I would like to know some info about minced and ground. I think there's no big difference in meaning. I would like to know which one is commonly used in the USA? Can they both be used with the words Chicken, meat, beef, or any other similar word?
Correct me if I'm wrong: When I say "ground beef", ground here is an adjective but it can be used as a noun with a different meaning "Land or Earth". And it can be used as a verb to mean "To punish" as in "You're grounded".
Best Answer
There is a cooking terminology difference between the two, yes, particularly in the US. If something is "minced" the implication is that it's chopped very finely with a knife or blade, either manually or with a machine like a food processor. It's much less common to use the term "mince" in the US to refer to meat that has been put through a grinder, which is referred to as "ground". Grinding is a combination of pressing, cutting, and extruding to achieve a relatively uniform result.
I generally do not see the term "minced" used to refer to "ground" meat in the US at all (in the UK, "minced" is the standard term).
"Ground" is used for all sorts of products put through a grinder.
As noted, "ground" does not refer to the land in this case (note that "you're grounded" actually does refer to the land as it comes from the aviation-related terminology of being prohibited from flying). It is an adjectival usage of the past tense of "grind". The dictionary linked here includes the definition: