Ground meat

Ground beef, also mince, minced, Gewiegtes or hash, is more or less finely chopped coarsely entsehntes muscle meat that can not contain the only adding a maximum of 1 % salt. Today it is no longer chopped with a knife or rocked, but manufactured using a meat grinder. Since the muscle fibers are broken down substantially, it cooks much faster than whole pieces of meat and can be eaten raw. Raw ground beef is very fast perishable due to the increased surface area and partially destroyed cell membranes.

Dealing with minced meat is regulated by normative August 8, 2007 in the Federal Republic of Germany in the Animal Food Hygiene Regulation (animal LMHV ). This regulation on the implementation of provisions of Community legislation on food hygiene includes and replaces the provisions of the former minced Regulation. Fresh minced meat must then be sold on the day of production.

Among the bacteria, which can be relatively easily grown in ground beef and cause human diseases, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella and Listeria. To impede the growth of bacteria and thus increase the shelf life, attempts have been made in industrial manufacture of lactic acid bacteria to add as yogurt and cheese. The efficacy of methods developed in the USA, in which the ammonia is added to ground beef to kill bacteria is controversial.

Minced meat is made mainly from pork, beef and veal, mutton and lamb, venison and poultry.

• Pork and beef are the most widespread in Germany, often mixed half and half. Maximum of 35% fat ground pork and ground beef can contain up to 20 % fat. This mixed Hack may contain a maximum of 30 % fat.
• Mett (Thuringian Chopped, Minced ) is a spiced minced pork. The various designations may have regionally different meanings. The maximum fat content of 35%.
• Beef patty or Beefsteakhack (even the ends of the fillet with very fine beef patty ) made ​​of long free and low-fat beef muscle meat such as upper shell and is finer crushed as a simple ground beef. It is mainly eaten as raw dressed Tatar. The allowable fat content shall not exceed 6%.
• Minced lamb plays a role ( kofte, Ćevapčići ), primarily in the Eastern or oriental -influenced cuisine.
• Game and poultry Minced meat may be made ​​after the abolition of ground beef Regulation in all meat processing plants and sold raw. Because of trichinosis or salmonella risk it could not previously supplied to end consumers in the raw state.

Examples of minced meat dishes are meatballs, meatballs and meatloaf; Often use as a filling for example, cabbage rolls and stuffed peppers. Many sausages are made from minced meat, such as the Thuringian bratwurst.

EU minced

EU minced meat is minced meat, which is produced in establishments with a special EU approval under special hygienic requirements. It is usually packaged in a protective atmosphere. This gas mixture consists of oxygen and carbon dioxide. By the amount of oxygen, the red color of the meat is retained longer, the gray color is slowed the growth of the microorganism is inhibited by the proportion of carbon dioxide in the package. The ground meat for a few days longer. The use-by date at EU mince can be determined by storage tests by the manufacturer itself. The expiry date refers to a storage temperature of 2 ° C, which is not normally achieved in standard household fridges with their 4-7 ° storage temperature, this special refrigerator or freezer compartments are required.