Quorn mince - any good?

[Taz]

Some of you may remember me asking for advice on cooking a jacket potato several weeks ago. Well, my first cooking project was an overwhelming success! I'm now about to venture on my second cooking project: spaghetti bolognese.

I have bought some spaghetti. I have some bolognese sauce. Unfortunately, when I bought the latter I didn't realise it was just sauce and not the whole bologense (i.e. with the mince included). So, I still need the mince.

I've noticed that there are meat substitutes around and Quorn do a range of these products. Has anyone tried Quorn mince and does it taste okay? I understand that these products are healthier than real meat.

[Funkstar]

go to a real butcher and get some proper minced beef, there is no substitute.

I definitely not a fan of Quorn etc. I've had it a few times with other people, any it just isn't the same. Difficult to say what is wrong with it...just isn't right.

As an asside, my brother is also alergic to Quorn. Might just be the high levels of protien he doesn't agree with as he has been vegetarian for about 15 years or so.

[autopilot]

go to a real butcher and get some proper minced beef, there is no substitute.

Yep, Quorn is nasty. Quorn and other simular products are made from mushrooms and soya.

On a side note, the use of Soya is going to be a hot issue in the nest few months/years. People should boycott Soya and not buy it, due to the fact that most Soya is been grown in places like Brazil and they are cutting down insane amounts of the Amazon rain forrest to grow it which can never be replaced.

[fuddam]

Yep, Quorn is nasty. Quorn and other simular products are made from mushrooms and soya.

On a side note, the use of Soya is going to be a hot issue in the nest few months/years. People should boycott Soya and not buy it, due to the fact that most Soya is been grown in places like Brazil and they are cutting down insane amounts of the Amazon rain forrest to grow it which can never be replaced.

IIRC the problem is that soya is the only vegetable protein that contains all essential amino acids etc, so the vegans out there are going to suffer

on the growing thing: surely a load must come from Asia? Is my assumption, since haven't looked into it. After all, soya is a major ingredient of both Japanese and Chinese cooking.

?

[RavenNight]

Steer well clear of the stuff, its foul comapred to the real deal. Get some proper mince from a decent butcher.

[johnny02004976]

i HATE Quorn mince with a passion - theres no substitute at all for real mince. You wont be sorry if you go for the real stuff

[5lab]

agree with all of the above - i'm a bit tight so i normally use cheap (economy) mince - however even that is a whole world of goodness above veggie stuff, which looks and tastels like damp cardboard.

[Ruggerbugger]

no, no, no, no, no absolutely rotten stuff. Seriously, even if you're a bit tight I'd suggest you buy some decent steak mince. Anything else will probably have a horrendous amount of fat in it which will ruin your spag bol.

Good luck, let us know how it goes

[coco]

quorn isn't very nice but there are other veggie alternatives asda's own make veggie mince is very tasty, simpler to cook than real mince and is loads better than cheap real mince. But if there are no veggies to offend get yourself some nice lean meat

[herulach]

Bolognese sauce + mince isnt making bolognese. Its about the easiest sauce on the planet to do a passable impression of:

Fry onions (about 1 per 2 people)
Fry mince
Add tinned tomatoes (again, 1 per 2 people)
Add mushrooms, peppers etc
Boil for a while, add salt, pepper, mixed herbs to taste.

[schmunk]

Bolognese sauce + mince isnt making bolognese. Its about the easiest sauce on the planet to do a passable impression of:

Fry onions (about 1 per 2 people)
Fry mince
Add tinned tomatoes (again, 1 per 2 people)
Add mushrooms, peppers etc
Boil for a while, add salt, pepper, mixed herbs to taste.

No carrots & celery = no Bolognese..!

[herulach]

No carrots & celery = no Bolognese..!

I hate celery, but youll note i said mushrooms peppers etc.

[schmunk]

I hate celery, but youll note i said mushrooms peppers etc.

OK, I'll let you off just this once, but take it as a warning...

[Funkstar]

I'm with herulach on this one. Personally i wouldn't put carrots in there either. Mushrooms and black olives for me.

[Ruggerbugger]

No-one mentioned garlic!

[stytagm]

IIRC the problem is that soya is the only vegetable protein that contains all essential amino acids etc, so the vegans out there are going to suffer

on the growing thing: surely a load must come from Asia? Is my assumption, since haven't looked into it. After all, soya is a major ingredient of both Japanese and Chinese cooking.

?

Quorn contains all the essential Amino Acids and doesn't contain Soya. I had to study it at Uni a few years back and as mentioned it's a fungus like mushrooms. Also the entire worlds supply is made in two huge vats somewhere like Norfolk iirc.

If you've got a Vegetarian to cope with then Quorn's OK, but otherwise stick to propper mince.

no, no, no, no, no absolutely rotten stuff. Seriously, even if you're a bit tight I'd suggest you buy some decent steak mince. Anything else will probably have a horrendous amount of fat in it which will ruin your spag bol.

Cheap mince with more fat has more flavour than ordinary "lean" mince, the fat makes meat moist and yummy, and unless you buy well matured beef I think cheap is better. Maybe some good butchers or supermarkets would sell well matured minced beef that's lean with a bit of flavour, but you might have to shell out much more cash.