Cooking Mince
Watch Chef Diarmuid Ó Mathúna, of Pota Cafe show how to cook, store, freeze and thaw mince correctly.
Mince is a great ingredient and it's used in loads of delicious dishes from cottage pie to spaghetti bolognese. But it can cause some confusion, especially around freezing. So here's our guide.
Keep mince in the fridge.
Keep it on the bottom shelf, separate from ready-to-eat food.
Choose lean mince over full fat. Best is less than 5% fat.
Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Then add the mince. Make sure it's completely broken up so that it cooks through evenly.
Cook it all the way through making sure that it's fully browned and that there are no pink bits left.
Once cooled, the mince should be put in the fridge or freezer within 2 hours of cooking, or eaten within three days.
Defrost cooked mince on a plate away from other foods on the bottom shelf of the fridge.
Keep it covered so that the juices don't drip on other plates, surfaces or foods.
safefood is a government body responsible for the promotion of food safety and healthy eating on the island of Ireland. For more information visit https://www.safefood.net