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Totally Righteous Ground Beef

A couple of years ago my wife bought me a  food grinder and it has paid for itself over and over in the quality of ground beef we’ve been able to produce.

First off, anyone who has grilled hamburgers has noticed that the burger you start with does not end up the same size as the burger you put on a bun. We’re not 100% positive of the reason however it sure seems like the ground beef, round or chuck purchased at the grocery store has water added to it.  It can’t be from fat alone…..anyone who grills a steak knows that the fat doesn’t shrink to nothing or disappear. Our burgers simply don’t shrink!
We’re always watching for sales on beef..

We’ll use a combination of chuck roast, beef ribs, brisket, and sirloin tip mixed with a healthy amount of ribeye fat.  We purchase a whole ribeye section from our local Sam’s Club; the price is usually the best combined with their use of Angus beef. I will cut off the fat cap from the ribeye and use this (usually 2 - 3 lbs) with my other meats.

 


Fat makes flavor: anyone telling you differently is either misquided or only dining on filet mignon.  Ribeye fat breaks down nicely in the grinder, and combined with the meat/fat ratio you get in chuck roasts, beef ribs and brisket, you get some high quality ground beef. Adding a leaner cut like a sirloin tip roast balances everything out.

We’re not scientists but we look for a ratio around 75/25 beef to fat.  It’s worth noting that if you watch your sales, most of the items can be found for under $5.00 a pound but we pay no more that $5.99.  We usually get our ribeyes at about $7.50/lb, but we’re only using the fat portion here.

 
Taking the meat and letting it almost completely thaw is next. (Cold and even still slightly frozen is good)  Then we cut it into chunks and start feeding the grinder taking somewhat equal portions from each type. Once we grind all the meat, we run it through the grinder again (most butchers recommend double grinding but do your research).

At this point we take the meat and put it into storage bags and vacuum seal then place into the freezer.  We could do an entire blog on our Foodsaver vacuum machine, but that’s for another time. :)


 

Seriously, if you enjoy good beef………...or appreciate a good burger……..I highly recommend grinding it yourself.   A couple of hours devoted every 4 months or so keeps us in good supply.  If you appreciate superior flavor, you'll consider it time well spent.

We love the fact that this enables us to essentially have “no waste” with our meat purchases.

We don't let anything go to waste........these rib bones we trimmed for our grind were roasted and then simmered to end up with our own high quality beef stock. 

We roast them with veggies and herbs and a splash of olive oil

Then cover with water and bring to a simmer for several hours.

Strain broth.................cool............skim off fat from top and freeze in portions for later use. You'll have captured every bit of flavor for adding to future soups and dishes.

 

And you'll be all set for all your future ground beef favorites.

Soon we'll share our recipe for the best burgers you ever tasted..... in our humble opinion :)

 

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