Make your own mince: we put three mincers to the test

Do you trust shop-bought mincemeat nowadays? There's no need to buy it if you can make it yourself. Lovefood tests three mincemeat machines to show how easy it is.

Following the now-infamous ‘horsegate’ saga of January 2013, we’ve decided that the only way to absolutely guarantee the content of one’s mincemeat is to mince the meat yourself. So, armed with buckets of braising steak, team lovefood took to the studio kitchen to make our own mince, using three different machines. Check out the video above to see how we got on...

The old-fashioned one

A ‘traditional chromed plated cast iron meat mincer’, which uses two discs for fine and coarse mincing. You can use it for meat, fruit and vegetables (although you must wash the equipment thoroughly after mincing raw meat before using it again) and it clamps onto the end of your table or work bench with rubber feet.

Andrew liked how traditional this mincer felt, and it was also the cheapest mincer we used. But it did take a fair bit of elbow grease to get it grinding and was a bit of a nightmare to wash up. Plus it doesn’t get the best reviews on Amazon.

How much? £24.99

The high-powered one

This My Kitchen Meat Mincer from Lakeland was probably the most effective of the bunch. It was also nice and compact, and didn’t make too much of a racket. Andrew fed chunks of braising steak into the chute (or ‘hopper’), and then gently nudged it along with a ‘pusher’, which comes with the machine.

The mince was even in shape and came out with ease, and it wasn’t too tricky to wash up. There are four drums provided for fine and coarse grating, slicing and puréeing, which means that it’s suitable for hard cheeses and vegetables too. There’s also a ‘sausage stuffer nozzle’ included, which means you can make your own saussies using the same machine! It worked pretty well when we gave it a whirl, and the reviews from other users are good too.

How much? £99.99

The attachment one

Got one of those snazzy Kenwood mixers? You can buy a ‘high performance mincer’ attachment to stick on the end of it, and make your own mincemeat from the same machine that usually does your meringues.

It’s the most space-friendly option, but does cost a pretty penny. Plus it did make quite a racket, although successfully created even strands of mincemeat and there wasn’t much gunk left in the chute afterwards.

There are three ‘screens’ included for coarse, medium and fine grinding of a variety of meats, nuts and vegetables, and, like the Lakeland machine, a sausage maker is also built in, as well as a ‘kebbe’ maker.

How much? £54.99

Are you more inclined to make your own mincemeat, following the horsemeat debacle? Or have you already been making it for years? Talk to us in the comments box below… 

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