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Mince-meat

A preserved beef mixture with suet, dried fruit, spices, and molasses, packed in jars for long-term storage.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 19 ingredients
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Mince-meat

Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Mince-meat

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the beef

  1. Boil the beef in enough water to cover it, skimming off the scum as it rises.

  2. Add hot water as needed until the beef is tender.

  3. Remove the lid, add salt, and boil until almost dry, turning the meat occasionally.

  4. Let the meat cool overnight, then pick out bones, gristle, and stringy bits.

  5. Chop the meat very fine and mince the beef suet.

Make the mincemeat

  1. In a large pan, combine the chopped meat, suet, raisins, currants, citron, apples, spices, lemon juice and rind, salt, pepper, and sugar.

  2. In a porcelain kettle, combine the boiled cider (or juice), molasses, and butter; bring to a boil.

  3. Pour the boiling mixture over the ingredients in the pan and mix thoroughly.

Jar and store

  1. Pack the mixture into jars, pour a layer of molasses over the top, and cover tightly.

  2. Store in a cool place; it will keep for two months.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Scraggy beef
Provides the meaty body of the mincemeat, which is cooked until tender and then finely chopped.
Beef suet
Adds richness and a silky, moist texture as it melts into the mixture.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy moisture throughout the filling.
Tart cooking apples
Contribute acidity and moisture that balance the sweetness of the sugar and molasses.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, dark color, and a deep, rich flavor.
Sugar
Sweetens the mixture and helps preserve it.

The step that matters

Boil the beef until almost dry. Cooking off most of the liquid concentrates the meat's flavor and prevents excess moisture from diluting the filling and encouraging spoilage in the jars.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, raisin, apple, cinnamon, clove, ginger, nutmeg):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Orangefits better
  3. Quincefits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, raisin, apple, cinnamon, clove, ginger, 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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