Moist meatballs? | Imamother

leel

Mon, Oct 26 2015, 9:15 am

any ideas on how to keep my meatballs from getting hard when I cook them. I love the sauce I use but find they come out hard. should I be cooking longer, shorter? any tips? tia

juggling

Mon, Oct 26 2015, 9:17 am

Maybe it has to do with what you use as filler? Besides meat, what do you use? I would love to hear others' replies.

oliveoil

Mon, Oct 26 2015, 9:19 am

first of all, ground meat is easy to overcook. then it gets tough and unpleasant.

best binder to use for soft and moist is breadcrumbs soaked in non-dairy milk or even water.

MagentaYenta

Mon, Oct 26 2015, 9:22 am

Ground mean that is over worked, over handled and needlessly compacted produces hard meatballs. Use a lighter hand work quickly don't worry about some air pockets, they trap moisture as the interior cooks.

juggling

Mon, Oct 26 2015, 9:24 am

I think I saw a tip somewhere to use soaked fresh bread (not breadcrumbs). I tried it once, but I can't remember if it did the trick. What about quick oats? I like to use those as a binder. Anyone know if they work to give a soft texture?

etky

Mon, Oct 26 2015, 9:51 am

juggling wrote:

Yes they do. But they also impart a sort of gelatinous quality to the sauce which I'm not partial to.
I like to use slightly stale challah that I crumble into the meat instead of commercial dry breadcrumbs. It gives a softer texture. Even matzo meal, surprisingly, gives a softer texture than dry breadcrumbs.
Non kosher cooks soak bread in milk to make what's called a panade which supposedly guarantees a soft texture. I've never tried doing that with parve milk (not sure water would do the trick here) as oliveoil suggested but maybe it's worth a try.

Amarante

Mon, Oct 26 2015, 10:00 am

staten islander wrote:

use seltzer to soak the breadcrumbs

Interesting. I know it's good for fluffy matzo balls but never thought of it for meatballs.

etky

Mon, Oct 26 2015, 10:04 am

Amarante wrote:

Interesting. I know it's good for fluffy matzo balls but never thought of it for meatballs.

Me neither. I also use it instead of water in kneidlach to make them fluffy (a la Jamie Geller).
In general I'm reluctant to add too much liquid to my meatballs since the mixture is already quite loose. Probably b/c I use frozen meat.
That's why I've never tried soaking my bread....

Amarante

Mon, Oct 26 2015, 10:11 am

etky wrote:

I think meatballs are different than matzoh balls because one already is using water for matzoh balls so its just a different kind of water. I have also read that its not just the carbonation but the chemical in seltzer which contributes to the texture.

I don't typically add water to a meatball but squeezed out bread isn't that much different from the crumbs one ordinarily adds.

etky

Mon, Oct 26 2015, 10:20 am

Amarante wrote:

That would make sense then.

MyTimeNow

Mon, Oct 26 2015, 11:09 am

If you're using lean meat, that makes a difference, too. I only use regular ground beef with all the fat (which is why I don't make it too often). Plus, I don't put any eggs or matza meal/breadcrumbs into my mixture. Spices (salt, onion powder, garlic powder, a bit of paprika), some ketchup, Bbq sauce, and water. The raw meatballs hold their shape just fine when I place them in the pot. I'm sorry I can't give measurements, though.

Sanguine

Mon, Oct 26 2015, 11:37 am

I never heard of this problem. Am I doing something wrong? I add eggs, a little ketchup, spices and plain bread crumbs or matza meal, depending on what I have. Enough bread crumbs to roll into solid balls. Then I drop them into boiling sauce as I roll. I cook them for a lot more than an hour. Never had dry meatballs... Matza balls I like dry so I add extra matza meal.

etky

Mon, Oct 26 2015, 11:41 am

Sanguine wrote:

It's not usually a problem unless you overdo the breadcrumbs.
But other binders do make a softer meatball and some people like it better that way.

Amarante

Mon, Oct 26 2015, 11:49 am

Also some people bake meatballs on a sheet pan and then just put in the sauce. It is an easier preparation especially if meatballs are "softish" and might fall apart in the sauce. So if you are baking the meatballs, you can start with a moister or fattier blend since the fat will drip below when baked rather than going into the sauce and making it very greasy.

laykee

Tue, Oct 27 2015, 9:18 am

Here are a few tips that work for me.

Instead of bread crumbs use fresh bread soaked in water, and mix in 1/3 of whatever amount you will use with kishka. It adds flavor, fat and works great as a binder.

Use a mix of 1/3 fatty with 1/3 lean ground beef and 1/3 ground DARK chicken or turkey.

Do not make them any smaller than about 2 inches (5cm) in diameter. Otherwise it cooks/bakes too quickly.

Try to make them 'fluffy'. Do not press the meat when making the balls.

Finally, bake them in the oven (browning first is better, but a big not necessarily worth the mess) and place them in the sauce for only a few min, if that's how they will be served.