fozen mince compared to fresh

COOLTRIKERCHICK

hi.. i normally put my mince in a strainer after i brown it anyway to get rid of the fat.......and i must admit i am fussy when it comes to my meat.... i useually use the mince for mince and onions....(like a mince caserole)..

curry.....as i find the mince makes it go further than chunks of meat.....

and spag bol.......i will use it some time this week..and see how it goes.....but i must admit an earlier post by
debt-free-chick... has made me think ...what cheap off cuts and how much fat they put in there......

thanks for all your views on frozen mince.....if i dont get on with the frozen mince.... i expect i will have to buy less but fresh from the butchers... and bulk out with more veg......

tawnyowls

It very much depends on what sort of mince it is - lean minced steak will be far better quality than something labelled 'minced beef'. Something labelled 'healthy living' won't necessarily be that healthy - it'll have some of the fat taken out, but that doesn't mean the rest of the meat in there will be low in the fat considered to be an intrinsic part of the meat before it was minced.

hex2

I second the vote for Aldi's lamb mince - it is a mix of mutton and lamb and so has a greater depth of flavour then the comparable fresh mince in Morrisons. I make shephards pie with it, and my lovely OH has eaten so much of it that he was unable to move for the rest of the evening every time.

I think the real problem is re-freezing it, it is free flow so you can use as much or as little as you like, but I cant batch cook and freeze portions.

Chocmonster7

hex2 wrote:

I think the real problem is re-freezing it, it is free flow so you can use as much or as little as you like, but I cant batch cook and freeze portions.

As long as you've made the mince into something which has been cooked (pie, spag bol, etc.) then I can't see a problem in freezing it again.

Penny-Pincher!!

We only eat lamb mince and always buy frozen from Aldi. 1.5kg bag for £1.99 and we can easily get 6 huge meals for 3/4 people out of it. It tastes nice and has good flavour.

I always grab yellow stickered organic lamb from Asda when we are lucky enough to see it and this is about 50p for a small tray which will cook a large shepards pie bulked out with baked beans and mash.

I find frozen lamb easy to use and cooks well.

PP
xx

pickle

ethansmum wrote:

When I cook the frozen mince, I agree that sometimes its quite fatty. I usually just pour off the fat so surely that just as using good as lean mince at twice the price?

If you're cooking bolognese etc. and you want to reduce the fat you can boil the mince first and rinse and then add to the recipe.

Edinburghlass_2

On the very odd occasion that I've used frozen mince I've cooked it in the slow cooker and then used it for cottage pie and its okay done that way but I prefer to buy my mince from the butcher.

jcr16

i refuse to buy value mince . used to many years ago. but i find it truely yuckie now so much fat comes from it and it seems gritty. and the only mince i use is tesco extra lean steak mince.. no fat comes from it and it is always so tender. and it is really cheap. 500g bag i think for 1.68. sometime's i buy tesco frozen normal mince which is 1.75 kg for 3.13. i use this for chilli and spicy bean mince only tho.

but there is a fab butchers very local to me , and although there mince is slightly dearer. it is so tasty and wonderful. and it is nice supporting local businesses

Pipkin

I used to buy the forzen mince in a bag,but I found it was very mushy, and sometimes had strange white bits in it.

I honestly think you are much, much better buying the fresh.

Do Lidls in the UK not do fresh beef mince? I find theirs very reasonable and nice.

I used to use fresh turkey mince to make spaghetti bolognese and it had a lovely light, almost sweet flavour, but I can't get it now.

organic_wanabe

When I don't buy from the butchers, I use the Tesco Healthy Living mince as it tastes nice, is nevery grissly, and seems good quality. I occasionally buy M&S Aberdeen Angus 95% steak mince but find it to be really expensive - it usually jumps in my trolley when I am trying to get up to the £35 mark to get whatever freebie they are offering at the time!