Defatting Meat

Buying ground beef with a high percentage of fat is usually less expensive per pound, but yields less meat. However, you can save money with the cheaper ground beef if you vapor cook the meat using the Saladmaster Culinary Baskets. The Culinary Baskets are excellent for defatting ground beef, chicken or turkey.

Use the appropriate size pan and Culinary Basket for the amount of meat you are defatting.

Follow these easy steps to remove excess fat when cooking ground beef for your favorite recipes:

3 Qt. (2.8 L) Sauce Pan (with 2.5 Qt. Culinary Basket)	7 Qt. (6.6 L) Roaster (with 6 Qt. Culinary Basket)	10 Qt. (9.5 L) Roaster (with 6 Qt. Culinary Basket)
1 cup (240 mL) water in sauce pan and 1 - 2 pounds (454 - 907 g) ground meat in basket	Not recommended for defatting meats	1 cup (240 mL) in roaster and 4 - 5 pounds (1.8 - 2.3 kg) ground meat in basket

Using the guide above, add the appropriate amount of water to the pan or roaster that you are using. Do not over-fill the pan or roaster with water, as this allows space for fats to drip from meat through the mesh basket material and into the water below.

Place Culinary Basket inside the pan or roaster with water and cover.

Place temperature setting on medium-high heat and bring the water to a rolling boil, approximately 3 - 5 minutes for the 3 Qt. (2.8 L) Sauce Pan and 5 - 7 minutes for the 10 Qt. (9.5 L) Roaster.

Uncover and add raw ground meat into Culinary Basket.

Cover and vapor cook for approximately 3 - 4 minutes; uncover and lightly toss meat with a long spoon to allow vapor to reach the uncooked meat. The mesh steel is very durable, but be careful not to puncture the steel with the utensil.

Cover and cook another 3 - 4 minutes or until meat is brown throughout. For 2 - 3 pounds (907 g - 1.4 kg) of meat, the cooking time may require longer vapor cooking.

When meat has browned, attach handles to Culinary Basket and shake off excess liquid over pan, then pour meat into a large bowl. Use meat with recipe or let cool for 10 minutes and store in the refrigerator for later use.

Cleaning Tip: Place the Culinary Basket upside down in an empty sink. Using the water sprayer, spray water from the outside of Culinary Basket inward with hot water. This will help to remove most meat drippings. Apply a generous amount of liquid dishwashing soap to the Saladmaster cleaning brush and scrub Culinary Basket to remove remaining particles. Wash thoroughly in warm soapy water, rinse and dry, or place Culinary Basket in the dishwasher.

- See more at: http://recipes.saladmaster.com/tip/vapor-cooking-directions-defatting-meat#sthash.bvbEyCzb.dpuf