What's a good mix for grinding ?

[brevardbelly]

What would be some good types of meat for grinding for a 80-20 or 70-30 hamburger ? Chuck steak in my neck of the woods is more pricey than the London broil cut.

[brevardbelly]

Thanks, I appreciate the response ! Not sure about the non beef additions though.

[mcf]

I've read that brisket with short rib is best, and I've tried that, skirt steak, etc. After all that, flank steak, even though leaner, is the most flavorful (and not dry/lean) burger I've home ground so far.

[ediblover]

20-30% fat is very low fat as far as burgers are concerned, so I'd go with flavorful cuts like sirloin and even consider stuff like aged and grass-fed.

[scubadoo97]

Really? You consider 30% fat very low fat for a burger? Wouldn't sirloin decrease the fat content? I like to add sirloin to a burger mix when using other fatty meats since the sirloin adds a good beefy flavor.

[mcf]

I consider it low fat, period. If you like lean, but very beefy burgers, give flank steak a try, really.
No turning back for me. :-)

[scubadoo97]

Granted 20% is on the low side but 30% is not a low fat. It's nearly a third of the total calories. I shoot for 30% in my mix. I've had some fatty briskets that pushed some mixes close to 40% but the taste of fat over shadowed the meat.

[mcf]

That's considered low fat by nutrition recommendations and lipids researchers say it's too low to provide adequate EFAs for optimal immune and brain function. 20% is way below healthy levels. Especially if you're replacing it with starch.

[Hank Hanover]

Alton Brown has a recipe for making your own hamburger meat at this link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/al....

He uses the following:
8 ounces sirloin steak meat, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
8 ounces chuck steak meat, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
8 ounces lamb shoulder meat, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes

Unfortunately, while his formula sounds delicious, it also sounds pretty expensive.

Most grind your own ground beef recipes use a lot of chuck because it is so flavorful and because it has the right fat ratio.

[j8715]

i hadn't thought of non beef cuts.

you could consider veal breast. generally very cheap. cut the meat fat hunk off that sits on the ribs and grind that. you could eat the ribs slow roasted or braised, or just use them for veal stock.

[rasputina]

brisket works really well especially if it's not overly trimmed. We usually use a mix of short ribs and brisket.

[j8715]

wow those are some pricey burgers

[j8715]

the 'london broil cut' is usually round which is quite lean. most anything with chuck in the name is the best. the seven bone roast is a good one and usually cheap. things with the word blade in them are usually good too. alot of places play fast a loose with naming cuts so i would just look for those two words and the price tag and cut out any of those clearish tough sinewy guys before grinding.

[jaykayen]

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/20...