Ground Beef in the UK

Do you lot use ground beef much in the UK? I noticed with the recent trend in food threads that feature ground beef/meat (biscuits and gravy, now hamburger helper) that in the UK you don't use ground beef that much in your dishes... I make Shepard's Pie with it (some would argue that it's cottage pie since it uses just beef instead of the more traditional lamb), and of course tacos are great with seasoned ground beef and a crispy shell.

So, what's the beef with ground beef in the UK? Mad Cow got yer tongues?

I use it all the time (well not all the time obviously, that'd be mental). It's called minced beef over here though...

I use it for spaghetti bolognaise, shepherds pie, enchiladas, burgers, chilli con carne. So yeah, I'm sure a lot of people use it here.

  On 11/18/2009 at 9:02 PM, mcbpete said:

I use it all the time (well not all the time obviously, that'd be mental). It's called minced beef over here though...

 

I use it for spaghetti bolognaise, shepherds pie, enchiladas, burgers, chilli con carne. So yeah, I'm sure a lot of people use it here.

Ah, what a relief - I was beginning to wonder if yet another food anachronism was going to be laid upon the mixed groups here...

i use it all the time, usually pork or beef mince, never lamb mince cos it just tastes of fat and i've never had a good meal with it.

chilli, lasagne, ravioli, tacos, enchiladas, cottage pie, meatballs, home made burgers...

as a kid, before it dawned on the people of the uk to use chilli, garlic, spices and actual flavour in food, my mum would make scottish staple mince 'n' tatties on a weekly basis. i absolutely hated it with a passion! mashed potatoes with over cooked mince... and carrots if you were lucky. no flavouring apart from salt... it was like baby or OAP food. i'd have to mash it all up together and force it down as quick as i could so i could get the fuck out of there before it got cold and 100 times more repugnant. very nearly put me off mince for good.

*minces out of thread*

but you can cover anything up with mash, I always think those people in schindlers list eating their jewelry in bits of bread should have whipped up some creamy mash to help those earings down

i hated mash as a nipper and it hated me back... i felt like it was trying to asphixiate me.

asphyxiate

Mostly have it with pasta dishes, my mum makes this mad good lasagne with the stuff.

  On 11/18/2009 at 9:00 PM, Joyrex said:

(some would argue that it's cottage pie since it uses just beef instead of the more traditional lamb)

There's no argument there. Shepherd's pie is made with lamb, cottage with beef.

Joyrex, have you ever visited the UK, I'm curious?

is there a difference between ground beef and mince?

  On 11/19/2009 at 12:36 AM, idrn said:

is there a difference between ground beef and mince?

No.

To answer Joyrex's question, mince is very much a staple of the British diet. In fact I would hazard a guess and say that it is quite likely to be the biggest selling meat product after bacon and sausages.

  On 11/19/2009 at 12:58 AM, kakapo said:

  On 11/19/2009 at 12:36 AM, idrn said:

is there a difference between ground beef and mince?

 

No.

 

To answer Joyrex's question, SPAG BOL

  On 11/19/2009 at 12:36 AM, idrn said:

is there a difference between ground beef and mince?

I assume ground beef is gathered from the ground by local indegenous populations, perhaps in areas of Kansas and Nantucket and Sasketchewan where the soil is particularly rich in red meat

  On 11/19/2009 at 1:03 AM, idrn said:

  On 11/19/2009 at 12:58 AM, kakapo said:

  On 11/19/2009 at 12:36 AM, idrn said:

is there a difference between ground beef and mince?

 

No.

 

To answer Joyrex's question, SPAG BOL

ffs idrn, this is 2009, even the working classes are making their own koftas with raisins and saffron and cumin. Has Jamie taught us nothing?

fucky gosh! are you quite serious? this oliver man must be stopped! it starts with a sundried tomatoes, ends with a sacrificial pyre outside sainsburys.

I never buy ground or "minced" beef ever anymore. Not after reading about the ground beef industry here

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html

They clean the fat with ammonia.

The beef could come from several places and they often don't buy from slaughter houses that get tested for disease. Since it would open the possibility for gov recalls costing millions. Its the one meat they can put the shittiest shit in and get away with it. Its just gross.

Now I just buy some nice Chuck or sirloin and cut off the fat, cube it and grind it in my cuisinart.

  On 11/19/2009 at 2:20 AM, marf said:

I never buy ground or "minced" beef ever anymore. Not after reading about the ground beef industry here

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html

 

They clean the fat with ammonia.

The beef could come from several places and they often don't buy from slaughter houses that get tested for disease. Since it would open the possibility for gov recalls costing millions. Its the one meat they can put the shittiest shit in and get away with it. Its just gross.

 

Now I just buy some nice Chuck or sirloin and cut off the fat, cube it and grind it in my cuisinart.

heh .. the US meat industry .. fun fun fun ...

Also do you guys have easy access to plenty of butchers shops in the US ? Buy your mince there if you're worried. It's useful in so many dishes.

I guess there are butchers and of course "free range" cattle farms. Ones near me. but Im too lazy and broke, so I just go to the local supermarket like most people. I guess wholefoods has a very nice meats section. Im not into having meat ground up at the supermarket though. Still too scummy for me.

  On 11/19/2009 at 2:29 AM, delet... said:

  On 11/19/2009 at 2:20 AM, marf said:

I never buy ground or "minced" beef ever anymore. Not after reading about the ground beef industry here

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html

 

They clean the fat with ammonia.

The beef could come from several places and they often don't buy from slaughter houses that get tested for disease. Since it would open the possibility for gov recalls costing millions. Its the one meat they can put the shittiest shit in and get away with it. Its just gross.

 

Now I just buy some nice Chuck or sirloin and cut off the fat, cube it and grind it in my cuisinart.

 

heh .. the US meat industry .. fun fun fun ...

 

Also do you guys have easy access to plenty of butchers shops in the US ? Buy your mince there if you're worried. It's useful in so many dishes.

yeah go to a butcher, select your piece of meat and ask him to mince it.

Bah, whatever doesn't kill you just makes you stronger !

  On 11/18/2009 at 11:38 PM, kakapo said:

  On 11/18/2009 at 9:00 PM, Joyrex said:

(some would argue that it's cottage pie since it uses just beef instead of the more traditional lamb)

 

There's no argument there. Shepherd's pie is made with lamb, cottage with beef.

 

Joyrex, have you ever visited the UK, I'm curious?

Nope, never. Hope to some day, though. Grew up watching Canadian and British television on PBS in the States (70's) if you're wondering where my affinity for Europe comes from.

  On 11/19/2009 at 12:58 AM, kakapo said:

  On 11/19/2009 at 12:36 AM, idrn said:

is there a difference between ground beef and mince?

 

No.

 

To answer Joyrex's question, mince is very much a staple of the British diet. In fact I would hazard a guess and say that it is quite likely to be the biggest selling meat product after bacon and sausages.

Then it's pretty much like here in the States, then.

  On 11/19/2009 at 1:20 AM, kakapo said:

  On 11/19/2009 at 1:03 AM, idrn said:

  On 11/19/2009 at 12:58 AM, kakapo said:

  On 11/19/2009 at 12:36 AM, idrn said:

is there a difference between ground beef and mince?

 

No.

 

To answer Joyrex's question, SPAG BOL

 

ffs idrn, this is 2009, even the working classes are making their own koftas with raisins and saffron and cumin. Has Jamie taught us nothing?

Fucking LOL. I used to watch Oliver, but ever since he climbed up into his own arse, never to be seen again, I don't bother.

  On 11/19/2009 at 12:48 PM, xxx said:

  On 11/19/2009 at 12:38 PM, mcbpete said:

Bah, whatever doesn't kill you just makes you stronger !

 

Definitely true. But this guy:

E. Coli o157 H7 is really, really good at picking you off. He destroys red blood cells in your kidneys and other organs. It's even called "Hamburger Disease" now (Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome). Yikes!

That's why you always cook beef to the prescribed optimal temperatures to ensure all bacteria are eliminated.

You can pick up 0157 H7 from lettuce anyway so whatever. It mostly just makes you shit blood for a few days anyway, the kidney haemolysis thing is uncommon.

  On 11/19/2009 at 5:32 PM, Joyrex said:

That's why you always cook beef to the prescribed optimal temperatures to ensure all bacteria are eliminated.

this never gets old for me... i read your posts then glance over to see your av, then lol heartily.

can you get E. Coli eating a girls asshole out?

yes you can.

  On 11/20/2009 at 1:31 PM, keltoi said:

yes you can.

say it ain't so!