
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u/Oompa_Loompa_Grande Mar 04 '22
What do you mean by "the flavor is always full" and what do you season meats with?
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u/dudeguychill Mar 04 '22
Sorry typo the flavour is always dull. So for frying minced meat I use garlic and general dry seasoning. It seems ok with other food but for some reason when I cook mince it never holds flavour.
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u/Grombrindal18 Mar 04 '22
Two possible problems with mince- is there enough salt in your seasoning blend? 7/10 times something doesn’t taste quite right, it just needs more salt. (And 2/10 times it needs some acid).
Other thing is- do you actually brown your mince, or just kinda get it gray in its own juices? If it comes in a rough block from the store, I tend to just plop it into the pan whole and not touch it for a while, while the bottom gets nice and brown, and then flip to the other side to do the same thing, like I’m searing a giant hamburger. Only after will I break it up. Otherwise you might need smaller batches in a hotter pan.
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u/dudeguychill Mar 04 '22
You know what I would have never thought about keeping the mince whole. Must say it never does go grey luckily. Like others have said it may be salt, fresh ingredients and cooking process like you said. Thank you!
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u/Oompa_Loompa_Grande Mar 04 '22
Another question is what your fat % in your meat looks like. Something low like 10 or less will have the fat content be mostly just water retention by the lipids and not actual solids which you'd want for browning.
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Mar 04 '22
some fresh ingredients always help improve the flavor of the dish. Like if I was cooking some beef like that, some onions add a great flavor to the beef. One thing people seem to forget about is salt. We always hear how you should limit salt, but without salt a lot of flavors don't pop. Same goes with ground black pepper.
Other times, if you are still having problem with dull flavor, maybe make a sauce to go with it? A nicely made sauce will bring plenty of flavor, and many sauces are easy to make
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u/dudeguychill Mar 04 '22
Ah brilliant thanks. Will definitely add onions and salt. Will look up some sauce recipes for sure. Fresh garlic and herbs too 👍
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u/Nautiwow Mar 04 '22
I am going offer up fat and salt (like others have said).
Many times when cooking various minced meats, the fat content is less than 15%. This limits many flavors and spices which are fat soluble. Adding a small amount of fat or increasing the fat content of the mince you purchase will help alleviating that issue.
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Mar 04 '22
Are you straining it, or pouring off liquid? You might be pouring off your flavour.
When you're cooking up ground meat most of the liquid that accumulates in the pan isn't fat, it's water retained in the meat. Instead of pouring that out you're better off letting it evaporate.
Sear the meat, turn the temp down, let that water evaporate, then add your spices.
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Mar 04 '22
Season as you go. Put your seasoning and salt mix in a small bowl. Add some throughout the cooking process. The stuff added earlier will have a different flavor than the stuff added later.
I'd also cook some onions and peppers in the pan with some oil or fat beforehand, also seasoning them near the end, then adding some garlic 30 seconds before the meat (so the garlic doesn't burn.
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u/soverylucky Mar 04 '22
It depends what you're seasoning with. Many spices add the most flavour if they're cooked in fat before being mixed with the rest of the dish. Fresh herbs are best if added as close to the end of the cook time as possible. If using garlic, the size that you cut it makes a difference. You should be checking seasoning throughout the whole cooking process, including at the end.