Ground beef
Encyclopedia
Hamburger
A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...
meat (in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
), hamburg (in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
) or minced meat (elsewhere) is a minced meat
Ground meat
Ground meat is meat finely chopped by a meat grinder or a chopping knife. It is called minced meat or more usually mince outside North America....
food, made of beef
Beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...
finely chopped by a mincer. It is used in many recipes including hamburger
Hamburger
A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...
s and cottage pie
Cottage pie
Cottage pie or shepherd's pie is a meat pie with a crust of mashed potato.The term cottage pie is known to have been in use in 1791, when the potato was being introduced as an edible crop affordable for the poor Cottage pie or shepherd's pie is a meat pie with a crust of mashed potato.The term...
. In some parts of the world a mincer is sometimes called a meat grinder, although the device works by a process of fine chopping (mincing) and not grinding.
Contents
In many countries, food laws define specific categories of beef mince and what they can contain. For example, in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, beef fat may be added to hamburger, but not to ground beef if the meat is ground and packaged at a USDA
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
-inspected plant. A maximum of 30% fat by weight is allowed in either hamburger or ground beef. Both hamburger and ground beef can have seasonings, but no water, phosphate
Phosphate
A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...
s, extenders, or binders added. Ground beef is often marketed in a range of different fat contents, to match the preferences of different customers.
Beef mince is usually made from leaner, tougher and less desirable beef created when the sides of beef are carved into steaks and roasts. About 17-18% of US ground beef comes from dairy cows.
In a study in the USA in 2008, eight different brands of fast food hamburgers were evaluated for water content by weight and recognizable tissue types using morphological
Morphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....
techniques that are commonly used in the evaluation of tissue's histological condition. The study found that the content of the hamburgers included:
- Water content 37.7% to 62.4% (mean, 49%)
- Meat content 2.1% to 14.8% (median, 12.1%)
- Skeletal tissue
- Connective tissue
- Blood vessels
- Peripheral nerve tissue
- Plant material
- Adipose tissue
- Bone and Cartilage ("Bone and cartilage, observed in some brands, were not expected; their presence may be related to the use of mechanical separation in the processing of the meat from the animal. Small amounts of bone and cartilage may have been detached during the separation process")
Recent meat processing methods employed companies such as Beef Products Inc., have led to the inclusion of "pinkish slime" (a trimmings meat product that has been separated using a centrifuge and treated with ammonia to remove salmonella
Salmonella
Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria with diameters around 0.7 to 1.5 µm, lengths from 2 to 5 µm, and flagella which grade in all directions . They are chemoorganotrophs, obtaining their energy from oxidation and reduction...
and other pathogens) in a wide variety of ground beef products in the USA. This product has been included in US meat products since 2001.
Cuts of beef
Although any cut of beef may be used, chuck steakChuck steak
Chuck steak is a cut of beef and is part of the subprimal cut known as the chuck. The typical chuck steak is a rectangular cut, about 1" thick and containing parts of the shoulder bones, and is often known as a "7-bone steak"...
is one of the most popular choices (because of its richness of flavor and balance of meat and fat). Round steak
Round steak
A round steak is a steak from the round primal cut of beef. Specifically, a round steak is the eye round, bottom round, and top round still connected, with or without the "round" bone , and may include the knuckle , depending on how the round is separated from the loin. This is a lean cut and it...
is also frequently used.
Ground beef is usually subdivided based on the cut and fat percentage:
- Chuck: 78-84% lean
- Round: 85-89% lean
- Sirloin: 90-95% lean
Culinary use
Ground beef is popular as a relatively cheap and quick-cooking form of beef. Some of its most well known uses are in hamburgerHamburger
A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...
s, sausage
Sausage
A sausage is a food usually made from ground meat , mixed with salt, herbs, and other spices, although vegetarian sausages are available. The word sausage is derived from Old French saussiche, from the Latin word salsus, meaning salted.Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made...
s or cottage pie
Cottage pie
Cottage pie or shepherd's pie is a meat pie with a crust of mashed potato.The term cottage pie is known to have been in use in 1791, when the potato was being introduced as an edible crop affordable for the poor Cottage pie or shepherd's pie is a meat pie with a crust of mashed potato.The term...
in Britain. It is an important ingredient in meatloaf
Meatloaf
Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat formed into a loaf shape and baked or smoked. The loaf shape is formed by either cooking it in a loaf pan, or forming it by hand on a flat baking pan...
, sloppy joe
Sloppy joe
A sloppy joe is an American dish of ground beef, onions, sweetened tomato sauce or ketchup and other seasonings, served on a hamburger bun. Commercially made sauces are also available. Textured vegetable protein may be used as a vegetarian substitute for the meat...
s, taco
Taco
A taco is a traditional Mexican dish composed of a corn or wheat tortilla folded or rolled around a filling. A taco can be made with a variety of fillings, including beef, chicken, seafood, vegetables and cheese, allowing for great versatility and variety...
, and Midwestern cuisine. Italians use it to make meat sauces, for example, lasagna
Lasagna
Lasagna is a wide and flat type of pasta and possibly one of the oldest shapes. As with most other pasta shapes, the word is generally used in its plural form lasagne in Italy and the U.K. Traditionally, the dough was prepared in Southern Italy with semolina and water and in the northern regions,...
and spaghetti bolognese. In the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, it is used to make spicy kofta
Kofta
Kofta is a Middle Eastern and South Asian meatball or meatloaf.In the simplest form, koftas consist of balls of minced or ground meat—usually beef or lamb—mixed with spices and/or onions...
and meatball
Meatball
A meatball is made from an amount of ground meat rolled into a small ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as breadcrumbs, minced onion, spices, and possibly eggs...
s. The Scottish dish mince and tatties
Mince and tatties
Mince and tatties is a popular Scottish dish, consisting of minced beef and mashed potato.-Preparation:Traditionally, the meat came from cheaper cuts of beef, such as chuck and blade or neck and clod, as opposed to the finer cuts used for steaks or roasting joints...
uses it along with mashed or boiled potatoes. In Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, particularly Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
, minced meat is a common filling for rag puddings
Rag Pudding
Rag Pudding is an old fashioned savoury dish originated in Oldham, and popular throughout North West England. A traditional Rag Pudding broadly consists of minced meat and onions wrapped in a suet pastry which is then boiled or steamed ....
. The Dutch slavink
Slavink
Slavink is a Dutch meat dish consisting usually of ground meat called "half and half" wrapped in bacon , and cooked in butter or vegetable oil for about 15 minutes. A variation of the dish called blinde vink is made by wrapping ground veal in a thin veal cutlet...
consists of ground beef (half beef, half pork) rolled in bacon.
Raw lean ground beef is used to make steak tartare
Steak tartare
Steak tartare is a meat dish made from finely chopped or minced raw beef. Tartare can also be made by thinly slicing a high grade of meat such as strip steak, marinating it in wine or other spirits, spicing it to taste, and then chilling it...
, a French dish. More finely diced and differently seasoned, it is popular as a main course and as a dressing in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, where it is known as filet américain ("American fillet").
Picadillo
Picadillo
Picadillo is a traditional dish in many Latin American countries and the Philippines that is similar to hash...
is a Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
term for ground beef, and is a common ingredient in several Latin American cuisines. Picadillo with chili pepper
Chili pepper
Chili pepper is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The term in British English and in Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaysia and other Asian countries is just chilli without pepper.Chili peppers originated in the Americas...
and finely diced onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
and potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
is a common filling for tacos and gorditas in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
Food safety
Food safety of ground meat issues are due to possible bacterial contamination. Undercooked Jack in the Box hamburgers contaminated with E. coli O157:H7Escherichia coli O157:H7
Escherichia coli O157:H7 is an enterohemorrhagic strain of the bacterium Escherichia coli and a cause of foodborne illness. Infection often leads to hemorrhagic diarrhea, and occasionally to kidney failure, especially in young children and elderly persons...
were responsible for four deaths and the illness of hundreds of people in 1993. Minced beef must be cooked to 72 °C (160 °F) to ensure that all bacterial contamination, whether it be endogenous to the product or contaminated after purchasing by the consumer, is killed. Cooked color does not always indicate the beef has reached the required temperature, as beef can brown before reaching 68 °C (155 °F). Thus, a thermometer
Thermometer
Developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, a thermometer is a device that measures temperature or temperature gradient using a variety of different principles. A thermometer has two important elements: the temperature sensor Developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, a thermometer (from the...
should be used to verify the required temperature has been reached. Contrarily, beef exposed to nitric oxides from open flames (wood, charcoal, propane, etc.) during grilling can remain pink after reaching temperature. The color usually is limited to the surface, so can be distinguished from undercooked meat.
External links
- Ground Beef Safety at About.com
- Ground Beef Nutrition Information from USDA SR 22 database