This study documents the effects of browning meat and draining the drip on nutrient composition and retention in cooked ground beef, lamb, and pork at different fat levels of the raw product. In the brown-and-drain process, ground meats with higher initial fat levels lost more fat and cholesterol, as a percentage of the amount in the raw product, than did lower-fat meats. However, the total fat content and total calories for browned meat from a given amount (100 g) of raw meat remained higher for samples of higher initial fat levels. Browned (cooked) meat with (20 %) initial fat contained approximately (10 %) less protein on a raw weight basis than that with (10 %) initial fat. Similarly, the amount on a raw weight basis of most of the minerals in browned, ground beef and pork decreased by approximately (10 %) with a (10 %) rise in initial fat level. The mineral retention percentage, as pooled over all initial fat levels and meat animal species, varied from 84 to (96 %) among different minerals and the retention percentage for water-soluble vitamins (thiamin. niacin, and vitamin (\mathrm{B}_{12}) ) ranged from 66 to (78 %). Raw meat particle size had little effect on nutrient composition or retention. เคฌเค 1993 Academic Press, Inc.