usable cuts for burger grinding

[clifish]

So the Weston #8 grinder will probably be ordered this week after following some recent threads about them. My question is what cuts are good to grind for burgers? Opinions on a mix or ratio, any input will be appreciated. Anyone use bread crumbs or egg in the mix?

Perusing Costco today I saw the following:

Beef eye round @$5.29/lb (can sometimes get cheaper on sale)
Chuck Roast @$5.99
packer brisket @$4.09
Flat part of brisket @$7.25
London broil @$2.99 (supermarket and occasionally for $1.99)
pork shoulder @$2.49

Any of these cuts discouraged? How much should a packer or chuck be trimmed of fat? If using pork does that mean I need to bring the burgers to 145 for them to be safe?

Thx everyone

 

[Coreymacc]

Not sure about the best cuts as I'm from Canada and all the cuts you mention are way too expensive for burgers. I have used brisket trim for burgers and didn't really notice any flavor difference. I prefer 85/15 fat for burgers, good balance of juicy and doesn't shrink too much. IMO

Corey

 

[clifish]

Not sure about the best cuts as I'm from Canada and all the cuts you mention are way too expensive for burgers. I have used brisket trim for burgers and didn't really notice any flavor difference. I prefer 85/15 fat for burgers, good balance of juicy and doesn't shrink too much. IMO

Corey

Nothing is dirt cheap now, After paying $13.99/lb for a butcher grind of filet minion, short rib and bacon burgers I can justify the price of a new grinder. So if I can average out at $5/lb and know what is actually in my burger, I would be more than OK with that.

 

[chopsaw]

I normally use whole packers , but they're up last week . $4.99 , so I bought chuck pectoral or " special grind " . It dropped from $5.49 to $4.49 . So I grabbed that . I'm doing the work , so that reflected in the price . Like the Brisket flat you listed above has labor included in the price .
It's a lean grind , but great beefy flavor . Makes a good smashburger .
I get it at GFS , but also saw it at Sam's .
Packed like this . 8 sections in this one .

Looks like this out of the bag . Comes off the top of the brisket . These two are cut bad out of the bag .


2 different ones cleaned up . I leave some like this for thin sliced beef .


The grind . Pretty lean . Works great for tacos , pasta sauce and smash burgers .
Not sure how it works for thicker burgers without added fat .


Sometimes a normal run for me will be a couple pork butts . Whole rib roast , whole strip loin ,chuck tenders or a bottom round flat .
I'll take the clean trim from all of it and mix it up .
Cliff , having a grinder is a huge addition to this . I use mine all the time .
I've done the Chuck above and 5 pork butts in the last 3 weeks .

100% rib roast grind ,


Burgers from a whole packer ,


If you can get the primals , and are willing to break them down and clean them up , you can save a couple bucks .
I watch the pricing , and around here it will jump up or down up to $1.00 at a time .
So I buy what's cheapest , and if it's to lean I add some pork but to it .

 

[clifish]

I normally use whole packers , but they're up last week . $4.99 , so I bought chuck pectoral or " special grind " . It dropped from $5.49 to $4.49 . So I grabbed that . I'm doing the work , so that reflected in the price . Like the Brisket flat you listed above has labor included in the price .
It's a lean grind , but great beefy flavor . Makes a good smashburger .
I get it at GFS , but also saw it at Sam's .
Packed like this . 8 sections in this one .
View attachment 702700
Looks like this out of the bag . Comes off the top of the brisket . These two are cut bad out of the bag .
View attachment 702701

2 different ones cleaned up . I leave some like this for thin sliced beef .
View attachment 702702

The grind . Pretty lean . Works great for tacos , pasta sauce and smash burgers .
Not sure how it works for thicker burgers without added fat .
View attachment 702703

Sometimes a normal run for me will be a couple pork butts . Whole rib roast , whole strip loin ,chuck tenders or a bottom round flat .
I'll take the clean trim from all of it and mix it up .
Cliff , having a grinder is a huge addition to this . I use mine all the time .
I've done the Chuck above and 5 pork butts in the last 3 weeks .

100% rib roast grind ,
View attachment 702704

Burgers from a whole packer ,
View attachment 702706

If you can get the primals , and are willing to break them down and clean them up , you can save a couple bucks .
I watch the pricing , and around here it will jump up or down up to $1.00 at a time .
So I buy what's cheapest , and if it's to lean I add some pork but to it .

I can get into restaurant depot but the quantity to buy might be prohibitive. I have an old 125 gallon fish tank in the basement that I need to marketplace and get rid of. That will free up about 7' of floor space for a chest freezer, then I can buy and vac pack quantity.

Any thought of putting london broil or bottom round in the mix? Those are the cuts I can sometimes get in the $1.99 range.

 

[chopsaw]

Any thought of putting london broil or bottom round in the mix? Those are the cuts I can sometimes get in the $1.99 range.

Both leaner cuts , but certainly doable . It's whatever works for you , and don't be worried about adding some pork to those leaner cuts .

My freezers are packed . So I understand that . Just find what works for you . I'm not worried about grinding a couple pounds at a time or doing 20 . Clean up is clean up and I don't base my grinding off of that .

I would say buy the grinder . Get a butt and some affordable beef . It's out there if you watch .
London broil is a " style " not a cut , so could be a couple of different things .
Bottom round is lean , but a good choice .

I got way into this back in the covid / supply chain days .
Tags on beef ,
Hamburger : Can be any cut of beef with added external fat

Ground beef : can be any cut of beef , but NO extra external fat added .

Ground chuck : should be 100% ground chuck , ground sirloin the same . 100% sirloin .

Just get started , and figure out what works . Don't be afraid to start with pork . Ground pork butt. Brat patties , Italian sausage patties . Country pork sausage ( sage , salt and pepper ) makes an awesome burger .

 

[DougE]

Chuck will give you around 80/20, but varies some may be a little more fat. Sirloin, which goes on sale a lot is a little leaner ........... more like 85/15 or 90/10.

 

[DougE]

Both leaner cuts , but certainly doable . It's whatever works for you , and don't be worried about adding some pork to those leaner cuts .

I pretty much always add ground pork in the form of breakfast sausage to my meatloaf.

 

[JIMSMOKES]

I just ground up a batch last night. One small brisket, two chuck roast, and some boneless rib meat. Made 34 over third pound burgers.
Being my absent minded self I always forget to finish pics.

 

[clifish]

with a full packer do you trim at all? I hate to admit it but I have never worked with a packer and do not know if there is hard fat on it that should be trimmed?

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Cliff, if you have a good relationship with your meat cutter/butcher, see if he'll give you or sell you beef fat trimmings. Most of it is thrown away anyway so he may give it to you for free. If he does or if he will sell it to you for a reasonable price, I'd buy the $1.99/lb. round and grind it with the beef fat in an 80/20 ratio or even 70/30.

I can get all the beef fat I want for free and when I run out of the $1.87/lb. brisket I have, I will be looking for some kind of round to grind because it's usually cheaper than chuck or brisket. It's all about demand...

 

[Gonna Smoke]

with a full packer do you trim at all? I hate to admit it but I have never worked with a packer and do not know if there is hard fat on it that should be trimmed?

I trim it all and then measure it out to 80/20 or there about. To me, the hard fat is the best fat and I use that first...

 

[tallbm]

So the Weston #8 grinder will probably be ordered this week after following some recent threads about them. My question is what cuts are good to grind for burgers? Opinions on a mix or ratio, any input will be appreciated. Anyone use bread crumbs or egg in the mix?

Perusing Costco today I saw the following:

Beef eye round @$5.29/lb (can sometimes get cheaper on sale)
Chuck Roast @$5.99
packer brisket @$4.09
Flat part of brisket @$7.25
London broil @$2.99 (supermarket and occasionally for $1.99)
pork shoulder @$2.49

Any of these cuts discouraged? How much should a packer or chuck be trimmed of fat? If using pork does that mean I need to bring the burgers to 145 for them to be safe?

Thx everyone

For general ground beef with good fat content from your list:

• Packer Brisket
• Chuck Roast
• Flat part of Brisket (though I would prefer the point for more fat)

These cuts will be wonderful beef flavor (especially the brisket cuts) and have your fat content.

For lean ground beef from your list:

• Beef Eye Round
• London Broil (generally pretty lean)

Do anything you want you would do with leaner beef. If you want to do jerky, the leaner the beef the better, petite sirloin or regular sirloin is very lean like 90-93% lean and great for ground meat jerky.

For general ground pork in your list:

• Pork Shoulder (also known as Pork Butt and Boston Butt)

This magical cut of meat is about 80/20 meat to fat or more fat sometimes and is great for sausage or anything you want ground pork in.
This is also great to mix with lean ground beef to up the fat content and if you've ever eaten a mix of ground beef and ground pork then you know it's a good flavorful combo. So you can stretch your beef big time this way and... lots of Texas style smoked sausage use both beef and pork, so you can get into making those as well if you like.
Often around here we can get this cut $0.87 - $1.29/lbs at one of the many grocery chains having weekly sales.

I think for general ground beef for burger making and such I would lean away from the leaner cuts of beef in your list BUT when leaner is a benefit go fort. Hell I make 100% ground venison tacos, spaghetti bolognaise sauce, and chili all the time. They key is to not over cook the lean ground meat and it will serve you well in just about any ground beef application except really hardcore burgers. I still make small patty 100% ground venison burger but I do it in a skillet instead of allowing it to come apart on the grill. They come out well when the patty is smaller and again it's not cooked to hard.

Trimming packers and chucks? I would only trim away parts that are nasty and you would NOT throw into a skillet, fry, and eat. Grind up everything else on those cuts without hesitation :D

When grilling burgers with pork, yeah I would still take them to 145F. I think official guidelines on ground beef or pork at 165F or so but we all have eaten a medium burger before and 145F should be there and still hit the min solid pork numbers :D

I never run across them, but if I ran into well priced Beef Clod I would grind them like a whole packer or smoke them like a whole packer brisket as well. I hope this info helps :D

 

[clifish]

OK, you people pushed me over the edge, just ordered the grinder and blackstone whiskey burger seasoning and tequila lime seasoning....heard good things about both.

 

[JIMSMOKES]

with a full packer do you trim at all? I hate to admit it but I have never worked with a packer and do not know if there is hard fat on it that should be trimmed?

Yes. I grind it up and cook it down for tallow.

 

[mike243]

Thawing a 17lbs brisket out to make some ground, will smoke some of it but looking forward to the burger the most.

 

[clifish]

Thawing a 17lbs brisket out to make some ground, will smoke some of it but looking forward to the burger the most.

along those lines, anyone lay some smoke on some of the beef before grinding? Like maybe an hour or so (not enough to cook it). I do that with Tri-tip before my wife makes beef barley soup and it is great.

 

[DougE]

along those lines, anyone lay some smoke on some of the beef before grinding? Like maybe an hour or so (not enough to cook it). I do that with Tri-tip before my wife makes beef barley soup and it is great.

Why not just lay some smoke on the burgers or whatever you're making with the meat after it's ground? I really don't see any benefit to smoking prior to grinding.

 

[mike243]

No I keep it cold so it grinds properly,

 

[clifish]

Why not just lay some smoke on the burgers or whatever you're making with the meat after it's ground? I really don't see any benefit to smoking prior to grinding.

I guess you're right, with the soup we cube it, sear it and into the crock pot, so smoke before is necessary.