usable cuts for burger grinding

[chopsaw]

with a full packer do you trim at all?

I trim it the same as if I was going to smoke it . I get rid of anything I wouldn't want to eat .
Anything that's slimy fat or dark in color . Any super hard fat also .

I cut some into strips , with a narrow end . Narrow end in first and the grinder sucks it in .
I have a 500 watt #12 grinder , so those strips are pretty big .

The rest will get cubed , but I like nothing but clean meat and nice white fat .

blackstone whiskey burger seasoning and tequila lime seasoning....heard good things about both.

Love the Blackstone seasonings . I'm out of the Whiskey burger . We use the heck out of it .
Great on a lot of things , but puts a great crust on a smashburger .
Tequila Lime is good too . Also have the Original , and the Hatch chili cheddar .

 

[Hijack73]

My rule on what your store calls London Broil is to try to not grind it alone. I always save fat, and will grind in a little of the fatty part of the pork belly or use that saved fat (which I never have anymore, as butts are sold nowadays without a fat cap worth a snot). nothing wrong with a bit of pork fat in grind. The best fat to save is deckle fat from a brisket. Mixes with ANYTHING very well.

What I like to do personally is buy some extra fatty chucks on sale, and when I catch round (London Broil) for cheap, I grind a fatty chuck and a London Broil together 1-1 ratio. Me mixing and matching clearance meats is probably the main reason I grind 2x on my coarsest plate. I get a good mix that way.

The pretty half really likes almost fat free ground beef (sigh) for a lot of things. So I have been grinding some for her out of round. She hasn't quite figured out that my 85/15 is a bazillion times more tasty than her 97/3 or whatever she can find pre-ground, but we are getting there.

From your list, if you want to be economical, buy 10lbs of round and a 15lb brisket and mix it. Yeah, that's 25lbs of grind, but look at it this way - you would have grind for a long time.

Also - I have always found that brisket MUST be very cold to grind correctly. I can get away with fridge temp on just about everything else, but brisket grinds a whole heck of a lot better if it's semi-solid. The fat cap can be really soft, and soft fat is ok COLD. Not cold, it's a mushy nightmare. I suppose that is fat smear, which is a term I've only lately become familiar with.

I'm also a dirty glutton when it comes to clearance ribeyes. The ones that might be a tad too old to cook up rare/medium rare make the absolute best God's chosen grind. Fatty cheeseburger overindulgence. That's one time I'll gladly go over $5/lb for grind. So far, with all I had in the freezer from when I could get chucks for 3.99 and round for 2.99 (and that's been at least 6 months), It's a good bet my price/lb on grind for the year is still still sub $4/lb - though the freezer, she has too many empty spots for my comfort. I bought 2 whole sirloins @ Publix a couple of weeks ago and I must admit, I cut some nice steaks, some nice steak tips, some nice stew beef and had mucho mucho left over for grind. And that was 4.99/lb - most I've paid for non-ribeye in a while.

 

[Hijack73]

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.
View attachment 702711
View attachment 702713

Man, I'm glad I don't buy meat at the Mart any longer. That clearance chuck is still 5.89/lb

ridiculous, though I really would pay more than that to never eat commercial grind again. I'm blessed in a way - 2 of my local Food Lion's have lazy markdown guys in the meat department. I can't tell you how many pork bellies, ribeyes, and chucks I've bought that all have a sticker on them that say "X kind of meat, 1.89lb/@$4.99lb" and it will really be a chuck or a belly that weighs 3lbs or 5lbs respectively. I buys them all. ALL - it has been a while since I've hit one of those happy sales though.

 

[JIMSMOKES]

Man, I'm glad I don't buy meat at the Mart any longer. That clearance chuck is still 5.89/lb

ridiculous, though I really would pay more than that to never eat commercial grind again. I'm blessed in a way - 2 of my local Food Lion's have lazy markdown guys in the meat department. I can't tell you how many pork bellies, ribeyes, and chucks I've bought that all have a sticker on them that say "X kind of meat, 1.89lb/@$4.99lb" and it will really be a chuck or a belly that weighs 3lbs or 5lbs respectively. I buys them all. ALL - it has been a while since I've hit one of those happy sales though.

That was for a burger cook this weekend. I scour the ads every weekend for the best deals.
After grinding my own I almost don't care what it cost.

 

[clifish]

My rule on what your store calls London Broil is to try to not grind it alone. I always save fat, and will grind in a little of the fatty part of the pork belly or use that saved fat (which I never have anymore, as butts are sold nowadays without a fat cap worth a snot). nothing wrong with a bit of pork fat in grind. The best fat to save is deckle fat from a brisket. Mixes with ANYTHING very well.

What I like to do personally is buy some extra fatty chucks on sale, and when I catch round (London Broil) for cheap, I grind a fatty chuck and a London Broil together 1-1 ratio. Me mixing and matching clearance meats is probably the main reason I grind 2x on my coarsest plate. I get a good mix that way.

The pretty half really likes almost fat free ground beef (sigh) for a lot of things. So I have been grinding some for her out of round. She hasn't quite figured out that my 85/15 is a bazillion times more tasty than her 97/3 or whatever she can find pre-ground, but we are getting there.

From your list, if you want to be economical, buy 10lbs of round and a 15lb brisket and mix it. Yeah, that's 25lbs of grind, but look at it this way - you would have grind for a long time.

Also - I have always found that brisket MUST be very cold to grind correctly. I can get away with fridge temp on just about everything else, but brisket grinds a whole heck of a lot better if it's semi-solid. The fat cap can be really soft, and soft fat is ok COLD. Not cold, it's a mushy nightmare. I suppose that is fat smear, which is a term I've only lately become familiar with.

I'm also a dirty glutton when it comes to clearance ribeyes. The ones that might be a tad too old to cook up rare/medium rare make the absolute best God's chosen grind. Fatty cheeseburger overindulgence. That's one time I'll gladly go over $5/lb for grind. So far, with all I had in the freezer from when I could get chucks for 3.99 and sirloin for 2.99 (and that's been at least 6 months), It's a good bet my price/lb on grind for the year is still still sub $4/lb - though the freezer, she has too many empty spots for my comfort. I bought 2 whole sirloins @ Publix a couple of weeks ago and I must admit, I cut some nice steaks, some nice steak tips, some nice stew beef and had mucho mucho left over for grind. And that was 4.99/lb - most I've paid for non-ribeye in a while.

I think my first run is going to be chuck with some ribeys I have laying around, along with a pound of bacon. Not sure on the ratio yet.

 

[chopsaw]

I think my first run is going to be check with some ribeys I have laying around, along with a pound of bacon. Not sure on the ratio yet.

Sounds good . I think you will be impressed with the difference in grinding your own .
I just broke down a Beef knuckle this morning ( sirloin ) . Got a 2 1/2 pound roast , a 3 pound roast , and 3 pounds of stew meat / or grind .

 

[clifish]

Sounds good . I think you will be impressed with the difference in grinding your own .
I just broke down a Beef knuckle this morning ( sirloin ) . Got a 2 1/2 pound roast , a 3 pound roast , and 3 pounds of stew meat / or grind .

The grinder came in but had to go to PA to swap cars with my mom in PA (she is 90 and dad is 91) need to do full brakes, filters, wipers and rotate tires. So will need to wait till next weekend.

Do I need food grade lube and when/where do I need to use it?

 

[Nodak21]

It’s good to use food grade lube when you are finished but I never have in the 8 yrs with a LEM#12.. just plug it in and hold on.. like others said. Any lean meat is great ground just save fat from trimming or buy some beef fat. It’s cheap and you will have good burger. 8lbs lean and 2lbs fat for a perfect 10lb batch. Just vac seal in 1lb packs and it lasts a long time.. grinding is one of the simplest things you will do and always good results.. I highly recommend the Cumberland sausage recipe on this site using pork butts. It’s out of this world good

 

[fxsales1959]

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

I've only made burger once with my #8. We have a latin market down here that has what they call Chuck steaks. $4.99/lb. from the looks of it, after deboning it , it grinds out "close" to 80/20.
Used the medium plate. Made some 3oz patties for smash burgers and some 5 oz patties for supper burgers. First run was acceptable. Always looking for other options. Ground chuck down here , from many cows is $4.99/lb. in 5 lb. lots. I'm reading options on this post too.

 

[chopsaw]

Do I need food grade lube

I personally don't use it . I put the plate and knife in the bowl with the meat chunks , and get some fat on them .

 

[hoity toit]

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

I use packer brisket that is trimmed lightly and add a little pork Fat and grind it fine 2 times. Thats how I do it.

HT

 

[Fueling Around]

…
Do I need food grade lube and when/where do I need to use it?

I start my grind with a good fatty chunk to lube the plate and knife
I use just a dab of food grade lube on the seal at the motor side

 

[clifish]

I use packer brisket that is trimmed lightly and add a little pork Fat and grind it fine 2 times. Thats how I do it.

HT

Picked up 4lb of bacon on buy one get one deal. I think I will come up with a ratio of bacon to heavily trimmed brisket for the first run may be 4:1?

 

[DougE]

I hit my plate and knife with a little Crisco shortening (also the thrust washer on the drive end of the auger) just so nothing is running dry on startup. The fat in the meat takes care of the lube once it starts feeding through.

 

[clifish]

Cleaned up the grinding stuff, ordered bottle brushes and hope to grind this weekend. Came with 3 metal plates not sure on the MM yet and also a plastic kidney plate that I assume is for stuffing if I try that.

My question is, it came with 1 blade should I get a back up? Not sure how long they last and can they be sharpened? chopsaw ?

 

[chopsaw]

Not sure how long they last and can they be sharpened? chopsaw ?

Cliff there's a how to thread on here about resurfacing the plates and sharpening the blades .
I haven't done either one to mine . Still going strong . I bought this grinder in 2014 . Had a lot of meat ran through it .

I think some guys match a blade to a plate . So for every plate they use a blade that goes with it .
I just use the same blade ( only one I have ) with whichever plate I use .

Here's that thread .

Sharpen your grinder blade and true the plates

I made this video a while back and thought about it today when I sharpened my blade and refaced the plate. Thought it might be helpful to some others here. There are 3 videos total that take you through the whole process. Mods, feel free to remove if I'm breaking any rules...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[clifish]

Cliff there's a how to thread on here about resurfacing the plates and sharpening the blades .
I haven't done either one to mine . Still going strong . I bought this grinder in 2014 . Had a lot of meat ran through it .

I think some guys match a blade to a plate . So for every plate they use a blade that goes with it .
I just use the same blade ( only one I have ) with whichever plate I use .

Here's that thread .

Sharpen your grinder blade and true the plates

I made this video a while back and thought about it today when I sharpened my blade and refaced the plate. Thought it might be helpful to some others here. There are 3 videos total that take you through the whole process. Mods, feel free to remove if I'm breaking any rules...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Thanks Rich, one less thing to buy! looks like my plates are 2-4-8mm does that sound right? I imagine start at an 8 and go to a 4 for burger grind? the 2 seems really small, not sure what that is for?

 

[chopsaw]

The chuck I ground was through the 10mm plate I just bought .
The smash burger grind was one pass through the 7mm plate . I only grind once for burger grind . Normal grind is once thru the 7mm .

 

[clifish]

The chuck I ground was through the 10mm plate I just bought .
The smash burger grind was one pass through the 7mm plate . I only grind once for burger grind . Normal grind is once thru the 7mm .

my eyes suck so maybe the 8mm is really a 7mm? I don't see any markings...oops read the manual it is 3mm, 4.5mm and 8mm

 

[chopsaw]

Yeah , I think mine is 4.5 and 7 . Then I just bought that 10 . I really like that 10 for stuff like this ,

That's the sauce for a dish my Mom made when I was growing up . We call it ground meat and noodles . I think East coast calls it American chop suey .

I use the 7mm - 8mm 90 % of the time .