Ground Beef Stinks

[DampCharcoal]

I don't hardly use ground meat anymore because the bits of gristle are just gross and off-putting.

I used to tolerate it but I can't anymore.

I use chicken in just about everything nowadays because I know there won't be any unpleasant surprises but I would like to enjoy a slice of meatloaf every once in a while.

Any ideas?

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Grind your own beef, removing the gristly bits before grinding.

 

[DampCharcoal]

Grind your own beef, removing the gristly bits before grinding.

Yes, I suppose that would be the obvious solution.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

When all else fails...

 

[Caslon]

I once read you can't win suing a restaurant for a piece of meat gristle that causes major damage as it's an inherent part of the product and not foreign material. Sometimes a restaurant will settle to avoid the publicity of a trial, one they will win.

I knew you knew that.

I really don't see what you're talking about with regards to gristle in hamburger. I don't crunch on gristle much.

 

[DampCharcoal]

When all else fails...

Except that I don't own a grinder.

Sooooo, what should I ask for when I visit the meat counter at my local Kroger?

And do they like smart ass customers?

 

[DampCharcoal]

I once read you can't win suing a restaurant for a piece of meat gristle that causes major damage as it's an inherent part of the product and not foreign material. Sometimes a restaurant will settle to avoid the publicity of a trial, one they will win.

I knew you knew that.

I really don't see what you're talking about with regards to gristle in hamburger. I don't crunch on gristle much.

I'm being pathetically sarcastic as usual but I really do despise chewing into a piece of gristle because that's just friggin' gross.

I mean, that's REALLY gross!

I was just wondering if there was a gross-free grind that didn't involve gristle and what not.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Except that I don't own a grinder.

Sooooo, what should I ask for when I visit the meat counter at my local Kroger?

And do they like smart ass customers?

Food processor???

I've only found unruly lumps of gristle in those 5 pound chubs. I think if the Kroger has a meat counter you should buy your beef there.

I appreciate smart ass customers...I don't know if your local guys do, though. Might try a Knock, Knock joke first.

 

[TATTRAT]

Except that I don't own a grinder.

Sooooo, what should I ask for when I visit the meat counter at my local Kroger?

And do they like smart ass customers?

Any butcher, at your request, should be happy and willing to grind whatever meat you provide them with. Go to their case, get a piece of chuck, ask them to grind it, done and done.

 

[DampCharcoal]

Food processor???

I've only found unruly lumps of gristle in those 5 pound chubs. I think if the Kroger has a meat counter you should buy your beef there.

I appreciate smart ass customers...I don't know if your local guys do, though. Might try a Knock, Knock joke first.

Duly noted.

Never piss off the person who is preparing your food.

I don't think that's in the Bible but it should be.

 

[Caslon]

Is the original poster suggesting that more gristle is being ground up in hamburger these days, due to the economy or whatever?

 

[bakechef]

The only time that I have found gristle is in those chubs and maybe in the packs that say "ground beef" instead of "ground chuck" or "ground sirloin". The chuck and sirloin always seem OK.

I think that the reason is, the meat department gets in these huge packages of meat bits that are premeasured for fat content and contain only chuck, sirloin etc.. Those are ground and labeled as such, but the "ground beef" can contain whatever scraps that they have after cutting meat, those scraps don't end up in the sirloin or chuck packages.

I work in a grocery store and this is how it is done where I work.

 

[DMerry]

Or, if you only want your meat loaf occasionally you could go to a meat market if there's one in your area. I started going to mine when they actually sold a pot roast with the bone still in it -- imagine that -- but they had really good lean ground beef that I used for years and years and never found anything like gristle in it. They would also be happy to grind your meat for you. Oh, the price was only a little bit more than meat in the supermarket. The quality of the meat was much better.

 

[vitauta]

talking about ground beef, and grinding your own, here's a question that's been on my mind for a while: if i ground my own hamburger meat, would i be able to enjoy hamburgers cooked medium rare, again? i miss terribly being able to eat my hamburgers rare, medium-rare. would the safety concerns about raw ground beef be addressed by fresh-grinding a hunk of chuck beef right before making my burgers? do any of you still eat hamburgers that aren't well-done?

 

[Hammster]

talking about ground beef, and grinding your own, here's a question that's been on my mind for a while: if i ground my own hamburger meat, would i be able to enjoy hamburgers cooked medium rare, again? i miss terribly being able to eat my hamburgers rare, medium-rare. would the safety concerns about raw ground beef be addressed by fresh-grinding a hunk of chuck beef right before making my burgers? do any of you still eat hamburgers that aren't well-done?

This is *exactly* why I grind my own beef. So I can have my burger as rare as I want it.

 

[FrankZ]

talking about ground beef, and grinding your own, here's a question that's been on my mind for a while: if i ground my own hamburger meat, would i be able to enjoy hamburgers cooked medium rare, again? i miss terribly being able to eat my hamburgers rare, medium-rare. would the safety concerns about raw ground beef be addressed by fresh-grinding a hunk of chuck beef right before making my burgers? do any of you still eat hamburgers that aren't well-done?

Yes.

I Have found that since I have been grinding my own my burgers cook faster, so you may have a small learning curve there.

I use chuck, I cut out as much of the fat as I can without being compulsive. I have always liked leaner burgers best, especially since I don't want them cooked extra-well.

The price of chuck per pound is about the same as the price of the 80/20 ground stuff. By the time you get to the 93/7 here the price of chuck is extremely attractive.

So grinding your own allows control, and, for me, cost savings.

Oh and it is just plain good old fun...

 

[vitauta]

so encouraging, hammster and frankz. i wonder why it has taken so long for me to figure this out. all those years of "rarely" eating burgers cause i only really love them when cooked rare....

 

[Andy M.]

... if i ground my own hamburger meat, would i be able to enjoy hamburgers cooked medium rare, again?...

I say, "Not necessarily!".

The issue of contamination with ground beef is that it can be mixed throughout the meat, not just on the surface.

With a whole piece of beef such as a steak, any contamination on the surface is quickly killed off by the high surface temps a steak is subjected to. It's safe to cook the interior to rear or MR.

So, whether you grind beef at home or buy it ground, you could be dealing with the same contamination. (After all, where do you buy the beef to be ground?). If you have a piece of steak (chuck or other) that is surface contaminated, and you grind it at home, you are running the same risks.

It's not an issue of your kitchen's being cleaner than the market's. It has to do with the meat that is the source of the ground beef.

 

[SherryDAmore]

Any butcher, at your request, should be happy and willing to grind whatever meat you provide them with. Go to their case, get a piece of chuck, ask them to grind it, done and done.

Before I got my KA, I did this, but added boneless shortribs. And I waited and watched while they ground it. I have a nice relationship with my Wegman's butchers.

 

[HistoricFoodie]

I cut out as much of the fat as I can without being compulsive.

Might explain why they cook faster, Frank.

As it sits, chuck is the perfect burger meat. Depending on specific cut, it has a 15/85 or 20/80 fat to lean content. When you trim out much of the fat, you have to cook the burgers for less time to keep them from drying out and overcooking.