Grinding Brisket Question?

[RiversideSm0ker]

When you grind a brisket for hamburger, do you trim off any of the fat or just grind everything together? I’m considering buying one purely to grind and want to make sure my ground beef doesn’t come out terrible. Thanks in advance.
G

 

[JC in GB]

When you grind a brisket for hamburger, do you trim off any of the fat or just grind everything together? I’m considering buying one purely to grind and want to make sure my ground beef doesn’t come out terrible. Thanks in advance.
G

I have never ground brisket but a certain amount of fat is necessary. If your burgers are too lean, they will fall apart on the grill.

My suggestion is to trim off the fat cap and weigh it separately from the meat.

Add fat back to the grind by weight.

For example if you have 10 lbs of lean meat and want a 20 % fat content, you would add 2 lbs of fat back into the mix.

I like juicy burgers so I would probably go 25 or even 30% fat content.

My $0.02

JC

 

[Red Badger]

Newbie here. I buy brisket burgers from my butcher. I think the fat content might be closer to 30%. They are damn good. Agree with JC, Add the fat by weight and at least 20%.

Good luck!

 

[gary s]

No matter what cut of meat you want to grind, I cut off all the Fat, Weigh your meat then add fat to what ever blend you like

Gary

 

[chopsaw]

RiversideSm0ker I clean up anything I wouldn't want to eat , then grind the whole thing . Weighing everything and going by percentage is the best way to do it , but never had bad result doing the whole thing . Makes a great burger .

 

[sawhorseray]

I'd pretty much do it chopsaw 's way, cutting off hard fat and gristle, and then just run it all thru my grinder. His pics look ideal to me. RAY

 

[sandyut]

same, i trim all the fat i can then grind. having too little fat in the burger has never been an issue. if you like more, save and add back by weight %.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Same as most of the others. I trim off some of the really hard white fat/silverskin and then just grind the whole thing. The correct way would be to trim and then add back in by percentage of what you want but never had a problem not doing that. Love some brisket burgers!

 

[Chasdev]

I've done it and you have to get rid of the hard fat, it won't cook in the time a burger sees flame.
Also, pure brisket does not taste right in a burger, you need to toss a chuck roast in there too if you want it to resemble normal burger taste.
Best plan is to save up soft fat from steaks, other briskets, chuck roasts etc... and use that to add fat to brisket burger.

 

[pops6927]

Save yourself the trouble and just purchase already tubed burger at any % - 73, 80, 85, 93, 97% lean. It is the VERY BEST ground beef you can buy, under the strictest sanitation conditions! Read my article on it! - http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/index.php?ams/ground-beef-in-a-tube.9829/

 

[RiversideSm0ker]

Thanks for all of the input guys. My thought was that brisket is pretty fatty by nature and being a dollar a pound less expensive than traditional ground beef, it seems like a no brainer. That’s why I ask the experts like you all. For now I’m leaning towards shelving the idea but I’m not going to completely abandon the idea permanently. You folks are the best source of smoking advice I’ve ever found.

G

 

[pops6927]

Ground Beef And Food Safety

Food Safety and Inspection Service United States Department of Agriculture About FSIS District Offices Careers Contact Us Ask Karen askFSIS En Español Site Map A-Z Index Help TopicsPrograms & ServicesNewsroomForms Topics / Food Safety...

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Home Grinding Your Own Ground Beef

This is an attractive idea to many, knowing where your ground meat comes from. The process is simple. Purchase a grinding machine of some sort, from a food processor or a home grinder or attachment (like to a KitchenAid Mixer) or a dedicated...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[chopsaw]

Thanks for all of the input guys. My thought was that brisket is pretty fatty by nature and being a dollar a pound less expensive than traditional ground beef, it seems like a no brainer. That’s why I ask the experts like you all. For now I’m leaning towards shelving the idea but I’m not going to completely abandon the idea permanently. You folks are the best source of smoking advice I’ve ever found.

G

Grinding brisket in place of buying store bought is a great way to go . My reply was an answer to your question . Straight brisket makes a great burger . No reason to add any thing else . I've bought the tube ground beef , didn't like it .

 

[pc farmer]

I agree with chopsaw . I cant handle the tube burger.

 

[SmokinAl]

I take off the big edge of hard fat & grind the rest. I guess the right way would be to take all the fat off & weigh it so you Would get the correct percentage. But my way has always worked fine for us.
Al

 

[sandyut]

Grinding brisket in place of buying store bought is a great way to go . My reply was an answer to your question . Straight brisket makes a great burger . No reason to add any thing else . I've bought the tube ground beef , didn't like it .

Completely agree!!

Ground Chuck Roasts are also very good and takes way less prep time.

I will never buy grocery ground beef again - it grosses me out now. also there was a study about how many cows were in one pound...McDonald's confirmed it was more than 100 in their beef and I have heard number many fold higher.

Mine have one or two

 

[SmokinAl]

The best burgers I ever made were 3 1/2 pounds of ground brisket & 1 1/2 pounds of ground pork belly ground together. Then use a burger press & make 6 oz. burgers. Talk about a juicy burger!!

Al

 

[hoity toit]

The best burgers I ever made were 3 1/2 pounds of ground brisket & 1 1/2 pounds of ground pork belly ground together. Then use a burger press & make 6 oz. burgers. Talk about a juicy burger!!

Al

I'm with you on using the pork belly...makes really good beef taste even better.

HT