All You Meatheads: Heed This Burger Advice
Before I founded A Hamburger Today and really started delving into Burgerworld, I was like most home cooks when it comes to this most delicious and iconic American dish.
Yes, I bought the ground chuck in the grocery store, thinking it was perfectly adequate for grilling or throwing into the cast-iron skillet.
This was wrongheaded, and Mark Bittman, in today's New York Times, wants to set us all straight.
The key is to avoid packaged ground meat. When you buy it, you may know the cut of the meat — chuck, for example — and the fat content.
But you have no way of knowing whether the meat came from high- or low-quality animals. It could come from dozens of animals, and they could all be poor-quality animals — old dairy cows, for instance, rather than cattle raised for beef. The meat from these animals is ground together in huge quantities.
If the aesthetics of that don’t give you pause, consider the health concerns. Massive batches of ground meat carry the highest risk of salmonella and E. coli contamination, and have caused many authorities to recommend cooking burgers to the well-done stage. Forgive my snobbishness, but well-done meat is dry and flavorless, which is why burgers should be rare, or at most medium rare.
The solution? Grind your own. It's not as much a pain in the ass as it sounds, and if you have a food processor, that'll work, Bittman says, so you can avoid the cost and hassle of buying a dedicated meat grinder.
There are a couple recipes with the story, like this one: The Real Burger. Instead of the sirloin that Bittman calls for, I'd recommend using chuck, which has a little more fat and will yield a juicier burger.
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11 Comments:
Adam:
You are right on about using "chuck" (the beef cut, NOT me, DocChuck) for grinding burger meat.
I have been grinding my own beef for nearly 50 years . . . first with an inherited cast-iron meat grinder (that came across the prairie from Illinois to Texas, when my grandparents migrated to Houston) . . . now with a Kitchen Aid equipped with a meat-grinding attachment.
Sirloin is NOT good for burgers. Too lean and therefore too dry.
"Chuck" is just right . . . about 80/20, or no more than 85/15. ANYTHING more than 85/15 is not good for burgers, in my opinion.
By the way, ANYONE who buys commercially ground beef from a supermarket meat counter is lazy, uncaring about their health, and simply does NOT deserve a good burger.
Have a good, Adam . . . and a good burger!
DocChuck at 1:48PM on 05/23/07
Well I already knew that I am lazy and care little for my health and safety, but I thought that I still deserve an occasional good burger. Sadly, it seems I am wrong.
Still I appreciate the post, and the article has inspired me to try the food processor.
Also really enjoyed the meat market photos.
intheyearofthepig at 2:06PM on 05/23/07
Thanks for the info, Doc. Am I right in assuming that your handle has to do with beef then?
intheyearofthepig: I'm lazy, too. I still get the preground stuff, but I've made the compromise of getting it from a place I know gets good meat and which grinds it daily -- I still don't have my own grinder :(
Going back to you, Doc: You seem like you know your stuff about grinding, and if you're using a KA attachment, I'll take that as a good sign. I've been thinking of getting one of those attachments for my own KA but was wondering if they were just craptastic aftermarket accessories. I'm going to click over and order one ASAP.
Adam Kuban at 2:51PM on 05/23/07
Okay . . . OKAY! I was a little bit heavy-handed with the comment "lazy."
But, you guys need to admit that you do NOT know what the so-called "supermarkets" are putting in that so-called "ground beef."
HEY! The KA meat grinder is well worth the investment. So is the time spent in grinding your own burger meat.
My apologies to EVERYONE that I called "LAZY."
DocChuck at 3:47PM on 05/23/07
DocChuck: No biggie. Yeah: I admit it -- I don't know what's in the supermarket stuff. That's why when I buy pre-ground, I get it at the butcher counter of a small neighborhood grocer whom I trust -- I do know where he gets his beef, and I know he grinds it daily.
I've ordered the KA grinder! Our super web-designer here at Serious Eats (who wishes to remain nameless) has the KA grinder attachment and he gave me some good tips on using it. So I think I'll be set -- as soon as it arrives.
Adam Kuban at 4:15PM on 05/23/07
You are absolutely right, that ground meat from the grocery store is either watery, flat or just plain tasteless.
tfjules at 4:18PM on 05/23/07
@Adam: You won't be disappointed, all of the KA attachments i've got have been sound investments.
Prairie at 5:06PM on 05/23/07
There's a difference between "lazy" and not being a food professional and having a job that leaves you just enough time to get dinner on the table. As usual, the NYT can't relate to people who actually have to work for a living and live in that real world.
Or, in better words than I could invent: Jim, I'm a lawyer, not a meat grinder!
FKC at 1:40AM on 05/24/07
@FKC: So true. There's too often a huge disconnect between the ideal and what's realistic. That's why I liked this article in the Washington Post more than the NY Times piece. The writer there, the co-owner of a small burger chain in Boston (i.e., a professional) recommends store-bought if you can't grind your own. I know I'm guilty myself of pushing the grind-your-own mantra on Hamburger Today and should myself remember to keep time-pressed folks (of which I'm one) in mind.
Adam Kuban at 10:34AM on 05/24/07
You guys do know that you can go to that same supermarket meat counter, choose one of their chuck steaks, and ask them to grind it fresh for you right in front of your eyes *gasp*.
At least, that's how it works here in Canada. How would that be different than grinding it yourself? I'm guessing not at all. The benefit of grinding yourself is the one of convenience, right? Meaning, you can do the grinding right when you need it, as opposed to watching it be done 3 or 4 hours prior, correct?
pixelchef at 2:24AM on 05/27/07
pixelchef:
There IS a problem with that here in the U.S., at least in SOME supermarkets.
I asked the meat department manager at my local Food Lion last week to grind some pork for me from a package of pork loin on the counter.
He refused to do so, citing their (Food Lions' ) concerns over what they called "cross contamination".
Probably, most "butcher shops" will still grind meat to your order, but "butcher shops" here in the U.S. (outside of New York City) are rapidly becoming an endangered species.
SOOOooo . . . *gasp*, it may not be as EASY here in the lower regions to get one's fresh-ground-meat as it is in the more progressive provinces of Canada.
Therefore, I am very glad that I am the proud owner of the wonderbul, (albeit, over-priced) Kitchen Aid with attached meat grinder.
Bon Apetit!
DocChuck at 1:39PM on 05/27/07