What’s the best cut for ground beef? I’ve decided to start grinding my own again, partly due to my diminishing trust in factory providers.
I like very lean, under 8% or less for meat loaf and such, but fattier, 15% or so for burgers on the grill where the meat’s own flavor counts a lot.
I just got my Big Green Egg! 
Peace,
mangeorge
Traditionally it’s been ground chuck. Fatty and flavorful. But people have gotten used to some mushier burgers, and much leaner meat (the flavor’s in the fat, folks). Ground sirloin can be very flavorful, but also expensive. Maybe a good price on sirloin tips would make it worthwhile. Round will be very lean, but could end up bland. I’d stick with chuck myself, but that’s my personal preference in taste and texture.
I would also go with chuck.
According to someone who did quite a bit of research, short rib (with the grain aligned vertically).
Of course, the lettuce is infused with smoke and cheese that has to be emulsifed with wheat ale.
Oh, man, if you like burgers, try grinding up some boneless short ribs. That’s stuff is fantastic for ground beef. Perhaps even too rich–some people cut it with chuck and sirloin. Otherwise, I like chuck.
ETA: Beaten to it, but good to see I have some corroboration for this. For me, short rib beats chuck in most applications that chuck is also suited for (ground beef, stew, that sort of thing.)
Really lean ground beef is kind of dry and tasteless. It works if the meat is meant to be in the background, but it lacks “meatiness” as a primary flavor.
I am ready to start having the store grind something- chuck, then?- for me. Why is hamburger so damn expensive right now??
Which is why I prefer lean for meat loaf and taco meat. That sort of thing. Fat will wash out your flavorings. Especially in gringo taco meat.
I’ll sure try the short rib for sure. Probably with chuck.
If you get stuck with that, try adding some of this, the beef flavor, with water. It keeps forever in the fridge.
Denis Leary insists that the cows providing the meat need to be cigarette smokers.
Through their tracheotomy holes if necessary.
Do you have a story behind that, or did you just make it up?
Damn, that sounds lucious. I’d give it a try in a New York minit.
I do occasionally put a very easy fried egg in my boygah.
It was one of his comedy shticks.
Had me ROTF!
Denis wants to be able to smoke 2 cigarettes at once, one oral, the other in the tracheotomy hole. And he wants to be eating a big greasy cheese burger at the same time.
And he wants the cheeseburger made from meat from a cow that smokes. And if it needs to smoke through a tracheotomy hole too, so much the better.
I had a little adjustment getting used to him in his drama show, Rescue Me.
Here’s one more suggestion. Heston Blumenthal (crazy-ass perfectionist chef and chef/owner of The Fat Duck, one of the world’s top restaurants) suggests:
1 part chuck
1 part brisket
2 parts short rib (minimum 30-day dry aged)
He pre-salts his burgers (before the grind) and lets them rest. Far be it for me to question the great Heston, but that’s one of my no-nos for burger making. If you want to see a good visual demonstration of why, please read through this.
Yea, Fabio tried that and failed spectacularly.
The famous Ham-Bööger!
“Nancy’s Blend” is sold at Farmer’s Market in LA for Nancy Silverton of La Brea Bakery/Campanile fame.
It’s perfect.