Ground meat

Ground meat (can be called mince or sometimes minced meat outside North America) is meat finely chopped by a meat grinder or a chopping knife.

A common type of ground meat is ground beef, but many other meats are prepared ground in a similar fashion, including pork, lamb, and poultry. In South Asia, both lamb (mutton) and goat meat are also minced to produce keema, though the process of mincing is manual.

Food safety

Ground meat has food safety concerns not associated with whole cuts of meat. If undercooked, it can lead to sickness and food poisoning. In a whole cut from an animal, the interior of the meat is essentially sterile, even before cooking; any bacterial contamination is on the outer surface of the meat. When meat is ground, bacterial contamination from the surface can be distributed throughout the meat. If ground beef is not well cooked all the way through, there is a significant chance that enough pathogenic bacteria will survive to cause illness, moreover the warming will speed the reproduction of bacteria. Undercooked Jack in the Box hamburgers contaminated in this manner were responsible for four deaths and the illness of hundreds of people in 1993.

Ground beef

Ground beef, beef mince, minced beef, minced meat, or hamburger (in the United States) is a ground meat made of beef that has been finely chopped with a large knife or a meat grinder. It is used in many recipes including hamburgers and cottage pie. In some parts of the world, meat grinders are called mincers.

Contents

In many countries, food laws define specific categories of ground beef and what they can contain. For example, in the United States, beef fat may be added to hamburger but not to ground beef if the meat is ground and packaged at a USDA-inspected plant. In the U.S., a maximum of 30% fat by weight is allowed in either hamburger or ground beef. The allowable amount in France is 5 to 20% (15% being used by most food chains). In Germany, regular ground beef may contain up to 15% fat while the special "Tatar" for steak tartare may contain less than 5% fat. Both hamburger and ground beef can have added seasoning, phosphate, extenders, or binders added; but no additional water is permitted. Ground beef is often marketed in a range of different fat contents to match the preferences of customers.

Ground

Ground may refer to: