Ground beef or beef patties? Which you buy for making burgers (restaurants, freeze)

[eureka1]

I only grill burgers once or twice a year. We use local grassfed beef. It really makes a difference.

[ss20ts]

All of my meat comes from a local butcher. I don't buy the premade patties. They cost more and I've got 2 perfectly working hands. I can also make the burgers whatever size I want and add spices to them. I'd give up eating burgers before I ever ate a frozen pattie. YUCK!

[steiconi]

I don't eat beef, but I do buy turkey patties. There are only 2 of us eating, and I don't want to have to thaw 20 ounces of ground turkey for 2 burgers, then figure what to do with the rest. I can afford the convenience.

[Miss Ree]

I use ground chuck and pat out my own and wrap the extras in waxed paper and then a baggie and freeze them. My children like the mixed burgers I make with soft bread crumbs, minced onions, catsup and mustard before patting out and frying or grilling over charcoal. My uncle always liked pressing a slice of cheese between two thin patties then sealing the edges before frying. Always fresh ground chuck though.

[SATX56]

Originally Posted by mainebrokerman

know where your burger comes from

know if it is made/ground fresh at the store you are buying it at.. you can ask
and here's what to ask

is this burger ground fresh at the store, and is it made from real steak trimmings?? ( as opposed to being shipped in from thousands of miles away like walmart, or made from pre-determined lean/fat tubes....this is preprocessed burger from huge batches out west..

go to a butcher shop, or smaller iga store that still has a butcher and ask


id go for the ground chuck before id buy a fat/lean %

more of a chance the fat/lean % was shipped in and not ground fresh onsite..


i was a meat manager in a supermarket for many years....now a supervisor with independent stores, i deal with this everyday


if you do buy chubs, and other shipped in burgers,,,be sure to cook to 160f it kills all bacteria
this preprocessed burger shipped to stores and not hand cut at stores is where the pink slime came from years ago

I agree with you on the chubs. I won't buy them. Too many horror stories about those packing houses. Always glad to have your input on meats which is your expertise.

[hotzcatz]

We not only know where our beef comes from, we know what his name was, too. So, when buying beef directly from the folks who raised him, we can get roasts, cuts and ground, but not preformed patties. Grass fed beef and a young steer so it's pretty tasty no matter what shape it's in. No steroids, bovine growth hormones, GMO corn or anything else other than grass fed beef. No additives at the slaughterhouse, either.

[Nonesuch]

If I am cooking one or two burgers, I find it a lot easier to just peel off frozen patties and throw them on the grill than to form a couple of burgers and have to figure out something to do with the rest of the ground meat.

Originally Posted by oceangaia

Messy? I keep a box of surgical gloves under the sink in the kitchen. Cleaner and safer for handling raw meat, mashing beef patties, dicing veggies, breading pork chops, etc. When done, peel off and discard. Hands all clean!

That's the way to do it.

When you have relatives in health care, you tend to accumulate an infinite supply of "expired" surgical gloves.

[justanokie]

Have a big grinder for processing game and such that makes real good hamburger meat from chuck and/or brisket.

[sholomar]

No option for both. Gotta love them black and white, gotta do it one way types.

[charlygal]

Originally Posted by steiconi

I don't eat beef, but I do buy turkey patties. There are only 2 of us eating, and I don't want to have to thaw 20 ounces of ground turkey for 2 burgers, then figure what to do with the rest. I can afford the convenience.

Assuming you make 1/4 lb burgers, thaw out the 20 ounces, make 5 patties, eat two now and put the other 3 in the freezer. They'll be ready next time you want a quick burger. Problem solved.