Frozen mince - am i missing something?

[Thierryhenryneedisaymore]

First time post and not a particularly riveting one but something is bugging me. I have recently bought frozen mince (cook from frozen) to try as i thought my usual fresh mince was a bit too big and chunky (i always buy 5%fat).

Anyway, have made chilli and bolognese and i am converted - it is nicer, plus its cheaper.

A friend of mine couldn'd hide her disgust, like i said i had used sawdust or dog food as a substitute in my bolognese.

Food snob or what?

I nearly bought some the other day but chickened out... would happily use it if it tastes the same. Maybe I'll try it...

Last time I tried it it was really fatty & horrible-was quite some time ago though so maybe it's improved.

It looks gross so I have never tried it plus DH isn't a fan of fresh mince that has been frozen so would likely complain it wasn't "fresh".

The only time I tried it, it was full of gristle. Same with the frozen lamb chunks.

I’m thinking of subbing frozen Quorn mince for beef mince in meals like spag bol, chilli etc. But I think DH might kick off!

I'd love to know the brand because I've never found a nice frozen mince. I usually buy fresh then freeze leftovers.

I'd like to know the brand too pleaae as I've always found it goes really mushy.

I have been using it for ages as got fed up of throwing out fresh that had gone off/ not remembering to get it out of the freezer. It tastes fine. Never had any gristle or found it overly fatty.

I cant find 5% fat frozen mince so use frozen quorn mince instead. Its slightly different texture but i still like it.

This one is 'the butcher's market' from iceland. First time i have used iceland for a long time and i thought their stuff looked better than i remembered so i thought i would give it a go.
This definitely wasn't grisly.
My annoyance was around the fact that she just looked horrified.
This same person only ever buys brands, throws out a mountain of decent food every week thinking it is wasted (generally it isn't).
And is always claiming to be skint!
I will try most things and it was a hit.

Lookingforthecorkscrew
I often add a bit of quorn mince to bolognese and DH never notices. Well, once he did but i think i added a bit too much that time lol. About a quarter or a third at most and he doesn't notice

In my experience it was mushy and a bit odd tasting but it certainly is convenient and cheap.

I had it once at my mil it was terrible like worms really yucky but I'm really really fussy with mince only like steak mince from butcher I use. It's a texture thing for me but its nothing to do with your friend if you like and use it she doesn't have to.

It (probably) won’t be British beef so unknown welfare standards. I’ve also been tempted by frozen mince but this puts me off.

I've been looking at frozen mince recently but Waitrose. Seems to get good reviews online. Will give it a go I think.

Frozen quorn mince makes a gorgeous cottage pie,very low fat and nobody knows it's not meat

I bought the Iceland one not long ago and made mince dinner. Both me and DP agreed it was ok but not fab on its own but would be nice with lots of other flavours like in spaghetti bolognese

Aldi do a frozen Angus beef mince. Any excess fat can be drained off, as with fresh mince. Seems fine to me.

I am also very fussy about mince and only buy steak mince. I'd rather eat less and bulk it out with veg. But that's just me!

I generally find frozen mince a bit too ground up and less 'meaty'. I usually use fresh mince I've frozen and mix in soya mince for health and price reasons.

Ive had the same reaction, I think it's just a throw back to when it was sawdust and fat.

I only buy steak mince, so now fat and much cheaper, no waste

I tried the Iceland frozen mince too, and was surprised to find it fine. I think the key is the 5% fat mince as some can have a higher fat content. I didn't consider the imported meat angle though. I do normally make sure I get meat from the UK because of the welfare standards.

Steak frozen mince I mean

I tried Tesco 5% frozen mince and didn't like it, I didn't like the texture and found it quite flavourless. I usually use Aldi 5% fresh mince.

We haven't bought real beef mince in over a year now...we use Quorn mince as it's easy and we like the taste. Even our 7yo dd likes it better. We're not vegetarians but see no need to buy anything else.