Anyone grind their own hamburger?

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Kyle

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I just acquired a Chop-Rite #22 grinder and want to make some burgers tonight. I could just get a chuck roast and go to town, but I'm interested in hearing people's techniques, preferred cuts/ratios, etc. Any and all advice is welcome!
 
I will second the bacon thing...ugh, huge difference :D i noticed that if you cut too much fat off the chuck, the burgers suck at staying together
 
Everybody knows too much fat is not good for you, but fat in burgers is a good thing. It's not like you're eating them twice a day every day.
 
I haven't done it myself but some people I've worked with have.

I've heard of fat backs being added so its 70-30 or 60- 40 protein to fat.

Bacon never hurt anyone
 
I get chuck eye steaks and mince them with a knife.
:knife:

That and not salting early, and good technique...never eat a dense burger again!

The only things I like with ground beef are meatballs and meatloaf.
 
I primarily use chuck and look for a piece that looks to be close to the rib so I can get meat that's close to the rib eye cap. I trim all sinew, add leftover fat -the softest fat so it grinds nicely - and grind it through my Kitchenaid grinder attachment once through the small die. I would prefer to get a medium die and grind twice because grinding just once tends to leave the meat a little stringy IMHO.
 
do the kitchen-aid grinder attachments work well? i actually do hamburgers in my cuisinart, but i've thought about getting a grinder attachment for the 'aid. i want to do sausage, as well, and i haven't gotten great results for that using a food processor, unfortunately.
 
I get good results but I do small batches. People who have unsatisfactory results try to grind up whole elks.
 
I have never been disappointed with my Kitchen Aid grinder attachment. I have not tried the sausage stuffer yet though I do have it.

I have a stand alone unit too buy the KA is easier to clean.

-AJ
 
I like to use short ribs for my burgers and sometimes brisket as well.
 
I get good results but I do small batches. People who have unsatisfactory results try to grind up whole elks.

Whats wrong with that?? I would maybe only tackle half a moose at a time, but an elk? Come on! I thought the Kitchen Aid would laugh at the challenge! :crazy::grilling:
 
Short batches is best. You have to keep the die's cool. A good idea is to have a second set in the fridge and change them out when you start getting hot. Alton Brown explained that it has something to do with the fat molecule and keeping it small. When you get your die warm it starts to expand the fat, making it "not good eats."

Many passes through too, you want a even distribution of meat and fat.
 
Ok so it's better to do a course grind then a finer grind rather than going from chunks to fine?
 
On the meat - I'll second adding some short rib....great flavor. Re: the grinding.....I have a KA and the attachment, but it's on my **** list. As bad if not worse than the pasta attachment. Spins too fast and gets greasy too fast. My preferred method is an old clunky hand grinder that clamps to the counter...medium die followed by small die. I chill them before use. Only reason for not using it always is the difficult clean up.
 
We save end cut steaks from our dry aged strips, you know the ****** well done only pieces, and grind that up in our mix but I'm sure not everyone has that available to them. Pick up some fat back and make sure you grind about an 80/20 mix. You should be pretty happy with the results.
 
Ok so it's better to do a course grind then a finer grind rather than going from chunks to fine?
yes. your motor will love you for it to. If you were doing it the old fashion way, you arm would love you for it.
 
Short batches is best. You have to keep the die's cool. A good idea is to have a second set in the fridge and change them out when you start getting hot. Alton Brown explained that it has something to do with the fat molecule and keeping it small. When you get your die warm it starts to expand the fat, making it "not good eats."

Many passes through too, you want a even distribution of meat and fat.

+1 when grinding any meats, regardless of the end product, colder is better. Chill all of your equipment, grinder parts, bowls, etc. and you'll get a much cleaner grind if you partially freeze your meats first. Not all the way through, just till its a little firmer. This will help prevent the fat from liquefying, and the collagens in the meat from shrinking. Which will contribute to a dry, grainy sausage/burger/meatball/pate etc. And if you want to get a really tender sausage/burger- seam out the major muscle groups, and then cut long even strips WITH THE GRAIN. This is very important. Because as you feed those long strips into the grinder, it will cut the meat against the grain, which will produce a far more tender product. Trust me- it's worth the time and effort. As to burgers- I do a 60/40 ratio brisket to chuck. Trim about 70% of the fat off the brisket, grind coarse, toss it back in the freezer till its crispy, add 1% salt and .5% white pepper, and grind fine. Nice beefy burger. I'm not a fan of adding pork to burgers as I feel it starts getting a little meatball-esque. I love meatballs, and pork(pork is my muse). But I like my burgers beefy, and tender, with some nice tooth.
 
+1 when grinding any meats, regardless of the end product, colder is better. Chill all of your equipment, grinder parts, bowls, etc. and you'll get a much cleaner grind if you partially freeze your meats first. Not all the way through, just till its a little firmer. This will help prevent the fat from liquefying, and the collagens in the meat from shrinking. Which will contribute to a dry, grainy sausage/burger/meatball/pate etc. And if you want to get a really tender sausage/burger- seam out the major muscle groups, and then cut long even strips WITH THE GRAIN. This is very important. Because as you feed those long strips into the grinder, it will cut the meat against the grain, which will produce a far more tender product. Trust me- it's worth the time and effort. As to burgers- I do a 60/40 ratio brisket to chuck. Trim about 70% of the fat off the brisket, grind coarse, toss it back in the freezer till its crispy, add 1% salt and .5% white pepper, and grind fine. Nice beefy burger. I'm not a fan of adding pork to burgers as I feel it starts getting a little meatball-esque. I love meatballs, and pork(pork is my muse). But I like my burgers beefy, and tender, with some nice tooth.

+1 to all of these. I chill as much equipment as possible - grinder parts in the freezer, meat in the freezer for 15 minutes or until really cold. My trimming is exactly what's described here - seaming out the major muscles. I'll have to see how the result is cutting the meat with the grain and feeding the grinder in this manner.

I should have added that the one thing I haven't liked about the KA attachment is that meat and sinew tends to get stuck in the back. That's another reason why I grind my meat in one step. I don't want to have to interrupt my grinding because I need to pull the thing apart and clean it out.
 
+1 to all of these. I chill as much equipment as possible - grinder parts in the freezer, meat in the freezer for 15 minutes or until really cold. My trimming is exactly what's described here - seaming out the major muscles. I'll have to see how the result is cutting the meat with the grain and feeding the grinder in this manner.

I should have added that the one thing I haven't liked about the KA attachment is that meat and sinew tends to get stuck in the back. That's another reason why I grind my meat in one step. I don't want to have to interrupt my grinding because I need to pull the thing apart and clean it out.

By one step, do you mean from your hand cuts to a fine grind?
 
If you are getting a build up of sinew, I'd suggest both cleaning your meat a little better, and doing a more progressive grind(coarse to fine). And you might want to chill your meat just a bit longer. In my experience, the closer to frozen the better, it should be almost crunchy. And if you lay out those long strips side by side, you can peel them of and feed them nice and smoothly into your grinder. Works waaaaay cleaner than tossing random chunks in.
 
By one step, do you mean from your hand cuts to a fine grind?

Yes. I didn't like the consistency going from a large grind and then to a fine grind. I found the meat to be too fine. Two passes through a large grind was ok. One pass through the fine grind die was the best as far as texture and mouthfeel.

I actually clean my meat very well for the most part. I take off all sinew. The fat can actually clog the grinder and meat actually gets stuck in the back. I'll try cutting the meat into strips next time.
 
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