What's really in your ground beef

[JP Z]

Copied this from an article on the kitchn's page.

For Nick Paul, a meat cutter at The Hills Market, an independent grocery in Columbus, Ohio, the answer is easy: “If I’m grinding chuck, I’ll cut it down into manageable portions for our grinder,” he says, “I won’t add anything except beef. If we have leaner meat than we need, we’ll add trimmed-off fat from another roast.”

But not all ground beef is made by the folks at the store level.

While the Hills Markets of the world — independent markets, specialty grocers and high-end supermarkets — bring in larger cuts (or use the trimmings from meats already sold in house) and hand-cut them down into manageable pieces to be run through a large grinder, larger-volume stores turn to beef distributors to help cut labor at the store level. One distributor prides itself on providing grocery stores with 8,000,000 burger patties a week.

According to a former meat industry insider, chain stores go one of two routes for presenting ground beef to their customers. The first is to bring in 60-pound cases of coarse pre-ground beef at different levels of fat content, and then add trimmings in-house to finish off the process.

The second — presenting pre-packaged ground beef designed to look like it’s made in the store — is more suspect and may become more prevalent, thanks in part to the Food Safety Modernization Act, which was signed into law in 2011. This law requires retailers to be able to trace all meat products — including ground beef — back to its source. To comply with the tracing rules, my insider says, it’s much easier for stores to buy something made elsewhere than it is to report exactly which cuts go into the end product.

Here are two things besides meat that may be in your grinds.

NitrogenLike your ground beef to be a bright red color? You can thank carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, a large percentage of nitrogen, and the FDA. This three-gas mixture helps to keep the red look desired by, well, everyone. And while it’s completely safe to eat, it does mess with our perception of the concept of fresh. (And, by the way, you won’t be able to find nitrogen on a label. If you really want to know if the beef you’re eating uses this, ask your grocer; if you want to know if your beef is fresh, use your nose.)

Tip: If your ground beef is red on the outside and grayish brown on the inside, don’t panic — it’s all about air. The pigment in meat changes colors when exposed to oxygen. If anything, the non-red color on the unexposed part of your ground beef is indication that this mixture does not contain nitrogen.

BacteriaDon’t freak out — bacteria is everywhere. The important differentiation is bacteria that lives "on" your meat versus bacteria that's mixed up "in" your meat. When cooking a steak, the sickness-causing bad guys such as E. coli and Salmonella that may live on the outside of the meat are heated and killed with the cooking process. But with ground beef, these guys are mixed into the center, and won’t be killed unless the internal temperature is at least 160°F. That undercooked ingredients advisory at the bottom of menus is there for a reason, and while a good medium-rare or rare burger sounds lovely, industry professionals take the USDA’s cooking advisements seriously.Want to avoid issues and unreported extras? "Buy from a place that grinds fresh daily and avoid meat from that grab-and-go case

[delcecchi]

You do realize that the air you breathe is about 80% nitrogen, right? Are these writers idiots?  

[JP Z]

Not my Air!!!!  I'm Vegan, and I crossfit...........so I would think I breathe non-Nitrogenized air.... It's the NEW fad

[Moon Lake Refuge]

4 minutes ago, JP Z said:

Not my Air!!!!  I'm Vegan, and I crossfit...........so I would think I breathe non-Nitrogenized air.... It's the NEW fad

You can always tell a crossfitter.  If you have been in a room with someone for ten minutes and they haven't talked about it yet... they're not a crossfitter.

[RebelSS]

I used to grind the burger from step #1 thru the final fat content measuring process. Chuckin' those 40lb slabs of frozen fat thru that knife grinder was a job. Then over to hooking the slabs of meat up out of the 4' high pallet cartons, overhead into the huge grinders, sure put the muscles on ya. Interesting process, though. We always had salt and pepper handy, for the quick "steak tartare" right out of the grinder. RH can tell ya all about that, I bet. 

[RebelSS]

1 hour ago, Moon Lake Refuge said:

You can always tell a crossfitter.  If you have been in a room with someone for ten minutes and they haven't talked about it yet... they're not a crossfitter.

 

                                              

[reinhard1]

Ground beef is ground beef unless otherwise stated on the package as far as added spices, cheese, ect.  and yes there are some pacs out there with the gas.  I think Target has some of that.  You can tell by the container most of the time.  They are not ground at the store and usually in plastic tubs.  I would never buy that tub with the gas.  Not that it is unsafe, but If you ever looked at a pack after the seal is broken, it turns a gray color fast.  The beef in tubes you see often are just fine and just beef.  Service counters that have ground chuck and ground round are exactly that.  Ground beef that is ground in the store is usually shop trim.  By that I mean as they cut beef with all the varieties from the round, chuck, or loin, the trim from that goes into that ground beef.  Very good stuff.  I buy the ground beef in the tubes also when they are on sale.  Large outfits that grind for other stores are federaly insptected and must meet the fat to lean ratio.  So they will add leaner meat to up the percentage of lean to fatter trim.  While I do not like the gas containers, I think we as a nation have the safest ground beef in the world.  good luck.

[RebelSS]

RH, what's yer take on this beef/steaks that Kwik-trips are selling? They look pretty fair to me.....all choice grade, stamped, inspected (of course)....

[thirdeye]

I can get the 20# chuck rolls for a decent price at Sam's Club.  It takes me about 1/2 hour to prep and chill down that amount of meat, then 20 minutes to grind.  I use a canning funnel and stuff it into the 1# plastic tubes and I'm good to go.

[reinhard1]

Guess I've never seen those steaks Reb.  If they are choice and are well trimmed they should be good.  I'm thinking they might be the vac packed one's?  good luck.

[RebelSS]

No, just  regular black  plastic tray ones. Lots of ground beef, too. The steaks aren't cheap, either, Didn't check the GB.

http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/kwik-trip-aims-to-fill-grills-with-fresh-meat-offerings/article_0d23f455-1c56-5b94-884f-013d22b78fa9.html

 

[delcecchi]

The kwik trip guys started in the grocery business.  Their chicken was good. 

[reinhard1]

Looks like good beef there but the price's are way up there.  good luck.

[RebelSS]

9 hours ago, reinhard1 said:

Looks like good beef there but the price's are way up there.  good luck.

That's what I thought. Saw two small strip steaks for $15. No bargain in my book. They're out to make money like everyone.

[Dotch]

Looked pricey from here too especially when you consider the price on the hoof. Ouch! 

Heck, I don't gouge people that much for our lamb!