Experience/comments on home ground, ground beef

[dcSaute]

(long story omitted....) found meself needing ground beef with nothing but a steak on hand.

broke out Granny's hand cranked (meat) grinder, did the deed.
DW was ecstatic - best ground beef -ever-

repeated that a couple days back - used a thawed ribeye steak - likely USDA Choice . . . gift package item....i.e. suspicions justified....
was not as good.

for those grinding/mincing their ground beef at home, what cuts do you prefer?

(ps: I'm sticking with ye' olde' hand grinder - not interesting in any new space hogging electric do-everythings....)

[Andy M.]

Grinding your own is a good idea. However, grinding good steak seems to be overkill. If you want to continue grinding your own, I'd choose less expensive cuts. Chuck for a fattier GB for burgers, etc. and round for super lean GB if that's what you need.

[dcSaute]

grinding a good steak is overkill - indeed - but that presupposes the steak is "good" - and the usual 'but un-named gift box' steaks do not fit that description . . . .

I did chuck - I cut/trim/etc the fat/gristle/silver skin/etc - chuck is definitely tasty but a PITA.
something like a top round / eye round - it's so lean not sure it would do good.

we don't eat so much red meat that sacrificing a "steak cut" into ground beef is a major financial issue.

just looking for experiences / ideas....

[GotGarlic]

I have ground my own meat, although I don't do it often. One thing you can do is to save and freeze fat trimmings from roasts, etc., and add that to your ground meat, to increase the fat content.

[dragnlaw]

Should you ever purchase a whole beef tenderloin to butcher yourself, all the scrap and trimmings (well, not the silver) make the most incredible tender ground beef ever!

[dcSaute]

hmmm. time to odd time I'll get beef tenderloin from the butcher for a Wellington . . . no trim there - the butcher delivers a studiously clean cut...
actually tonight I'm doing Prime beef tenderloin cuts aka Filet Mignon - from Costco.
not 'zactly a chunk-o-beef I would grind up . . . well, maybe for a beef tartar.

their prime price is less than Choice in the local market - but of course you have to buy a mega-bundle....

[dragnlaw]

I'm talking about a whole beef tenderloin. They run anywhere from 4 to a whopping 7 lb chunk of yummy. At approx. 1/2 lb per person, you can feed up to 14 people with a large one. Last one I bought cost me 85$ and that was quite a few years ago.

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by dragnlaw

I'm talking about a whole beef tenderloin. They run anywhere from 4 to a whopping 7 lb chunk of yummy. At approx. 1/2 lb per person, you can feed up to 14 people with a large one. Last one I bought cost me 85$ and that was quite a few years ago.

I just did a quick search for whole beef tenderloin. It's tough to find that even for sale, maybe because the pandemic has changed people's economic situation and maybe also due to supply problems. It seems pretty clear that it's well over $15/lb. I don't think any ground beef would be worth that much.

[dragnlaw]

I'm pretty sure I saw some late Spring, early Summer at Cos co. Didn't check the price as wasn't in the mar ket.

I didn't buy it to make hamburgers! LOL it was just with the scraps that you get when you finish trimming. At that price you ain't gonna throw out any morsels left over!

[buckytom]

A few years ago, I bought a Lem meat grinder so I could grind my own meat for burgers and eventually to make sausage. Since we like very lean burgers, I made the first few batches from inexpensive top round London Broil. They were really good. I also had a good contact to get locally produced bison meat.
Shortly thereafter, my wife found out her cholesterol was elevated and gave up eating red meat.
So much for the Lem grinder. It hasn't seen much use since.

I need to look into making ground turkey for meatballs and such, and grinding chicken to make Italian sausage.

Has anyone tried making chicken sausage straight from the grinder/ without the use of a sausage stuffer?

[pepperhead212]

bucky What I've done with chicken, as well as other meats, is cut them into fairly even sized cubes, then toss them with all of the spices and salt, to coat the cubes as well as possible. Then, it grinds together fairly well, and I only use a stuffer when I do want stuffed casings, and that is unusual.

[buckytom]

Thanks, pepp.

I'm ok with using various semi-frozen meats through the grinder, with or without spices (I continue to hope a prodigious deer, elk, caribou, or moose hunter with a need of a tiny abattoir and I cross paths someday), my thought was to try to stuff casings directly from the grinder. To me, sausage is meat in a tubular form, most often in a type of skin, but not always.

Loose or uncased sausage is a different animal, so to say.

[GinnyPNW]

I love my EasyKabob https://www.easykabob.com/

No casings needed. There are endless possibilities for meat on a stick.

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by GinnyPNW

I love my EasyKabob https://www.easykabob.com/



No casings needed. There are endless possibilities for meat on a stick.

I've been thinking about that since you first mentioned it. I love making Middle Eastern flavored kebabs for the grill. I have a set of flat metal skewers. Do you think they would work with the kebab maker? I see they sell wooden ones.

EDIT: NEVER MIND! I just watched the YouTube video on how it works. I'm going to get one.
https://youtu.be/mbDUw9LAzVw

[dragnlaw]

US Easykabob - $30. on sale for $18.

Canada Easykabob - $60. on sale for $40.

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by dragnlaw

US Easykabob - $30. on sale for $18.

Canada Easykabob - $60. on sale for $40.

That sucks

[GinnyPNW]

Originally Posted by GotGarlic

I've been thinking about that since you first mentioned it. I love making Middle Eastern flavored kebabs for the grill. I have a set of flat metal skewers. Do you think they would work with the kebab maker? I see they sell wooden ones.

EDIT: NEVER MIND! I just watched the YouTube video on how it works. I'm going to get one.
https://youtu.be/mbDUw9LAzVw

Scroll down on the link. They sell some "accessory" heads. There's one for Flat skewers too. I bought them, but haven't yet tried them...note to self, time for kabobs!