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up vote 15 down vote favorite

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?

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What are you crazy Aussies doing now? Calling perfectly good ground beef, "minced beef"? Sheesh... ;) – Daniel Bingham Jul 20 '10 at 1:29
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We also eat Vegemite. If you've never had it, you're either missing out, or you've avoided the most vile substance on earth. I like it, but it's a polarising spread. – Mark Henderson Jul 21 '10 at 0:54

5 Answers

up vote 19 down vote accepted

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

Ground Beef

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That looks so good. – hobodave Jul 23 '10 at 20:08
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+1 for picture. – Ben McCormack Jul 23 '10 at 21:23
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That looks exactly like Mince beef. Thanks. – Mark Henderson Aug 11 '10 at 0:18
up vote 3 down vote

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.

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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 8 '12 at 14:22
up vote 2 down vote

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.

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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
up vote 6 down vote

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.

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up vote 16 down vote

Yes, it is the same as minced beef.

American versus English english.

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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 1:23
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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 1:24
@Farseeker : cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/784/… – Joe Jul 20 '10 at 1:40
And to add an American regionalism, my mother-in-law (from NYC) calls the same stuff chopped (or chop) meat. – Martha F. Aug 9 '12 at 1:47

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