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Mince Meat

A mixture of minced beef, suet, apples, raisins, currants, citron, molasses, citrus juices, spices, cider, and vinegar, boiled and jarred.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 18 ingredients
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Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop the meat and suet finely and shred the citron.

  2. Mix all the dry ingredients together.

Cook

  1. Add the liquids (except the sherry and brandy) and mix well.

  2. Bring the mixture slowly to a boil and boil for five minutes.

  3. Remove from heat and add sherry and brandy if using.

Seal

  1. Seal in jars.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,634 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).

  4. Apple + orangetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,230 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Orange + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,746 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Suet
Adds richness and fat that keeps the mincemeat moist and tender.
Molasses
Adds dark sweetness and a deep flavour to the mixture.
Raisins
Add sweetness and chewy body from the dried fruit.
Lean boiled beef
Provides the meaty base and bulk of the mincemeat.
Chopped apples
Add moisture, tartness and bulk to the mixture.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps preserve the mixture.

The step that matters

Bring the mixture slowly to a boil. Heating gently while stirring helps the sugars and fats blend evenly and prevents scorching on the bottom of the pan. Boiling only for the stated time, then sealing, keeps the preserve stable.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, apple, raisin, molasses, orange, lemon, nutmeg):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Cranberryfits better
  3. Limefits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, apple, raisin, molasses, orange, lemon, nutmeg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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