Make Ground Beef At Home
It is very simple to prepare your own ground beef at home. It takes just a few minutes with tools you probably have in your kitchen.
- You know what you are getting - Commercially prepared ground beef is made of bits and scraps of various cuts of meat and discarded fat. It is one of the most problematic beef products and more prone to contamination.
- Very Lean - You have control of the leanness of the meat based on the base cuts you buy.
- Taste - It simply tastes fresher and better than the commercially prepared product and makes the best hamburgers.
If you happen to have a meat grinder you can use it. Many kitchen mixers such as the KitchenAid have a meat grinding attachment that also works well. But given the food processor is a more common kitchen tool we use it in our instructions.
You can vary the cuts if you wish but here is a basic method.
Wash your hands. You'll be handling the ground meat so start with clean hands to avoid contamination.
Makes: 1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound beef chuck
1/2 pound beef sirloin
Cut the meat into 1 1/2" cubes. You don't need to use a micrometer but keep the pieces uniform in size so you end up with a more uniform end product.
Place the chuck in your food processor fitted with the metal blade. Use short pulses that last about 1- 2 seconds per pulse. *Pulse 10 times. Do not use the "auto" button, only the pulse.
Remove the chuck and place it in a bowl or on a plate. Now repeat the process with the sirloin. Add the sirloin to the chuck and mix well with your hands.
*Pulse about 6 pulses for a coarse grind for making chili.