Grind Hamburger Meat
Does anyone grind their own beef to make hamburgers? If so, do you use a specific cut or blend of cuts? How coarse do you grind it and is it really different from what is available at the grocery store?
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I do it all the time
no comparison to store bought its like eating ground steak no real science to it, its real easy |
Yep. I love chuck. Sirloin (Or chuck) and pork (butt) 50/50 is great too. If I could find lamb shoulder and bison I'd do that too.
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Fave cuts? How coarse/fine? Any other tips? |
Sprouts has this sell two or three times a year: 85% lean ground beef for $1.99/lb. They grind it there in the store from beef shoulder (clod I believe). They normally sell this for like $3.99/lb. I talked to the butcher and he said he'd sell me the unground clod at the same price (saves them the work).
I bought like 45 pounds of it a couple weeks ago because it was on sale for $1.99 again. I ground up one of these and made a burger with it immediately.. and yes it was like ground steak :) Had a very steaky flavor, was delicious! I froze up around 5 pounds of this ground beef in 1/2 pound plastic wrapped portions (which I store in a 1 gallon zip lock). I have the remaining shoulders sitting in the freezer whole, in a deep freeze. I'll thaw them out as needed for ground beef, jerky or roast. They last much longer in the freezer whole than ground. Ground beef is good for like 2 months in the freezer whereas whole shoulder is good for 6-12 months. I use an LEM #5, which more than enough for any home if you aren't a hunter processing hundreds of pounds of meat at a time. $219 at Academy Sports. http://i59.tinypic.com/2eyj7ty.jpg http://i62.tinypic.com/xcneio.jpg http://i59.tinypic.com/1213eoz.jpg |
The true key to grinding a meat based protein is having it as cold as possible(Including the grinding hardware)Blend your fat-meat portions before hand and depending on the machine used cut the chunks accordingly.You dont want the machine turning and the product to not come out of the holes.When that happens it disrupts(denatures) the protein cells through added heat and friction.For the small grinders it`s often better to remove the silver skin to move the protein through the holes quicker.First the larger holed plate then the smaller cleaning your equipment in between of un-ground fat particles.Keep everything as cold as possible.
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Thanks for the input. I'm having a couple people over for the Bronco game and am having a burger bash. I ground my own burger meat once before and the burgers turned out real dry.
When I suggested to the wife that I wanted to do it again for the game she told me that the last burger was one of the worst she's ever had -- I believe the words "drier that a turd" may have been uttered. Of course, she never said that at the time, but I guess that's how life works in a marriage sometimes. Needless to say, I feel that my man card has been called into question. I feel the need to accept a challenge to grind my own meat and make a quality, juicy burger. I know I didn't have enough fat in the meat last time. I believe -- among other thing, I used the lean side of the brisket for part of the meat blend. I can't remember what else went in it. In fairness, it did suck. So I wanted to know what other people have used with success. |
Dry = not enough fat
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There is a major difference from the grocery store! The grocery store is 1000 of animals in their packages and grinding your own is just one animal means major difference. I use chuck roll and it has great marbling and the flavor is like eating a steak. once you grind your own meat you will never want to buy it from the store.
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I used a recipe once of equal parts sirloin and brisket (flat) and double by weight of oxtail. For example 1lb sirloin, 1lb brisket(flat), 2lb oxtail. The oxtail is mainly bone and it is a pain to get the meat seperate but it is a great tasting piece of beef. Make sure your food processor or grinder is well chilled and your cubed meat is so cold it is on the edge of beginning to freeze. Work as quickly as possible.
Ill look for the exact recipe, although i am unsure if it is allowed to post outside links on this website. Edit: Google Blue label burger blend |
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I usually do a medium grind on it. thats real;ly about it |
I grind my own, and there is simply no way that a grocery store grind could come close in terms of flavor and texture. I recently tried seriouseats.com's blend ratios, and it was spectacular. The blend is 5oz brisket, 5oz oxtail (takes about 12oz of oxtails to get this much meat trimmed off the bone), and 6oz sirloin.
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Also, one key to getting great juicy burgers is to not overwork the meat. I grind onto a chilled sheet pan, then form into patties on that pan without picking up the meat. I basically form it just until it holds together, and no more. I never knew how juicy burgers could be until I tried this. Even cooked well past well-done, keeping a loose pack on the patties makes them very juicy.
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I typically grind ribeyes(I know, blasphemy) but many cuts will do. Chuck roasts whatever. Beauty of grinding yourself, aside from blowing store bought out of the water, is you can choose your own fat content by looking directly at the marbling. Plus you know where it came from, unlike the stuff that comes packaged in a tube. Try it you won't regret it! Edit- medium ish grind, and I only run it thru ONCE. |
I always grind my own now. I use a chuck roast and add short rib meat and prefer a course grind. Never will go store bought again.
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