Minced Beef

Our native breed beef mince is famed amongst our chef community for its depth of flavour. To make Yorkshire's best-tasting mince, selected cuts of grass-fed beef (chuck, rib cap, flank and short-rib) are coarsely ground and combined. The resulting beef mince is perfect for making Ragù, lasagne, beef burgers, chilli con carne and so many more beefy classics.

Valentine Warner minces his beef:
What on earth is happening to mince these days as it seems most purchase options lean towards lean ;) and a dishearteningly low fat content. A crime no less, this is neither good for the cooking or the flavour. Swaledale Online Butchers' Minced Beef contains 25% outer fat the importance of this being that to use internal fat will see it melt away rather than be retained in the texture of the meat. Swaledale’s mince from slow grown heritage breeds is deeply beefy in taste, the fat content meaning it is exceptionally good for making burgers. I’d note here that a good patty should contain no onions and the salt added when cooking only. The fat and meat protein requires no binding egg - this is old school, mumsy, outdated and unnecessary!

Personally I love a green chilli cheese burger…blitz together 25g of fresh coriander with a half tsp of ground cumin, ¼ tsp of dried oregano, cracked black pepper and two roughly chopped jalapeño raw chillies, ½ tsp juice of a small lime, 1 tsp of coarse sea salt and 1 tbs sunflower oil.

Over refinement is the curse of a good burger. Cheese should be techno orange and floppy and not noble or aged…..while I’d add that a toasted brioche bun is far preferable to sourdough bread. That being said, settle for nothing less than Swaledale’s most excellent streaky bacon. Dust a few thin slices of onion in cornflower and deep fry. And there you have it.

If you do want to incorporate other bits into the mince then the addition of herbs, shallot and a few capers would deliver a steak haché and a discreet French bistro lunch to be accompanied with a wine jus, pommes frites and a sharp green salad. Medium-rare would be my preference for both burger and haché alternatives.

While few memories of school see me smile, I always loved beef mince and carrots. Made well and it’s a simple supper joy on toast or with rice while on fried bread it’s a belter. Under silky mash in a cottage pie and I hardly need jog your memory but take the mince to South Africa and cover it with béchamel instead, adding spices and sultanas to the mince and the resulting Bobotie is absolutely delicious. 

Grass-fed, heritage breed beef slow grown to maturity on the lush, green pastures of the Yorkshire Dales. Dry-aged on the bone for >28 days.