sf wrote:
>
> On Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:28:21 +0100, "Ophelia" >
> wrote:
>
> >
> >"sf" > wrote in message
> .. .
> >> On Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:24:30 +0100, "Ophelia" >
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>>Does everyone buy ready made? If not, what kind of beef do you use and
> >>>what
> >>>do you mix it with, if anything?
> >>>
> >>
> >> Ready made, meaning preground? We don't buy much red meat anymore.
> >> When we buy hamburger it's always preground and we never look for
> >> silly labels like "ground sirloin". The only thing we look at is fat
> >> content.
> >
> >As I have said elsewhere, I alway grind my meat. I don't trust any butcher
> >*that* far) I was interested in which cuts are used and I see you like to
> >see plenty of fat which I also would prefer.
> >
> I used to buy 20% fat because that has the best flavor. Since hubby
> had his stents put in, we rarely eat red meat. I cooked hamburger for
> the first time in almost a year last week, don't remember what it was
> called other than hamburger.
>
> >Do you buy stewing/braising/frying steak?
> >
> Do you mean whole pieces of red meat to eat whole, not ground? I
> don't have any interest in grinding my own. If it's ground, I
> consider it pouring money down the drain to buy anything except ground
> miscellaneous ends and pieces. Some call it mystery meat, I call it
> ground beef. I have the same attitude with pork and lamb.

Well, you don't know what you're missing.

I'd recommend doing a side by side comparison of two burgers, one made
with store ground meat and one fresh ground at home and both otherwise
prepared identically. It's not just a question of "mystery meat" scraps,
a very big factor is oxidation as I've mentioned before. Once the meat
is ground there is vastly more surface area exposed to oxidation, so
grinding fresh and cooking immediately makes a *huge* difference. I
don't fuss around with buying a specific cut of meat to grind, I just
find one that looks good and is a decent price. While there will be a
difference between round/chuck/etc., those are more subtle differences
while the difference between store ground and fresh ground is dramatic.