What percentage of fat do I want in my minced beef?

[MrsFogi]

I have always gone for the lowest fat content (so 5%) but suspect that this is to the detriment of my bolognese/lasgagne/cottage pie. What should I be going for wise MN cooks?

Lasagne - not whatever that group of letters was!

No you don't want to go above 5. In my opinion anyway. The taste is very different and not pleasant.

I use lean (5%) for lasagne and bolognese but prefer a fattier mince for cottage pie, meat ball, kofte or burgers. I would use at least 10% fat mince for those.

I wouldn't use anything other than 5%

20%. That's where all the flavour is. Fat is not the enemy.

10%. Because the 5% stuff can be quite soft and pate like, and often needs oil adding to stop it sticking to the pan. 10% has a lovely texture - you can always drain off the excess fat once it has cooked.

I don't use mince in my lasagna - try using salami (as a layer) instead! But for chilli I always use 5%.

Depends what you think tastes best, balanced with your weight and general health and portion size

For something like lasagna, 5% is perfect. For a hamburger, go for the 20%

Depends on what you're using it for; I often use 10% but will pour off the fat once I've fried it off. 5% never quite gives me a rich enough end product.

I go quite high for the flavour. I don't differ for different meals but about 12%?

5% but add bacon or lardons.

Lean, ie 5% or maybe 10% for bolognese / lasagne. Olive oil is a much healthier fat to have in these dishes.

Burgers & meatballs I would use 20% to add succulence & flavour during frying or grilling. Most of the fat will render anyway, but the result will be much better than if you used 5%.

Sainsburys 20% fat mince is the cheapest and tastiest but if its too much just drain it off..

10% has a good flavour, IMO. But I add at least 50% vegetables to lasagne, bolognese etc and so the overall fat content is quite low.

We use 5% for slimming world purposes but I prefer 10%

The less the better for me but I am fussy and from being young refused to eat anything fatty or on a bone (even bacon gets trimmed round the edges lol) Im a nightmare even now I only eat chicken breasts, pork steaks etc I don't even know what started it

10%, but skim most of it off.

For Bolognese, lasagna and chili I use 70-30 beef and pork mince. Butcher mixes it up in the same bag for me.

10% for bolognese but i make it with pork mince added. It gives a richer flavour and seems to get better reviews by everyone. It's common in italy to use a combination.
Beef with all the fat removed takes away a lot of the flavour.

Usually 5% but I can't seem to get that at the moment so I'm using the 12.5% and just draining away the excess fat once the mince is browned. If I make burgers, I use the 12.5%

5%. Then cook the mince in wine for 10 mins after you’ve browned it and add a beef stock cube. Depth of flavour and not greasy - perfect!