Kitchen Tip: An Easier Way to Drain Your Sautee Pan

by Caitlin

What I'm about to share with you is by no means revolutionary, and, hell, I didn't even think of it myself. It came to me as so many of my greatest food discoveries do: from my husband. It's just that it's so easy and so obvious I wonder why I didn't think of it before. I can't keep a tip like this to myself, even if I am the last person to know about it.

The thing is, I hate when a recipe instructs you to cook your sausage/ground beef/what have you and drain the liquid. It's messy, it's gross, and I don't want my drain clogged with grease. If I try to put a lid on the pan to hold the goods back while whatever undesirable liquid falls out, I inevitably end up with a facefull of beefy, greasy, steam (a beef facial! refreshing!) and/or a half a sink full of deciously browned sausage.

Over the weekend, my husband was making dinner. Which, can I just interject here for a minute (yes, I can) and say that after a Friday off of work filled with shopping and mani/pedis, my girlfriend and I (Hi Laur!) came back to the house and had dinner made for us and THAT is living, my friends. Marry a chef, if you can, and have a friend who also occasionally has Fridays in the summer off, and be sure you both enjoy doing wicked stereotypically girly things. That's my advice. You're welcome.

So Zach was making dinner, and dinner was some delicious, perfect, homemade Friday night pizza. As with Chinese food, there is a dearth of good pizza around us and Zach's perfected his from-scratch recipe. This particular time he was making pies with peppers, onions (for the love of god, sautee them both before you put them on your pizza!), and hot italian sausage. The sausage was crumbled in the pan out of the skins, and Zach was having me brown it while I drank my beer (hard work). He also wanted me to drain it and when I grumbled (because BEEF FACIAL) he showed me his trick.

Set a smallish colander over a smallish bowl, and let the colander do all the work. We do this for pasta, why didn't I think of it for everything else?

Sorry about that greasy spatula, but at least there are no beef facials. And aren't you glad we got all that grease out of there? Now your pizza is practically health food! An additional bonus is that it's also a lot easier to dispose of your grease by pouring it directly in your jar or can or whathaveyou, rather than trying to drain a full pan AND aim for a tiny little jar.

So there you have it! A trick I might be the last one to know about.

Also, I'm filing this under M for Mmmm Meat, but I love vegetarian fare (as I hope you know by now) and I think this would work well for a million other things, meat or not. COLANDERS FOR EVERYONE! (Oprah voice.)

Did you know this trick? Am I the last one?

Comments

[Alice]

i had NOT heard of this and also would never have thought of it! THANK YOU!

(...for both the tip, and for the term "beef facial.")

[Heather]

Caitlin! I love you!

I have been scooping it out with a slotted spoon, as much as I can, and then trying to pour the grease into a jar from a LARGE skillet that makes my arms tired when I hold it. You are my hero.

And NOW I am craving taco pizza, which I am quite decent at making, with the exception of being able to properly and efficiently drain my grease.

Happy Thursday!

[Kate]

I feel so dumb for never thinking of this!

You are so right about the local pizza; it's either crap or super expensive. We have gone homemade and haven't looked back. I can recommend Pizzeria Orso in Falls Church though; I feel like I owe you a local rec seeing as we're loving House of Dynasty. ;)

[Kristina]

I layer a plate with 3-4 paper towels and dump the whole mess on that. The paper towels soak up the grease and get pitched, and the meat is drained!

[Ashley]

If you're not planning on keeping the grease, line the bowl with aluminum foil first, leaving a lot of "edge". After sitting at room temperature for a while, it will solidify and you can wrap it up in the foil and toss!

[Lynnette]

I think I would love to someday find the search terms that lead to this post. "Hot beef facial" is my favorite subject I have ever seen on a food blog.

[Caitlin]

Ashley, that is genius! Thank you!