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I keep hearing about Ground Beef, but I'm from Australia and I've never actually seen it before.

Is it the same thing as Minced Beef? Or different? Is Minced beef an acceptible substitute if they're not the same thing?

Iuls
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Mark Henderson
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8 Answers8

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Here's a picture of some raw ground beef from the Wikipedia ground beef article so that you can see for yourself. Basically it is beef that has been run through a meat grinder, great for making taco meat, hamburgers, and the like.

Ground Beef

Community
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Covar
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Yes, it is the same as minced beef.

American versus English english.

Adam Shiemke
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  • Hmm, I think I saw a question about British/Americanisms, I'll try to find it – Mark Henderson Jul 20 '10 at 01:23
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    There will be different grades of ground beef/round/chuck/etc. depending of fat content, but it's the same stuff. – Jeffrey Jul 20 '10 at 01:24
  • @Farseeker : http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/784/translating-cooking-terms-between-us-uk-au-ca – Joe Jul 20 '10 at 01:40
  • And to add an American regionalism, my mother-in-law (from NYC) calls the same stuff chopped (or chop) meat. – Martha F. Aug 09 '12 at 01:47
  • Chopped is not the same, meat particles in minced/ground beef are much smaller than in chopped beef. Chopping can be performed with a chopping knife, and mincing cannot :) – Mischa Arefiev Aug 10 '14 at 15:42
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I've been trying to do a little research on this this, and I know that "ground beef" and "minced beef" are functionally similar, but I'm trying to verify that they're actually the same thing (as "mincing" and "grinding" are different processes.)

As they're produced from a different processes, it's possible that there might be some slight differences between the two (minor variations in texture). And of course, there's coarse grind vs. fine grind, and occassionally you can get a really coarse 'chili grind'. I've never lived in the UK, so I don't know how much variation there is in the size of minced beef. Also, for good quality ground meat, you need to keep the fats very cold so they don't melt; it's possible that that minced meat doesn't have as much friction involved, making this less likely, but I can't be certain that's the case. (can someone from the UK weigh in on this?)

And we can also throw in the term "hamburger meat" which is ground beef with extra fat trimmings, as well as "meatloaf mix" which is typically a blend of either beef and pork, or beef, pork and veal, and "mincemeat" which is a combination of meat, fruit and alcohol.

Joe
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When i've seen ground meat on american cooking programmes,the meat is a lot finer than how UK mince meat ends up after browning in a pan. Mince meat is slightly chunkier.

Ziek
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  • Actually, some American foods are better with chunkier meat - try hamburger patties with hand-cleaved meat for example. But the Americans cook with whatever is available in their supermarkets, which could well be finer than the optimal for their food. – rumtscho Aug 08 '12 at 14:22
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You can also get most specialty meat cutters to grind any cut of meat for you. Most ground beef you buy in the supermarket will be made from lower quality cuts. If you grind a higher quality cut you'll have the most amazing hamburgers ever. I never have time to cook a whole chuck roast so I end up having most of those larger cuts put into the ground beef when I purchase part of a cow.

Now that is a tasty burger.

Will Shaver
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  • Yeah, where I used to live we'd buy a tenderloin cut into filets from the local butcher and they would turn the trimmings into ground beef with it. Best hamburgers, tacos, etc ever. – ManiacZX Jul 23 '10 at 20:41
  • @ManiacZX: Steak tartare is basically ground tenderloin with a raw egg and some spices. Much tastier than you'd think, but not for those who are worried about bacteria. – Satanicpuppy Jul 23 '10 at 21:57
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My hubby it's a chef & he says that ground meat is similar to sausage meat. In other words it is a kind of mince that is less chunky or finely ground. If you massage your mince beef it turns into ground beef. Hope that helps x

Amanda
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When you use the old fashioned mincing machine the Americans call it a grinder ,we call it a mincer ,so it must have been exactly the same in the olden days. Different qualities of mince in England contain different amounts of fat .the best quality hardly any fat!

Gino Mondino
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Just for reference, the official U.S. spec from 7 CFR § 319.15

(a) Chopped beef, ground beef. “Chopped Beef” or “Ground Beef” shall consist of chopped fresh and/or frozen beef with or without seasoning and without the addition of beef fat as such, shall not contain more than 30 percent fat, and shall not contain added water, phosphates, binders, or extenders. When beef cheek meat (trimmed beef cheeks) is used in the preparation of chopped or ground beef, the amount of such cheek meat shall be limited to 25 percent; and if in excess of natural proportions, its presence shall be declared on the label, in the ingredient statement required by §317.2 of this subchapter, if any, and otherwise contiguous to the name of the product.

I was pleased that the spec forbid "added water, phosphates, binders, or extenders" and toying around too much with the fat content.

Compare that to the gruesome Fabricated Steak further down on the page.

Paulb
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