Can you still buy mincing machines?

dannahaz

Mermaid wrote:

What type of steak is right to use in the mincer? I guess I don't need fillet, but is stewing steak OK or should I go for rump?

I think it depends on what you are going to use the mince for. For normal dishes like Chilli, bolognese, lasagne etc then you can mince fairly cheap cuts of meat like stewing steak.

However, for burgers you might want to consider a better cut, and make sure you have some fat on it too. Unlike meals where the mince is disguised by lot of other flavours, the quality of the taste of a burger is dependent on the quality of the meat you use (unless you like to season your burgers heavily). Delia has a great recipe for Halfpounders (or Quarterpounders), which uses meat and a little salt & pepper, nothing else.

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/all-american-half-pounders,878,RC.html

Hope that helps

Toxic_Lemon

My tip for burgers is to liquidise a little liver and mix with the minced meat. The liver both flavours the burger and binds the meat together so it doesn't fall apart when cooking.

carolbee

saw one in a LAKELAND shop on wednesday, actually commented that we hadnt seen one for years!

pipkin71

I use an egg to bind the burgers when making up and they are really nice. Sometimes, I'll also add grated cheese for the girls, or onions and mushrooms for myself - yummy!

Minced chicken can make for very dry burgers so I add tomato sauce [from the bolognese] to the chicken mince and we enjoy those.

regards
pipkin xxx

Thistle-down

and of course if you have a Kenwood Chef you can get the mincer attachment...

skylight

I use the food processor - makes the bits much much smaller and I prefer the burgers that way.

The burgers look a bit more like shop burgers for the kids then. Plus I can process lots of veg to hide in the burgers too.....

soba

I got a really heavy, bright yellow enamelled mincer from ebay about 18 months ago. As someone who worked in a butchers I'd say it's the way to go. It might not be cheaper, but at least you know what's in there, and you can adjust the fat/lean content to suit your taste.
Chuck steak is good for beef mince and shoulder is good for lamb mince. Don't mince shin beef, the sinews don't mince properly and you'll get horrible chewy bits in the mince. Another good tip is to chill the meat chunks in the freezer until just beginning to freeze, you'll find it easier to mince like that.

Another advantage is that if your mincer is hand-cranked like mine, you get a fantastic cardio-vascular workout at the same time!!

soba

Rachel021967

I've seen them in Lidls when they were doing their special promotions. I don't think they sell them at the moment but they do repeat promotions. If you buy your meat from a butcher they might mince it for you. Good luck.

xlt_hunter

How about Betterware - they have them for £10! Half the cost of the one at Lakeland, cheap - still i am looking for a Kenwood cheap at the moment.

http://www.betterware.co.uk/productdetails.aspx?pid=018557&language=en-GB

mum26

TK MAXX often have the hand cranking metal ones, I think they were about £15 when I saw them last but of course the price will go up or down depending on make etc, but it's a good shop to look for kitchen bits and bobs generally