Mince?

[suzy_homemaker]

What exactly is the mince part of, say, a mince and tatties meal? I know it's ground meat, but is it traditionally hamburger (ground beef) or ground lamb, or what?

[Polwarth]

It is usually minced beef. But can be lamb.

If you make mince and tatties it's beef. If you make mince with a mashed potato topping that's Cottage pie. If you make it with minced lamb then it's shepherd's pie - although lots of people call the mince/potatoes shepherd's pie.

[pogofish]

Originally Posted by suzy_homemaker

What exactly is the mince part of, say, a mince and tatties meal?

Generally ground beef although lamb, chicken, turkey & venison are easily available as mince.

My gran used to insist on her mince being made from 50/50 of Round Steak & Shoulder Steak & would get the butcher to cut the meat & mince it for her there & then, with no added fat or other bits. Good traditional butchers won't have a problem doing this for you.

Oh & remember to really heat the pan before adding the mince & quickly stirring, so it can sear on its own for a few seconds before adding anything else. This makes a big difference to the texture of the final product.

[kathyv]

My mother in law makes the best mince pie I have ever had. She uses game meat, antelope, elk or deer.

She grinds it much like hamburger. For those in other places, for your mince, do you grind or chop?

[HollyElise]

I was under the impression that in Scottish dishes it's usually chopped, but often chopped fine.

[Lithgae]

Mince as you buy it from the supermarket is 'ground'.
But i suppose if you're making your own, or standing over the butcher that's doing it, you can do it whatever way you like!

[pogofish]

Yup, virtually always minced/ground in a machine like this:

http://www.mazispro.gr/images/mincer.jpg

However, they do have different sizes of mincing head & plates which give different degrees of coarseness to the raw mince. Again, the butcher's preferences decide a lot. Some like to make a coarser mince whereas some produce very fine stuff.