Who grinds their own mince?

[UTH]

I've got a stand mixer so pondering grinding my own mince - this would mainly be for smash burgers, but the odd lasagne/bolognese as well

Is it worth doing or overkill with little benefit over buying mince from supermarket/butcher?

[fat80b]

What is the problem that you are trying to solve?

If you want a specific cut minced, then any decent butcher would just do this on request no?

[BlackTails]

I’ve done it for venison, only because the butcher didn’t have it pre minced. There’s no real advantage I can think of over buying pre minced.

[UTH]

fat80b said:

What is the problem that you are trying to solve?

If you want a specific cut minced, then any decent butcher would just do this on request no?

Not really a problem, I just like cooking from scratch, making own pizza dough etc etc, so figured that grinding my own mince would be another step in the direction of being a better chef?

[sherman]

Mince is ok to do but sausages are much more fun to experiment with.
Make flavours you would never get normally.

[normalbloke]

What’s the difference between a smash burger and a home made burger?

[E34-3.2]

BlackTails said:

I ve done it for venison, only because the butcher didn t have it pre minced. There s no real advantage I can think of over buying pre minced.

The reason why good restaurants or home chefs do it is for quality control and fat content.

[AndyTR]

Yep, I do for burgers (50/50 mix of skirt and brisket, aiming for a fat content of 10%) and sausages, so offcuts of pork shoulder, belly etc. Depending on the sausage depends on the fat content. I've a really good local butcher, but like doing my own mince. Also do a very course beef mince for chilli and pork & beef for ragu.

[Mobile Chicane]

AndyTR said:

Yep, I do for burgers (50/50 mix of skirt and brisket, aiming for a fat content of 10%) and sausages, so offcuts of pork shoulder, belly etc. Depending on the sausage depends on the fat content. I've a really good local butcher, but like doing my own mince. Also do a very course beef mince for chilli and pork & beef for ragu.

A chef friend of mine swears by minced brisket, 'lubed' with a bit of duck fat for burgers.

[CloudStuff]

This thread is as suggestive as Point Break.

[BIRMA]

I bought a heavy duty grinder several years ago to make my own burgers, I wait until Morrisons do an offer on rump steak and buy a fair few pieces mostly the very fatty ones people don't buy, I also buy some brisket and marrow bones and generally mix half and half and just add the marrow bone I do what is called a double mince so after the first mince I do it again. I do a large scale mince up and freeze them, not the cheapest way but they sure taste good.

Edited by BIRMA on Saturday 10th October 10:04

Edited by BIRMA on Saturday 10th October 10:08

[hidetheelephants]

normalbloke said:

What s the difference between a smash burger and a home made burger?

The smash burger will get more likes when posted on social media. They are essentially the same thing.

CloudStuff said:

This thread is as suggestive as Point Break.

Are you a mincer?

[AndyTR]

normalbloke said:

What s the difference between a smash burger and a home made burger?

Burger is shaped then cooked
Smash burger is shaped into a ball, then pressed down onto the griddle, hence smashed


Burger


Double smash burger

[Venisonpie]

A smash burger is a fantastic marketing ploy to pretend there's something new in giving you less. By rolling less mixture into a ball it's easy to flatten it down rather than shape leading to a thin patty that cooks quickly - kerching.

[AndyTR]

Venisonpie said:

A smash burger is a fantastic marketing ploy to pretend there's something new in giving you less. By rolling less mixture into a ball it's easy to flatten it down rather than shape leading to a thin patty that cooks quickly - kerching.

They're two completely different grinds/mixes for the patty. Smash burger cooks hot and fast, great maillard reaction and hence flavour. Patty is finer ground than a large patty. I do both at home and prefer a smash burger to a normal burger. I rarely order burgers when I'm out as I can't stand it when they put fillers and flavouring into patties. 125g burger vs 2 x 80g smash burgers, so more meat as well.

[Venisonpie]

AndyTR said:

They're two completely different grinds/mixes for the patty. Smash burger cooks hot and fast, great maillard reaction and hence flavour. Patty is finer ground than a large patty. I do both at home and prefer a smash burger to a normal burger. I rarely order burgers when I'm out as I can't stand it when they put fillers and flavouring into patties. 125g burger vs 2 x 80g smash burgers, so more meat as well.

I get the cooking part which gives a flavour if that's your thing. It's one dimensional (can only be well done as it's so thin) and is smaller as you say but the price isn't reflected in the offer.

If you've got a burger joint that sells you more meat in 2 smash burgers than 1 traditional pattie and you prefer the taste then you're winning. I've yet to see it.

[dickymint]

AndyTR said:

Venisonpie said:

A smash burger is a fantastic marketing ploy to pretend there's something new in giving you less. By rolling less mixture into a ball it's easy to flatten it down rather than shape leading to a thin patty that cooks quickly - kerching.

They're two completely different grinds/mixes for the patty. Smash burger cooks hot and fast, great maillard reaction and hence flavour. Patty is finer ground than a large patty. I do both at home and prefer a smash burger to a normal burger. I rarely order burgers when I'm out as I can't stand it when they put fillers and flavouring into patties. 125g burger vs 2 x 80g smash burgers, so more meat as well.

Plus smash burgers need more fat (15-20%) because they are thinner and this keeps them juicy and also as mentioned the Maillard reaction. Most supermarket mince are far leaner in the quest to appear cheaper. Also never use fillers such as breadcrumbs in a smash burger as they wont 'smash' properly and spring back and expand whilst cooking.

I made faggots this week and my butcher was quite happy to coarsely mince some really fatty Pork belly Pork liver and lambs kidney

(sadly he didn't have a Pork heart in stock) all at once...............






OP we've tried mincing meat with a food processes and a Kenwood with their circular cutters and at best ended up with a load of mush. We'll be buying a proper attatchment for the Kenwood soon as our old hand cranked mixer has seized up with rust