Grinding your own burger OR buying lean ground


 

Len Dennis

TVWBB Diamond Member
Just wondering whether it's better to buy already ground lean or grind say cross rib for burger? I know chuck is usually the go-to meat but cross rib is available "on sale" (it is a bit leaner than "lean"). Store-bought ground is half the price of the cross rib I'm considering.

It's also nice to know what's going into your ground whereas who knows what goes into store-bought ground.

I've got the equipment to do this.
 
I know chuck is usually the go-to meat but cross rib is available "on sale" (it is a bit leaner than "lean")
If you want the best burgers you can make, grind up 50% Pork Belly and 50% Tri-Tip

What I do is buy a whole belly, I make the flat part bacon, and I grind up the round part. You typically end up with approx 4LBS of home ground burger. Good stuff Maynerd
 
Are you trying for a leaner burger? Conventional wisdom is fat is flavor but I've had some damn good burgers that were super lean grass-fed longhorn.
 
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Not leaner but : I just want to know whats in there (snouts, ears, "pink slime" NOT). I've had ground round (which is too lean) and it's just "not right".
 
We grind out own. My wife (a Missouri girl who grew up o the arm and road a horse to her 1 room school house) decides what goes into it...I only pay for it.

Don't ask me what the specific meat cuts are, but the words rump, chuck, sirloin, eye of round gets tossed around a lot. ; ' )
 
Len, Barb and I have been using cross rib roast for about a year now and sometimes I just have them grind it at the store or if I want to add some more fat (which isn't very often) I bring it home and grind it myself and add some pork shoulder to it. About an 80/20 beef to pork mixture. Barb uses that mixture in her meatloaf's and I will use if making meatballs.
The cross rib to me has a enough fat in it to be not overly dry. At $2.49 a pound on sale it's cheaper than lean hamburger and better tasting too.
Also like you I want to know what's in it.
 
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Lean, grass-fed? Guess you have no interest in a flavorful burger. I buy no leaner than 80% ground beef. When I grind my own it is more like 70%. After all, as my butcher once said, as to ground beef, fat is the f-word: flavor. I eat grain-finished beef probably 4 to 5 times a week. My LDL level is around 40, HDL around 85 and total maybe 135. I am thankful that my genes allow me to indulge in flavorful beef.
 
Any thing leaner than 80% for a burger turns into a hockey puck when I cook it for the wife,was wondering about steaming a 90+ for her.Watched a show where they only made steamed burgers,if I grind my own I will cook til med rare for me but wife see's any pink I get more to eat lol
 

 

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