Does draining ground beef reduce fat?
In this brief guide, we are going to answer the question “does draining ground beef reduce fat” with an in-depth analysis of whether or not draining ground beef reduces fat. Moreover, we are going to discuss the effect of cooking and draining on calorie content, iron and niacin content, and nutrient value of ground beef.
So without much ado, let’s dive in and figure out more about it.
Does draining ground beef reduce fat?
Yes, draining ground beef does reduce the fat present in it. When the beef is cooked, drain the watery extract to reduce the fat portion of the beef. Draining the beef also significantly reduces the caloric content of the dish.
While talking about the fat content of raw, 80% lean ground beef, it contains about 17 grams of fat. Draining and cooking this meat reduced its fat content by 31-35% according to a study conducted by the Minnesota research team.
Thus the fat content of the drained and cooked 3 oz, 80% lean ground beef was 11 to 12 grams.
Moreover, if you rinse this drained and cooked ground beef then you can further decrease its fat content by 25 to 30%. Thus 3 oz of such ground beef will have about 8 to 9 grams of fat.
It is worth mentioning here that draining, cooking or rinsing does not have any impact on the amount of cholesterol present in the ground beef. For instance the cholesterol content of the 3 oz raw, 80% lean ground beef is 60 mg and it stays the same after all these procedures.
You can read about how to make Korean ground beef and rice bowls here.
Does rinsing ground beef reduce fat?
Yes, rinsing with hot water and blotting the ground beef with paper towels can reduce the fat content in ground beef by as much as 50%. Remember that the water you use should not be boiling hot. Take the ground beef in a strainer and pour simmering hot water to whisk away the fat.
What is the effect of draining on calories of ground beef?
You can reduce the caloric content of the ground beef by draining, cooking, and rinsing it. For instance, 1 gram of fat provides 9 grams of calories, so a cooked and drained 3 oz 80% lean ground beef has 162 to 171 calories. The process of rinsing further decreases these calories, thus the cooked, drained, and rinsed ground beef will have about 135 to 144 calories.
It is worth mentioning here that otherwise, the 3 oz of 80% lean raw ground beef has about 216 calories.
Does draining have an impact on the iron content of ground beef?
Draining and cooking also impact the iron content of the ground beef. There can be noticed a slight increase in the iron content of the drained, cooked, and rinsed ground beef. The iron content of a 3 oz lean ground beef is 1.65 mg.
Does draining have an impact on the niacin content of ground beef?
Yes, draining, cooking, and rinsing affects the niacin content of ground beef. For instance, the niacin content of 3 oz of raw, ground beef is about 3.6 mg but it reduces by 28 % after cooking, draining, and rinsing ground beef, thus you are left with 2.6 mg of niacin.
Does draining have an impact on the nutrient profile of ground beef?
Firstly talking about the protein content of the ground beef, cooking, draining, or rinsing does not have any effect on the protein content of ground beef and it remains untouched even after all these procedures.
Now when it comes to carbohydrate or dietary fiber, ground beef does not contain any of these, therefore, these are also the measures that remain as it is.
While talking about the other micronutrients like sodium, zinc, potassium, riboflavin, draining, cooking and rinsing does affect them but this effect is not significant and is negligible.
How to drain fat from the ground beef?
So what you gotta do is that when ground beef is cooked, slightly tilt the pan on one side and with the help of a spatula or spoon, push the meat to the other side of the pan. Now you can remove the grease (fat) that is collected on the tilted side of the pan with the help of a spoon.
Moreover, you can use paper towels to tap cooked ground beef. In this way, you can suck the grease out of it.
How to keep ground beef in the fridge?
The ground beef should be washed thoroughly before storing it in an air-tight container or bag in the fridge. Moreover, you can also opt for vacuum sealing for retaining the freshness of ground beef for a long time.
It is a good practice to store the raw ground beef on the shelf of the fridge, especially on the lowest shelf to eliminate any chances of its dripping on any other food item.
The beef itself is a highly perishable food time and when it is ground, its overall surface area increases. As the surface area of ground beef is increased, therefore there is more space for bacteria to spread on. Moreover, during the mincing and grounding process, the bacteria that were otherwise present on the surface of the meat now gets mixed throughout the whole mixture and the rate of contamination, as well as degradation of ground beef, also increases. Therefore you should refrigerate the raw ground beef promptly at or below 40°F.
Other FAQs about Beef which you may be interested in.
Can you refreeze beef after thawing?
Conclusion
In this brief guide, we answered the question “does draining ground beef reduce fat” with an in-depth analysis of whether or not draining ground beef reduces fat. Moreover, we discussed the effect of cooking and draining on calorie content, iron and niacin content, and nutrient value of ground beef.
Citations
https://www.livestrong.com/article/523419-nutrition-information-for-drained-ground-beef/
https://oakbarnbeef.com/blogs/best-dry-aged-beef-blog/how-to-drain-grease-from-ground-beef
