Ground beef: brisket vs chuck roll

[LordRiffenstein]

I did something that most Europeans would call blasphemy. Got a nice flabby US brisket flat and ground it. :wacko:

Last Saturday, we went shopping for meat because I thought we might be able to score some post-holidays deals. I did get a good deal on pork belly and now have 4 big slabs in cure for bacon :biggrin1: We also needed some beef to grind, Belgian beef is to lean so I was looking for alternatives when I noticed the last brisket they had left. It was a nice flabby flat with good fat content but very little hard fat. It would have been a good one to smoke but I decided it was coming home for ground beef. We'll be using it for a bunch of different cooks BUT we also made some burgers of it, just ground brisket flat and seasoning (Oakridge Carne Crosta in my case). And I'll be damned if these weren't the most juicy, most tasteful burgers we have ever had.

My meat grocer usually has chuck roll (they were out) so I was wondering how it would compare to the brisket meat. Chuck roll is much less expensive (14euro/kg vs 9euro/kg). I have used chuck roll before for barbacoa and it had big beef flavors.

 

[Norm]

One of my favorite ground beef cuts is chuck roll, brisket is great also but I usually mix it with sirloin to get the fat content I like.

 

[thirdeye]

These percentages are pretty close and should give you an idea of what to expect in your final ground mixture.

Ground chuck is usually 15% to 20% fat.
Ground sirloin and round is usually 10% to 12% fat.
Ground brisket will be 20% + fat.

Some sample blends would be:

1. 50% brisket - 50% sirloin

2. 50% chuck - 50% sirloin

3. 33% brisket - 33% chuck - 33% sirloin

4. 40% chuck - 40% boneless short ribs - 20% brisket

5. 50% sirloin - 25% chuck - 25% brisket

If flank steak is cheaper than brisket, give that a try too. You might try 20% ground pork butt in your burger, it helps with moistness.

 

[Smoke on Badger Mountain]

Sounds great! I love brisket mixed into my burger grind. I have not tried it on it's own as burger meat yet.

 

[SmokinAussie]

It wasn't so long ago here in Downside Up Land that you could not buy brisket at all. It was considered a cut not worth putting over the counter and was always ground up and just sold as minced beef. Thank goodness this is changing now, but grinding up Brisket is no crime. Awesome for making sausages too because the fat content is pretty high as ThirdEye shows. This winter coming I'll be making Boerewors with Brisket, Pork Shoulder and may not have to add too much back fat.

 

[LYU370]

I've bought an entire packer before. Saved the point for smoking and ground the flat for burgers. Brisket burgers are some of the best burgers I've ever had.

 

[LordRiffenstein]

These percentages are pretty close and should give you an idea of what to expect in your final ground mixture.

Ground chuck is usually 15% to 20% fat.
Ground sirloin and round is usually 10% to 12% fat.
Ground brisket will be 20% + fat.

Some sample blends would be:

1. 50% brisket - 50% sirloin

2. 50% chuck - 50% sirloin

3. 33% brisket - 33% chuck - 33% sirloin

4. 40% chuck - 40% boneless short ribs - 20% brisket

5. 50% sirloin - 25% chuck - 25% brisket

If flank steak is cheaper than brisket, give that a try too. You might try 20% ground pork butt in your burger, it helps with moistness.

Thanks, this is very useful!

 

[Garyclaw]

About 8 months ago, the BBQ restaurant I work at started making their own burgers from 100% whole packer brisket. The best burgers I have ever eaten, hands down. I can have the line cooks make me anything off the menu I want for my lunch. I can't stop eating those burgers!!….every dang day!