In this thread we discuss the so called pink slime that is making a comeback due to high beef prices. When some of us expressed a dislike for the use of pink slime in something like ground beef sold in the grocery store you replied with this little gem.
You condescending little shit stain. Can you point out where I argued that pink slime wasn’t meat? Can you point out where I demonstrate a lack of awareness as to where meat came from? Holy fuck balls, I even make it clear that I have no objection to pink slime for health reasons and that my only concern is it’s use in ground beef. And that concern is grounded (heh) in the fact that I expect ground beef to be made from solid pieces of cow meat. I don’t expect my ground beef to include pellets made from a slurry formed from cooked pieces of cow that includes sinew, cartilage, and connective tissue nor do I believe my expectations are unreasonable.
But, please, by all means, carry on and continue to be a douche nozzle.
Based on chiroptera’s other posts in that thread, the smiley face was either a typo or a bullshit maneuver. I absolutely agree with the OP that I do not expect my ground beef to consist of anything but ground beef. You’ve got your hot dogs, sausages, and any number of other highly processed meat products that can have mechanically rendered meat molecules in them, and that I expect to consist of such substances. My ground beef is not a highly processed product; it’s ground beef.
If you want your ground beef to consist solely of ground-up slabs of muscle tissue then purchase ground beef that says things like “100% ground chuck” or “100% ground sirloin” and that’s what you’ll get. If you purchase generic ground beef then don’t be surprised that some of it is extremely fine ground bits from off bones or trimmings, which is still ground beef even if it’s not the ground beef you prefer.
I’m not really on either’s side here and I think both arguments are unobjectionable. But it’s pretty clear to me that the at the end of chiroptera’s post was passive aggressive, in a way that’s similar to “bless your heart”.
Quit with the fucking strawman. There is no fucking reason someone has to accept either 100% quality meat or the lowest possible quality meat that has been banned in Canada and the EU as unfit for human consumption. It can’t even be sold in the US except as less than 15% of regular meat. It is not as safe as regular meat.
You and I are willing to eat it because we’re both kinda poor, but there’s nothing wrong with being the type who wants to avoid the health risk, and wanting the choice not to have to have it, even if they have to pay more.
Also, “extremely fine ground bits” is just another way of saying “slime.” It’s not ground in the way most mean the term. And it’s been heavily altered from its original state before it is even ground. It is only “ground beef” by the most technical of definitions.
I mean, we don’t call gelatin “ground cartilage,” now do we? That’s what it is, but no one thinks of it as being a ground product.
What the hell is “quality” anyway? There are people who think beef tendon is a food in its own right. Is beef tendon garbage or delicacy? How do you distinguish crappy beef tendon from quality beef tendon?
I absolutely feel that foods should be accurately labeled and people should read those labels so they can make their own decisions about eating. This isn’t just about labeling, though. “Mechanically separated meat” and “pink slime” might be the same thing but there’s a definite psychological difference in the two terms.
There’s a crapload of “health risk” to “quality” and “healthy” foods, too, that I think are being downplayed. You actually have a higher risk of getting food poisoning these days from salad greens than from any legitimately produced beef product. Yes, the stuff IS treated to prevent contamination and retard pathogen growth. Guess what, so are a lot of other foods. Unless you’re willing to give up bacon, ham, corned beef, smoked products, pickles, and a lot of other such things you haven’t a leg to stand on here. And hey, raw tapicoa is poisonous but we feed it to toddlers - AFTER processing.
A lot of this comes down to people being ignorant of where their food comes from and how it gets from its original source to the table.
I suppose we could call it “pate” or “puree” as well, then charge premium rates for it. Again, the terms being used are loaded. “Chopped liver” is actually “liver slime” if you look at it another way, and on top of that is a very unappetizing “grey slime” to boot yet people buy it and happily devour it.
Well, I’ve been known to, but then, I’ve made it myself from bones and scrapings at home and used it to thicken gravies and soups so I know what it is and where it comes from and how its made. It’s traditionally how you make aspic. The commercially produced stuff also uses more chemicals than the home version, but then, I refrigerate the stuff I make at home, I don’t reduce it to powder or attempt to transport it long distances or store it for long periods.
Maybe that’s why I don’t get the panic over it. I’ve known about this sort of thing for a long time. I’ve practiced “thrifty cooking” all my life. I think it’s morally preferable to fully utilize and animal you kill for food rather than letting some of it go to waste. I read labels and look up terms I don’t understand. I know that even the most natural foods can carry some risk and how to take food from source to table safely.
The product has a role. Yes, label anything with it so you can choose to eat it or not. It’s not the devil incarnate or unhealthy or dangerous.
Last week I bought some really nice steaks and put them through a grinder. I grilled two very rare hamburgers and they were heavenly. I’ve also eaten meat from the pinkslime end of the spectrum. It tasted pretty good also.
at he end of chiroptera’s post.