Home Ground Beef
So last week I decided maybe I'd try making my own ground beef for burgers since what I can buy just doesn't taste at all like burgers used to when I was a kid. So I dug out the Kitchen Aid meat grinder attachment that I got for Christmas (I know - hanging head in shame).
We don't grind our meat at work and I had no frame of reference so I did a search here and found a thread from 2 years ago that had a suggestion for the mix as 50% chuck, 25% top sirloin, and 25% skirt. I bought the meat cut it in cubes, chilled it in the freezer and ground it. I made a test burger and OMG it was the best burger I've had since I left home more years ago than I want to admit to! How could I have waited so long? It was wonderful; it truly was. If you haven't tried this - you must - and if you have tried it what was your mix?
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10 Comments:
I usually do 75% chuck and 25% sirloin for burgers.
MoEats at 4:02PM on 08/09/09
I save up the trimmings of fat from the edges of round steak in a zipper bag and freeze them. I'll buy a nice chuck roast with the least amount of fat, chunk it, freeze for half an hour and grind it.
betteirene at 11:31PM on 08/09/09
Am I the only one who still loves her old heavy metal hand grinder?
lemons at 11:36PM on 08/09/09
I love my KA meat grinder and used it all the time back when it was IMPOSSIBLE to buy plain ground pork in a supermarket. If the butcher didn't hem and haw when I asked for it, they'd try to sell me bulk sausage (which wouldn't work for my purposes).
As for beef, I generally buy pieces like those boneless short ribs that have enough marbling and fat to make great ground meat. For me it's less what cut to use and just look for enough marbling.
therealchiffonade at 8:52AM on 08/10/09
I remember the old metal hand-powered grinders from my childhood--but my mom only ground cooked meat. I'm tempted to buy one to grind raw meat, but I'd appreciate some comments on how difficult it is to get through the grinder. Anyone else using the Luddite technology?
ChloeA at 10:31AM on 08/10/09
" remember the old metal hand-powered grinders from my childhood--but my mom only ground cooked meat. I'm tempted to buy one to grind raw meat, but I'd appreciate some comments on how difficult it is to get through the grinder. Anyone else using the Luddite technology?"
Grinding up meat in one of those things was one of my little jobs as a kid and like the poster above said, get the meat very cold before grinding. The grinding was easy compared to clean-up afterwards. That's when my mom took over. She had several different size brushes to poke in all the holes in the die. I guess that's where "the Fuller Brush man" came into play? :>)
tusti at 12:08PM on 08/10/09
I love my KA meat grinder attachment. I grind either chuck (usually) or short ribs (depending on price), once with the coarse plate, and then again with the fine plate. I cook mine to medium-rare-- one of the joys of grinding it myself.
Sometimes, depending on with what we're topping them, I'll stuff them with sliced or chopped green olives, capers or anchovies.
MarvinDog at 1:40PM on 08/10/09
And sometimes, I'll grind some lamb with the beef.
MarvinDog at 1:41PM on 08/10/09
We use an old fashioned metal hand grinder. We've never chilled it especially--but it's not difficult. The results are always magic though.
BananaMonkey at 3:33PM on 08/10/09
The old metal grinders do work, but in my experience, they sort of gather the gristliest bits in the holes and you have to stop once in a while and clean them out, which is a bit messy. But they do grind, rather than chop fine. And I still haven't found a place to screw mine on that doesn't let it slide while I'm trying to grind; my breadboard will never forgive me.
Likeswords at 10:41PM on 08/10/09