|
|
Good, Safe, High Quality Hamburger
For Us All
by John Smith
Related Articles |
|
Using Cheap Cuts of Meat
What's Your Beef? Cheap and Delicious Hamburger |
I haven't worked in a slaughter house for a couple of decades or more now, but still the only thing that surprises me about reports of abuse and questionable practices is that it has taken this long before anyone has taken notice.
Whenever a cow that is used for breeding or for milk production has outlived her usefulness or becomes ill to the point of being a financial burden, she is shipped off to the auctions. There she is purchased with other cows of similar qualities by a meat processing company. Then she is turned into hamburger for the supermarkets or boneless beef for prepared foods of some kind. As long as I've been around, the meat from these slaughterhouses has never posed a problem. I have never heard of any of the meat hurting anyone with the exception of an occasional e-coli contamination. Just the same, I have been preaching for many years now that if you want good quality hamburger from nice young healthy animals, you should never purchase the ground beef in the counter of your local supermarket unless you know that they are using the trim from their daily production exclusively.
Chef Making Hamburger Patty photo from Shutterstock
Back in my early days of retail meat cutting, I worked in a couple of different stores that used boneless bull meat from Australia. We would take these huge frozen bricks and cut them on the saw and then save all of our fat from the days cutting and grind it all together to make hamburger. It actually made pretty good hamburger. But then we got word that it had been discovered that one of the processing plants in Australia had been mixing kangaroo meat in with the bull meat.
Also, as a young butcher, I remember getting fresh boneless cow and bull meat to make hamburger patties for the local restaurants. We would pull out the tenderloin and make steaks for ourselves. The steaks would be tender, but the flavor was lousy. The hamburger turned out okay after we added a bunch of boneless plates to fatten it up some. Boneless plates are the fat side meat that comes off the ribs of the young animals. It adds the necessary fat and has great flavor, which makes the old cow meat tolerable.
These days I work in a large supermarket that is part of a huge chain of stores. We use the very best meat available. Our roasts and steaks are on par or better than anyone's in the nation. But if you want the best hamburger made from healthy young animals, the smartest thing to do even in the best of stores is purchase a roast or two and have the butcher grind it up for you. Then and only then will you know just what you are getting.
The best tasting hamburger you can make is from the boneless chuck. Boneless chucks are on sale all the time. Next time you see an ad for boneless chuck roast ask the butcher to grind up a bunch of them for you and fill your freezer. Also boneless rumps are often quite cheap and make very lean hamburger. Just keep your eyes open and you'll usually see something in the meat case that is priced right to make great hamburger with.
If you are feeling a little creative, wait for some type of lean round meat like rumps or London broils to go on sale and grab about twenty pounds of them. Then select a whole fresh brisket, about ten pounds' worth, from the case and ask the butcher to grind them all together. The brisket has a lot of fat and great flavor and should be fairly inexpensive. Now you've got some nice hamburger.
After all of my preaching and making suggestions for the best and healthiest hamburger, the truth is that I eat whatever is the cheapest, which is quite often the processed stuff in the counter. But we don't have to.
John Smith has been a butcher/meat cutter for 30+ years. He's written the book Confessions of a Butcher - eat steak on a hamburger budget and save$$$. You can check out his book and some of his archived articles at www.all-about-meat.com or post any meat related question and get it answered usually within 24 hours. John, his wife Vickie and their 8 kids live in eastern Idaho in the shadow of the Tetons.
Ark Essentials
PO BOX 12062
Salem, OR 97309
Take the Next Step:
- Next time you see an ad for boneless chuck roast or boneless rumps, ask the butcher to grind up a bunch of them for you and fill your freezer.
- Check out our coupon page and save money on your favorite products. click here
- For all things "Groceries & Food," please click here.
Discuss "Tastiest Burger" in The Dollar Stretcher Community
Share your thoughts about this article with the editor: Click Here
Subscribe to TDS Newsletters
Join over 250,000 other subscribers!
To subscribe, check the newsletters you wish to receive, enter your email address and then click Subscribe.
View the TDS privacy policy.
|
Money problems? Struggling with credit card debt? What you need to know about bankruptcy? Trouble repaying student loans?
|
Get free money-saving articles in your inbox!
Sign up for our free weekly eNewsletter Surviving Tough Times.
Looking for an answer to a frugal living question? Click here to ask a
Dollar Stretcher Stretchpert!
Copyright 1996 - 2013 "The Dollar Stretcher, Inc." All rights reserved unless specifically noted.
Contact the Dollar Stretcher at:
Dollar Stretcher
PO Box 14160
Bradenton FL 34280
941-761-7805
"The Dollar Stretcher, Inc." does not assume responsibility for advice given. All advice should be weighed against your own abilities and circumstances and applied accordingly. It is up to the reader to determine if advice is safe and suitable for their own situation.
| About Us | Privacy Policy | Writer's Guidelines | Sponsorship | Media | Contact Us |
