"Premium" Ground Beef

[Andy M.]

I hear about Kobe/Wagyu beef burgers or Angus beef burgers and wonder if they can actually be better than average ground beef burgers of the same fat content.

These premium meats are what they are because of their superior marbling which creates a juicier more tender steak.

Isn't that benefit lost when you grind the meat? If it's 80% or 85% lean after grinding, it compares to ground chuck in fat content.

What do you think?

 

[Silversage]

Publix here sells them a Kobe/Wagyu ground beef, both bulk & pre-formed. I've tried the bulk a few times, and honestly, I'm hard pressed to see a difference. I WANT to see a difference, hence trying it more than once, but whether I grill it or pan-fry it, it's just like the 80/20 chuck to me.


OTOH, I can tell the difference in grass fed beef. Unfortunately, down here the only way I can find it is so finely ground that the burger won't hold juice. Maybe if I moved to Oklahoma...............

 

[taxlady]

Interesting question Andy. I buy Angus burger patties, because they are what I can get of locally raised beef from a store that delivers. I could get the organic ground beef, but that costs about the same and they don't carry it in pre-formed, frozen patties, which is really convenient.

I haven't noticed any particular improvement in the flavour of Angus ground beef over other grass fed ground beef.

 

[caseydog]

OTOH, I can tell the difference in grass fed beef. Unfortunately, down here the only way I can find it is so finely ground that the burger won't hold juice. Maybe if I moved to Oklahoma...............

Yup. Or Texas. It is easy to find, here.

As for Wagyu burgers, I haven't tried it. These guys have...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_vkW07hsp8

CD

 

[RPCookin]

I hear about Kobe/Wagyu beef burgers or Angus beef burgers and wonder if they can actually be better than average ground beef burgers of the same fat content.

These premium meats are what they are because of their superior marbling which creates a juicier more tender steak.

Isn't that benefit lost when you grind the meat? If it's 80% or 85% lean after grinding, it compares to ground chuck in fat content.

What do you think?

I had one somewhere once, and it was exceptional, better than other high quality burgers I've had, but I can't really say if it was the meat, or just a different cooking style that made the difference. It seemed more flavorful, and I attributed that to the fat content. However, you can add fat to any hamburger grind, so I'm guessing that there may be more to it than that. I'm not sure it was worth the extra money spent though.

 

[medtran49]

We got some supposedly grass Fed, organic, Wagyu once and made burgers the same way we always do and couldn't tell a bit of difference.