Beef for Summer Sausage grinding

[djreaction]

Hi All,

I am going to be making some Beef Summer Sausage. What is the best deal for beef to grind?  I found a Chuck roast for around $2.59lb. Is that a decent price?  Are there better cuts that I can use to make a good Summer Sausage?

Is it best to go to a place like Sams to buy it, are the deals that much better?  Whats the best bang for the buck?

PS. I will be mixing it with pork which I already have purchased and ready to grind.

Thanks for the help!

 

[scarbelly]

It is going to depend on what is on sale in your area. I see a lot of recipes with chuck in them for sure

 

[pineywoods]

Sometimes I buy ground chuck if it's a better price

 

[djreaction]

How would brisket work? There are some good deals right now for it.

 

[Bearcarver]

Shame you weren't in Canada last week!

AK1 could buy Standing Rib Roasts for $1.99.

That's what they sell 80/20 ground beef for around here!

Bear

 

[djreaction]

Why not use pre ground beef and then mix it up and stuff it? I know you don't know what goes into it but would the final product really suffer that much?

 

[pineywoods]

Why not use pre ground beef and then mix it up and stuff it? I know you don't know what goes into it but would the final product really suffer that much?

 I have done that more than once with good results. As I posted earlier I use what beef I can buy cheap if it's already ground so be it

 

[mballi3011]

I would look for whats on sale and if you can find some already ground for really cheap then I would use it. You will have enough time to grind up more meat in the future. Now I always check at Sam's they usually have good prices and if you guy have a Restaurant Depot they also have really good prices. I'm always looking at prices whenever I'm near either of them.

 

[Motorguy]

Getting ready to do my first summer sausage. I'm thinking of making the first one a beef summer sausage instead of a beef/pork combination. If I use a rib or chuck roast and grind it, do I need to add additional fat? If I use ground chuck, do I need to do a second grind or use it as it is? 

I think I have the process down, just need to confirm what to start with. I'll be using Excalibur H Summer Sausage mix this time as I want to concentrate on the process first, then get experimental.

Any input greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[reinhard]

I would go with beef chuck roast or ground chuck.  Ground chuck is 80/20 so no pork is needed.  First cut chuck roasts have more fat content than center cuts and end cuts [as i call them]  Even some center cut chuck roasts have at least a 80/20 lean fat ratio. So for summer sausage a chuck roasts or ground chuck would not need additional fat in my opinion. You will have to eye-ball the chuck roasts.  If you see the first cuts with that big sleave of fat through the middle  i would skip that and go for the more marbled  center cut for summer sausage. If you dont want to pick out a chuck roast just go with the ground chuck because it works just fine.  Reinhard

 

[bdskelly]

 
I would go with beef chuck roast or ground chuck.  Ground chuck is 80/20 so no pork is needed.  First cut chuck roasts have more fat content than center cuts and end cuts [as i call them]  Even some center cut chuck roasts have at least a 80/20 lean fat ratio. So for summer sausage a chuck roasts or ground chuck would not need additional fat in my opinion. You will have to eye-ball the chuck roasts.  If you see the first cuts with that big sleave of fat through the middle  i would skip that and go for the more marbled  center cut for summer sausage. If you dont want to pick out a chuck roast just go with the ground chuck because it works just fine.  Reinhard

Great info Rein. Lucky to have you butcher boys in this forum. I had no idea what was center or end.  With your description  now I know! 

 

[Motorguy]

This helps a lot. Thanks for the breakdown and options. I think I'll start with the 80/20 ground chuck from the store and see how that works out. I'll post the results.