Benefits of Grinding Your Own Meat

Reasons to Ground Your Own Beef

1. Cost
   Grabbing a few lesser loved cuts, especially while on the sale, is the way to go. Ground beef can occasionally be overpriced. We suggest spending less on a few cuts to grind your own.
2. Health
   When you grind your own beef you are in control. Do you prefer hormone-free, organic, grass- fed Angus? You know that its freshly ground. It hasn’t been sitting on a shelf waiting to be prepared. And most importantly, you can make your work area, making as safe and clean as possible.
3. Taste
   The ground beef at your local market may not actually be ground at the store itself. Crazy, right? Picking and choosing the freshest cuts, seasoning it to your liking and grinding it with control over what you want to incorporate into the beef is a surefire way to guarantee a much tastier burger from the grill. And don’t be afraid to add a little fat. Trust me.

Now, want to grind your own beef for burgers? We suggest selecting a big fatty chuck roast and a lean sirloin half the size of the chuck, while mixing in a little short rib. Grind a large batch, portioning it for different meals and seasoning all ahead of time. Then, freeze. This will make a quick weeknight dinner or even prepping for a larger party super easy. Use these tips to help you get started grinding.

Quick Meat Grinding Tips

1. Always work clean. Clean equipment, clean work surface, clean bowl for the meat to fall into.
2. Freeze your meat for 15 minutes before cutting into cubes. This makes slicing the meat very easy.
3. Freeze the meat grinding attachment, the grinding blade and plate, etc. for at least 30 minutes, while you prep everything else. Keeping everything cold helps for a better grind.
4. Grind twice. Run your beef through with the plate with the larger holes before tossing and regrinding.
5. If you know what you are using your meat for, season while you grind.
6. To quickly clean the grinder before a thorough washing, use a slice of plain white bread or two. This will help dry the grinder as well as push out all the remaining beef in the grinder.
7. If you don’t have a meat grinder, you can pulse your beef in a food processor to create your own ground meat as well.