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Mince Meat

A preserved meat mixture of beef, suet, dried fruit, spices, cider, and apples, boiled and packed into jars.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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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

Prepare the beef

  1. Boil the beef until tender, then chop it finely.

Make the mincemeat

  1. Combine the chopped beef, suet, raisins, currants, citron, sugar, lemon juice and rinds, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, mace, cider, and salt in a large pot.

  2. Add the apples, using 2 quarts for every quart of meat.

  3. Boil the mixture slowly for nearly 2 hours.

Store

  1. Pack the mixture tightly into a jar and store it in a cold place.

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. 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. Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 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. Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

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

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 and bulk that gives mincemeat its characteristic texture.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the mixture moist and rich as it cooks and stores.
Raisins
Contribute sweetness and chewy texture while absorbing spiced cider flavour.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the mixture during long storage.
Cider
Provides acidity and fruity liquid that moistens and blends the spices.
Apples
Add moisture, tartness and body to the filling as they cook down.

The step that matters

Boil the mixture slowly. Slow simmering for nearly 2 hours lets the fruit, spices and meat blend and thicken while the sugar and cider concentrate, helping the mixture keep. Vigorous boiling can scorch the sugar and dry the filling.

Swap the currant

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, raisin, sugar, lemon, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove. 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.

More mince meat recipes

Pie Filling 11Pie 10with Apples 9Preserved 8Apple 7Mock 7 See all 183 →

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