Ground Beef Stinks

[FrankZ]

Originally Posted by buckytom

oh yeah, besides gristle, i've seen pieces of veins in fast food burgers. yuk.

That's just the prize when you order the fun meal.. sheesh...

[Cerise]

Have you considered changing butchers, markets, going for a leaner cut, or trying Bison? I buy lean. It's a little more expensive, but haven't encountered gristle since I ate at a fast food place. Alternately, you can go with ground veal, chicken or turkey.

[Greg Who Cooks]

Frank, I'm not sure it's even worth the trouble to seek higher authority in a store. Honestly I don't use hamburger all that much. Sometimes I buy "buffalo" burger, sometimes I just buy what's in the meat case, sometimes I trim my own steak and give it a quick run through my food processor. If I were using hamburger all the time I might go to some effort but more often than not I cook things that don't have any relevance to hamburger. In fact off hand hamburgers are the only thing I can think of where I use ground beef.

I had the same problem with whole chickens. They didn't have any halves and I wanted them to saw a whole one in half for me. "We don't want to clean the saw for just one chicken." I ended up getting a cleaver and between that and my shears I prefer my cutting my own whole chickens now anyway, I always buy them whole whole and either cut them in half or do that thing where you make them lay flat like road kill.

[taxlady]

Originally Posted by Gourmet Greg

Frank, I'm not sure it's even worth the trouble to seek higher authority in a store. Honestly I don't use hamburger all that much. Sometimes I buy "buffalo" burger, sometimes I just buy what's in the meat case, sometimes I trim my own steak and give it a quick run through my food processor. If I were using hamburger all the time I might go to some effort but more often than not I cook things that don't have any relevance to hamburger. In fact off hand hamburgers are the only thing I can think of where I use ground beef.

No meatloaf or meat balls?

[Greg Who Cooks]

Originally Posted by taxlady

No meatloaf or meat balls?

Not very often. I'm single. I usually end up cooking things that can be conveniently cooked for one person. That's why I've been on an Asian kick lately: tastes really good, easy to cook one portion. And I eat a lot of chicken and shrimp anyway. I eat beef probably less than once a week, and when I eat beef it's mostly steak. If my situation changes and I end up cooking for more people on a regular basis then my diet will probably change too, and maybe I'll make meatloaf and meatballs more often.

[Andy M.]

When I was single, I often made larger meals and froze meal-sized portions for later use. Chili, tomato sauce with meatballs and sausages, soups, meatloaf, etc. I didn't really get into Asian cooking until later.

[Kathleen]

Originally Posted by PrincessFiona60

I like my hand crank grinder better than the one on my KA. I feel like I have more control and I don't have to jump around like a rabid hyena to keep it going.

What kind do you have? I found one in a second-hand shop, but Frank felt that it did not work well at all.

Originally Posted by buckytom

oh yeah, besides gristle, i've seen pieces of veins in fast food burgers. yuk.

ACK!

[DaveSoMD]

Originally Posted by Kathleen

What kind do you have? I found one in a second-hand shop, but Frank felt that it did not work well at all.

ACK!

But I hear that yogurt maker is working well.

[PrincessFiona60]

Originally Posted by Kathleen

What kind do you have? I found one in a second-hand shop, but Frank felt that it did not work well at all.
ACK!

I got it at an outdoor sports wholesaler. Not sure what it is and it's buried right now. I works great! and easy to clean. Start with large grind and go to small.

It is cast iron and I keep it wrapped in a cotton towel!

[Claire]

Originally Posted by DampCharcoal

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?

Can't help but answer that one. No one likes a smart ass. As I've often told a certain nephew, there's a huge difference between being smart and being a smart ass. If you treat the butcher badly, it's probably not going to get you good meat!

That said, choose a piece of beef (or whatever), and ask them to grind it. Sometimes you'll have to go at the end of their day. I had a hard time getting ground pork that I needed for tourtiere. So I picked a pork shoulder and asked for it to be ground. No. Cannot do it. Ok, didn't think much of it. As I shopped my name was called on the store's PA system. I went back to the meat counter. "We were about to sterilize the grinder anyway, and so ground your roast for you." I was thrilled. They simply were not allowed to use the grinder on pork without sterilizing it before doing beef.

When you're nice to people, it is amazing what you can get.