When you buy ground beef in the market, just what are you buying?
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Most recipes simply call for “ground beef,” but, as any supermarket shopper knows, the choices are much more varied. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines “ground beef” as ground fresh and/or frozen beef from primal cuts and trimmings containing no more than 30 percent fat. But that doesn’t really help anyone understand the difference between ground round, ground chuck, and ground sirloin. And what about fat content, which can range as low as 7 percent?
To find out if the cut matters, we prepared hamburgers, Bolognese sauce, and meatloaf using each type of ground beef and held a blind tasting, asking tasters to comment on the taste and texture of each sample. The results were clear; differences between the cuts were obvious and noted across the board.
Ground round and ground beef consistently ranked last in our tests, with ground round described as “tough” and “chewy”; less polite tasters deemed the ground beef “livery” and “gross.” Tasters preferred ground chuck and sirloin: The ultra-lean sirloin was favored for dishes in which other ingredients added much-needed fat, whereas chuck was preferred in hamburgers. Types of ground beef are listed below in order of preference.
Ground Chuck
Cut from the shoulder, ground chuck ranges from 15 to 20 percent fat and was favored by our tasters for its “rich” flavor and “tender,” “moist” texture. The best choice for burgers.
Ground Sirloin
Tasters praised the ground sirloin as “tender and tasty,” especially in the meatloaf and Bolognese sauce, but found it a bit “dry” in hamburgers, though it did have “good beef flavor.” Cut from the midsection of the animal near the hip, ground sirloin usually ranges in fat content from 7 to 10 percent.
Ground Round
Lean and tough, ground round comes from the rear upper leg and rump of the cow. Tasters rejected the round as “gristly” and “lacking beef flavor.” The fat content ranges from 10 to 20 percent.
Ground Beef
Any cut or combination of cuts can be labeled “ground beef,” so consistency is a problem. Because ground beef may have as much as 30 percent fat, greasiness can also be an issue. Our tasters dismissed the ground beef in all applications as “mushy,” with an “old boiled beef taste.”
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Yes, but not for chili!
Lately I find that hamburger has a gritty taste to it, has something changed since the pandemic, the last pack I got was a 10/90 ground beef sirloin and just clumps, not juicy like hamburger use to be!
Super awesome thank you for doing this nice video!! 💥⭐️💥⭐️
Has anyone else noticed the awful change in texture as well as flavor of ground chuck? The past 4 years or so I've noticed a degradation of the firmness and texture of the ground Chuck. It seems to be so over processed that any additional handling to form meatballs, hamburger patties or meatloaf renders the meat so tight and grainy it's like eating course beach sand patties….there also always seems to be a kind of Debris or dregs left in your mouth after chewing that you are most apt to want to spit out rather than swallow…..I always look for 80% lean 20% fat but quality has really gone down hill in the past several years…Whats happening????My last idea would be to by a 4 pound chuck roast and have the butcher grind and package it for me..
I don't understand why the 90/10 shrinks up smaller and makes more grease than the 80/20.. The 80/20 even seems more lean and less tuff. The 80/20 came from Kroger and the 90/10 came from Walmart..
There's a huge difference between the quality of ground beef at a Braum's, compared to what you can get at Walmart or Aldi's. Bargain basement beef makes me gag, I can't even get through a single Aldi's hamburger. It's disgusting, so I did some research around town a few years ago and I have even tried different meat markets, but the best ground beef around these parts is from the little grocery stores they have inside every Braum's fast food restaurant. They actually have the best milk, the best ground beef, and they have quality steak for a fair price. Never a wide range of selection, I never even used to pay attention to the grocery store in Braum's, as they are far more famous for being an ice cream shop and fast food restaurant, but whatever they do, they do extraordinarily well. Braum's grocery store ground beef is not the same smell, taste, texture, etc. That I can get anywhere else, no one else is even close to matching their quality, convince, and cost, so I never would risk it. Why eat anything else, when Braum's is so mind-blowing in quality? Never would you find anything wrong with their ground beef, every batch is perfect. I eat it all the time. Their bacon isn't the best, too much fat on it, unless you get lucky and get a good batch, then it is the best. But for most things like meat and dairy, I go with braum's grocery store or I'd rather go without. You have to go very expensive, grinding your own, dry aged, Kobe beef etc. if you want better than Braum's.
Thanks for the info. I have yet to find a package a ground beef from a major chain grocery that doesn’t leak. (Frozen) learned something new
Good tips on the 80% and the grass v. grain fed . . .normally I would look for the grass fed and leaner stuff. Thanks for the knowledge!
If you can only afford the cheapest ground beef, at least up your game and mix in a few slices of bacon and run it all through your meat grinder and get that bacon mixes in there. Makes the best burgers. I personally do it with ribeye but it definitely makes regular ground beef much better.
The best is just to go get it at the butcher anyway.
I prefer to grind my own but if not grinding get it in the chub packs it won't be oxidized. Never buy stuff with a plastic tray and plastic wrap…they hide the nasty oxidized stuff inside. Screw that.
I agree grass-fed ground beef doesn't taste as juicy so there has to be something we can put in it when we're making our Burgers to make it more juicy maybe olive oil or something
Like that you acknowledge grass fed vs commercial beef. Had a bbq the other day ended up making half the burgers with grass fed and the other with regular because I couldn't get enough of one type. Not sure if they didn't like the slight gamey flavour or if they are just used to normal burgers flavour or I'm just not very consistent in my burger making but they all seemed to slightly prefer the regular beef burgers. Either way will probably just buy regular commercial beef for my next burgers as it is a lot cheaper and people didn't really care either way.
Natural, organic, grass-fed, non-toxic, no chemicals, no radiation is the food of the bourgeois, or the ignorant.
Dan, I agree with everything you said except for buying pre-ground meat. Just don't do it. Grind your own, it only takes ten minutes if you prep properly.
Im starting to really like these very short videos
Bullet points, the video!!!
Best to buy 1/2 a cow from a farmer. Store beef is very weird now.
Why is the sound still so bad? Come on guys, you have a professional studio and equipment. Not sure what the issue is, I love the content but the sound quality is distracting.
Have you tried to find this in Southern CA? No? I thought not…chuck doesn't exist. : /
Here's one better. Go to a local butcher and get your beef. He means 80% meat 20% fat. Way more flavorful than factory farmed bullshit you get at the grocery store. Just the fact that these things had to be pointed out is evidence of the garbage the stores sell.
Don’t eat innocent, emotional animals. It’s obviously cruel and hurts them, damages the environment and uses up limited natural resources, and is damaging to human health. Do y’all not care about your children and world you leave them?!