Ground beef has long been a go-to ingredient for many dishes, from burgers to tacos. Though it is delicious and easy to cook with, we get a lot of questions every year about ground beef – such as how lean ground compares to medium or extra lean? Is it nutritious? How do you season it best? And what is the best way to cook it? Keep reading for all the answers to your burning questions about ground beef.
Regular ground beef is made up of different trimmings and cuts of ground meat from all around the cow’s body. There are various types of ground beef: ground sirloin comes from the loin region of a cow near its hind legs; ground round from the rump; brisket from its chest; shank from its legs; and so on.
What is Ground Beef? There’s More to It!
Though it may seem like a simple answer, there are several different types of ground beef. The ground beef consumers purchase from the store or butcher shop is usually shoulder, hip and other trim which has been minced into smaller pieces. Ground beef is also known as mince or hamburger (which can be confusing because ‘hamburger’ is typically used to refer to the patty and not the meat).
Trim is a term used by butchers to describe the edge or outside cuts of meat that are left after larger cuts have been removed such as roasts and steaks. Butchers rarely use a hip or whole chuck in ground beef.
From the chuck primal they will cut cross rib roasts and blade short ribs roasts first before using the rest of the meat for ground beef. To create the roast’s final, perfect look, extra meat and fat are trimmed off and used for ground beef.
The same is done with the hip. Butchers will make roasts from the hip such as inside round, outside round, sirloin tip and eye of round. Any remaining end pieces (or trim) will go into the ground beef.
The butchers will also have trim when they prepare premium steaks like ribeye, striploin, tenderloin and sirloin. Does this mean there is steak in my ground beef? Yes indeed, although it is a relatively small amount.
Butchers use trim to easily adjust the fat content in the beef by adding fattier trim. The amount of fat in ground beef dictates whether it is classified as regular, medium, lean or extra lean.
What is Lean Ground Beef?
Lean ground beef has a maximum fat content of 17%. Lean ground is the most popular of all the grinds for its versatility. You can use it for almost any ground beef dish including burgers, meatballs, pasta sauces and casseroles.
Lean ground is primarily composed of lean hip cuts. Although, one cut in the shoulder called the shoulder clod (pectoral) makes a good fat-to-meat ratio for lean ground as well. You’ll recognize one of the cuts in the shoulder clod as the cross rib roast.
Meat Mythcrushers: How Ground Beef Is Made
FAQ
What is considered regular ground beef?
What is ground beef usually made of?
What is the main ingredient in ground beef?
What do they use to make ground beef?
What is ground beef made out of?
Ground beef is made out of “trimmings,” which are pieces of beef that are trimmed off a primal cut to make the slice of beef look more desirable in the meat counter. Trimmings may include whole muscle meat, which are boneless without cartilage or heavy connective tissue. An entire beef carcass will yield about 15-20% of its weight in trimmings.
Ground beef vs Ground round: Which is healthier?
Ground round is better than ground beef because of less fat content as compared to ground beef. It can be used in soups and hamburgers. Beef falls into red meats and is high in cholesterol and saturated fats which are unhealthy for heart and even for diabetic patients. Lean meats like chicken and fish which are used skinless in soups and curries are better option than red meats.
What is ground beef?
Ground beef is basically beef that’s been ground or finely chopped, and it’s also historically been called hamburger since it’s the main component of one of America’s favorite dishes.
Where does ground beef come from?
The various trimmings and cuts of ground meat used to make regular ground beef come from all over the cow’s body. There are several different kinds of ground beef, including ground sirloin, which comes from the loin of a cow near its hind legs, ground round, from the rump, ground brisket, from the chest, ground shank, from the legs, and so forth.