General Chat

Does anyone actually like the compressed packs of mince? I bought some a while ago from Sainsbury’s and hated it and am now devastated as our village COOp is now doing the same.
Apart from things like spag Bol I need to make my own burgers and you just can’t break up the mush properly.

I haven't used the compressed packs as yet, but I always work quite hard to get the normal stuff nice and fine! I use a cast iron pan and also add a little milk as it helps break it down. If the meat has a low fat content, it will be harder to do. I always drain off most of the fat after it's browned anyway. Some people suggest a potato masher, or blitzing briefly in a food processor once it's cooked and cooled a bit.

I haven't used the pressed packs of mince yet. So far any I have ordered from Tesco has come in the usual containers.

Hubby does the cooking and he has to separate it as much as he can with his hands so it doesn't cook in clumps, we think it done to make package smaller (save he planet).

They do say it is to cut down packaging, but it doesn’t ‘affect add to the prep time.

I have wondered if it was designed by a certain group to turn us off meat altogether.
Edit: auto correction has been at it again. Of course it INCREASES the prep time. I tried to write doesn’t ‘arf effect.

Yuk the compressed is like baby mush :-P :-P :-P

Food shopping has become even more difficult lately. It is not helped by the gluten free shopping.

There is a Waitrose near me that I do go to for various things ( I forgot the mince) and will sometimes pick up packs of cold meat. Now I am too short and too short sighted to buy any. All the packs are now laid flat. I go to Tescos for various things but don’t think the cold meat is as good. I also go to Sainsbury, but can’t get everything there. The village coop has always been pretty good, until beef mince mush arrived Grr.

Names , do you have an Aldi near you as their reduced fat mince is scrummy :-D

I bought some lamb mince (reduced, obviously :-D), and tried to make a shepherds pie with it.
It didn't break up very easily, despite the hours spent in the slow cooker :-(

I haven’t been to Aldi since covid. It is a bit out of the way with a smallish car park.
Might have to give it a go again, but not the low fat mince for burgers, they need a bit of fat.

Maggie, was the lamb mince in the mushy packs ?

I’d use my old winding mincer again if it still worked - not even sure I’ve kept it. The funnel bit wouldn’t stay on.

The lamb mince was in Sainsbury's compressed pack :-(

:-( :-( :-(

They do full fat mince as well it's just I am fat enough without it ;-) :-D :-D :-D

"I have wondered if it was designed by a certain group to turn us off meat altogether"

LOL Have you tried the co-op vegan range? Branded as meat, tastes like meat and their 'chick'n kievs' are as tough as old birds! 'Fishless Fingers' taste like something dredged from an inlet of rotting fish. YUK!!!
More likely designed to put people off going animal free.
I think you're wondering in the wrong direction there names ;-) :-D

I was about to say never, never - then read a bit more :-D :-D

Maybe there is a group wanting us not to eat anything ;-)

The amount of additives in vegetarian/vegan food is incredible!

I know this thread is a month old but I have just had a delivery from Sainsbury which included mince and for the first time I got one of the compressed packs. The look of it is enough to put anyone off. I hope it cooks up to be better than it looks or I certainly won't be buying it again.

I also wonder how much plastic is really being saved. Prominently at the front of the pack is stated that there is 55% less plastic used but I looked all over the package to find recycling information and eventually found small print at the back of a label which said Don't Recycle Film. But the plastic trays they used to pack mince in could be recycled so where is the saving if all the plastic they are using is going into landfill?

Good luck!

We can’t recycle the plastic trays here, new or old.

Saturday lunch when I was a kid was mince cooked with carrots and onion and bisto gravy with mash

Never been to recreate it to taste the same

Bur we bought our mince fresh from the locak butcher

I have to admit to working out the cost of cleaning - hot water, difficulty fully cleaning etc before I recycle.
I mean, if milk goes off in the plastic bottle, it's no easy job getting milk lumps out of the handle!
You could spend more than the milk cost trying to clean that!

Sometimes, you assume the plastic container is recyclable, but, on looking up what the symbols mean, you find it isn't.

.....and what, exactly, happens to our recycled plastic?

It seems 12% is recycled into pellets, the rest is sent abroad (how much does that cost?), no doubt to end up in the sea, or polluting another country.