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Mince-meat

A spiced minced beef mixture with suet, dried fruit, citrus, and spices, simmered in a molasses and cider sauce and packed in jars.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 18 ingredients
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Mince-meat

Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. 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 and add salt.

  4. Boil until almost dry, turning the meat occasionally.

  5. Let the meat cool overnight.

  6. Remove bones, gristle, and stringy bits.

  7. Chop the meat finely.

  8. Mince the beef suet.

Mix the filling

  1. In a large pan, combine the chopped meat, suet, raisins, currants, citron, and apples.

  2. Add cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmegs, lemon juice, lemon rinds, salt, and pepper, and mix well.

  3. In a porcelain kettle, combine boiled cider (or juice), molasses (or syrup), and butter, and bring to a boil.

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

Jar and store

  1. Pack the mixture into jars.

  2. Cover with molasses to a thickness of ⅛ inch.

  3. Seal tightly.

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

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  5. Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,598 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef
Provides the meaty body of the filling, becoming tender through long simmering.
Beef suet
Adds richness and moisture, carrying flavour through the mincemeat.
Raisins
Add sweetness and chewy texture that soften during the long mixing.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, dark colour and a deep, rich flavour.
Tart cooking apples
Contribute moisture and acidity that balance the sweetness of the fruit and molasses.
Boiled cider
Adds concentrated fruit flavour and acidity to the liquid base.

The step that matters

Boil the beef until almost dry. Cooking off the water concentrates the meat's flavour and keeps the filling from becoming soggy. Stopping too early leaves excess moisture that can spoil the mincemeat in storage.

Swap the currant

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

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

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