Beware of tesco turkey mince, 9.9% fat.

rubadub

Just spotted turkey mince in tesco, it was cheap, only something like 4.40 per kilo in 500g packs, but it was 9.9% fat which is unusually high. They used to have turkey thigh mince which was much lower. They also have a few new "value" range turkey breasts and "breast steaks", about €7.50 per kilo and ~2% fat.

9.9% is not crazy high as most minced meat is higher, but many would wrongly presume it is 2-3% fat without checking.

g'em

When they say minced "meat"... what "meat" is usually used does anyone know??


I really hope I don't regret asking that

rubadub

g'em wrote: »

When they say minced "meat"... what "meat" is usually used does anyone know??

it is beef, or so they claim , but the cheapo mince is about 28% fat, so it not as cheap for what is actually going to end up on the plate, and getting rid of all that fat is a pain. I know a guy who used to be a work in a butchers and told me they used to put pork mince in with beef and red dye to make it all appear like beef mince.


I am still awaiting my new toy, at least I will be able to see what goes in.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18681


I will get round or rib steak and trim off the bit bits of fat, then mince the rest. Now you can stick the leftover fat in the pan (I use a saucepan to stop spattering), not this will cook and release just enough fat to fry in. It also cooks the fat so I hope it should not be stinking so soon as if you put raw fat/meat in the bin.

eclectichoney

Tesco do a healthy living mince (beef) at around 4% fat I think, and it is normally €6.88 for 500g but at the moment (in Dun laoghaire anyway) it has a price of €3.65 on it which is good value I think. Very little fat does actually come out of it when cooking and there is very little fat visible in it raw, so I am inclined to believe them (for once )

rubadub

eclectichoney wrote: »

Tesco do a healthy living mince (beef) at around 4% fat I think, and it is normally €6.88 for 500g but at the moment (in Dun laoghaire anyway) it has a price of €3.65 on it which is good value I think.

That is cheap alright. I expect it is not round steak unless specifically stated. At €6.88/500g it is dearer than round steak. And rib steak is about €6.50 per kilo, if you look at all the packets you can pick ones with little fat or at least a string of solid fat which is easily cut off. They often have huge round steaks at the counter on offer, but I am rarely home in time as the counter closes around 6pm.

Also tesco do these cheap "quick fry" steaks, again no mention of cut but they are very lean. I sometimes get them and use a scissors or butchers knife and cut it up into really small bits.

I think dunnes have at least 2 grades of lean mince, 90% and 95% or something like that.

HashSlinging

I usually cook the mince and strain off any fat and also clean the meat with a kitchen paper towel. I'm sure this helps..

eclectichoney

Yeah I think the 3.65 might have been a mistake tbh! They weren't making a big thing out of it, as I am sure they would!

Glad to know I am not the only person who trims the fat off their meat before the cook it though

rubadub

HashSlinging wrote: »

I usually cook the mince and strain off any fat and also clean the meat with a kitchen paper towel. I'm sure this helps..

It does indeed, some call it blotting.

I just microwaved some miced beef there, first time I ever did it, thought of it always seemed wrong to me. I googled it and the trick is to keep stirring it every minute or so. I only did about 1/3lb in a pyrex bowl. It does not look great since it is not browned, but it was a lot cleaner than frying, I just blotted all the fat out at the end, seems lots of juice/water came out too, like the watered down chickens. I was mixing it with mustard & onions to stick in a pitta so looks did not matter much.

Money Shot

rubadub wrote: »

it is beef, or so they claim , but the cheapo mince is about 28% fat, so it not as cheap for what is actually going to end up on the plate, and getting rid of all that fat is a pain. I know a guy who used to be a work in a butchers and told me they used to put pork mince in with beef and red dye to make it all appear like beef mince.


I am still awaiting my new toy, at least I will be able to see what goes in.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18681


I will get round or rib steak and trim off the bit bits of fat, then mince the rest. Now you can stick the leftover fat in the pan (I use a saucepan to stop spattering), not this will cook and release just enough fat to fry in. It also cooks the fat so I hope it should not be stinking so soon as if you put raw fat/meat in the bin.

I've been looking for a decent mincer for a while now - let me know if this is the business.
Also, if you find it easy or difficult to clean ?

thanks:D

rubadub

Money Shot wrote: »

I've been looking for a decent mincer for a while now - let me know if this is the business.

I forgot about it and checked and it is not in stock :mad:
That site continues to list stuff and I think they do not put in an order unless they can get them in a min order quantity.

I was thinking of getting a better one

like here
http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/mincers.html

dunno what postage would be.

Nisbets have one too
http://www.nisbets.ie/products/ProductDetail.asp?SiteType=&productCode=J436
probably decent as they sell to the catering trade.