smashburger woes

[Hijack73]

For at least 20 years, and probably much closer to 25, I've been a staunch "I don't eat store grind" camp and firmly in the "it's all grindable" camp. Yes, fat is important. Grinding top round and expecting it to act like ground chuck just doesn't work. But as far as mixing and matching or grinding one vs the other hasn't really been a problem, as long as I don't grind what I call 'mushy fat' (and even then, if it's cold enough, will grind fine) - for me it's brisket cap. Some of it is just..... mushy.....

That being said, I've never made many smash burgers. I like them, I like them an awful lot, but I can only make them in a cast iron skillet and I no longer have a suitable outdoor burner. I do want to change that, but I just haven't. Smashing on the stovetop is just a damn filthy mess. Coats the walls and ceilings and I know I don't clean the walls very often. Like - once every few years...... let alone the ceiling.

But youse guys kill me! I do a couple every great once in a blue moon.

Last week, I had that craving. Got all me stuff together and thawed out a vac pack of ground sirloin. Fat wasn't the problem. All the trim from where I bought some whole sirloins on sale went into the grind. When it thawed, the meat was very loose. Like open the pack, turn it upside down, and all of it would have fallen out like pea gravel loose. I've never had that happen. Well, it wouldn't hold together for anything. Balled it up, smashed it, it almost made chili meat in the pan. It just wouldn't bind. It came out of the vac pack almost wet. Individual pebble grind, but wet, and not sticky at all.

What happened to my ground sirloin???? Seal seemed fine, or I would have attributed it to some kind of freezer burn like issue.

 

[JLinza]

My boss bought some chicken a while back.... cooked it the same way he has for years, said it was sticking to the grates and had this odd gooey texture. Shortly after he read an article about Walmart carrying this " lab grown meat". ... who knows, but it seemed interesting to me.

 

[chopsaw]

When it thawed, the meat was very loose.

Could be the moisture in the meat . It freezes and swells . Actually can tenderize whole muscle cuts . Might have done the same to the ground sirloin , and then you lost the moisture when thawed . Just a thought .

wouldn't hold together for anything. Balled it up, smashed it, it almost made chili meat in the pan

I had that with brisket grind one time , because I smashed it to thin and forced all the fat out of it . I cooked it through , scraped it into a pile and threw a slice of cheese on it . Let that melt and put the bottom bun on flipped it over , another slice of cheese , top bun and was good to go .
That being said , nothing wrong with a " Loose meat , Maid-Right , Tavern " style sandwich .
Sloppy Joe without the tomato sauce . I have a recipe here somewhere .