Minced beef meat

Allow about 125 g raw mince per person for a meat sauce or cottage pie; add more if mince is the main part of the meal and there are few vegetables or other fillings.

Heat a wide frying pan until hot, add a little oil if needed, then brown the mince in batches so the pan is not crowded. Leave it briefly before breaking it up and turning it, so it gets a good colour.

Cook it until it is steaming hot all the way through, with no pink meat remaining. Mince needs thorough cooking because bacteria can be mixed through the meat.

Keep it covered on the bottom shelf of the fridge at 5°C or below and use it by its use-by date. To keep it longer, freeze it before that date.

Cool leftovers and put them in the fridge within two hours; eat them within 48 hours. Reheat only once, until steaming hot throughout.

Use it for cottage pie, lasagne, chilli con carne or a beef Bolognese sauce. Cottage pie is made with beef mince; shepherd’s pie traditionally uses lamb.

No. Chicken mince has 5.6 g fat per 100 g, compared with 13 g in minced beef.