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A week? Seriously? Ground meat should be consumed within one to two days of grinding:
That's why I try to buy a package with a use-by date of at least a week away. I "assume" that way it's been recently ground, & use it right away. BTW, it's not just Ground meat you need to get as fresh as possible--it's also chicken, like breasts, etc.
I can't control the way over-optimistic or misleading use-by dates put on by supermarkets, but I can try to work around it......would be nice if they put the dates the Ground meat was actually ground, but that's not gonna happen. BTW, last time I bought ground beef from the butcher case, whatever it's called, where it's not prepackaged but you tell the guy what you want, it was BAD. When I got it home and opened it, it smelled BAD........I took it back to Hannaford......
I've got a couple of stores where I will buy ground meat. They are stores that take great pride in their meat sections... and no they aren't cheap. But the burger is always good.
I don't think they grind their own, but maybe their requirements for the burger they buy is higher? Costco always has good burger, but really not low priced. One of the stores sells certified choice Hereford and ungraded Wagyu, so they probably get it custom butchered. Again not cheap burger but it is reliably excellent.
Mostly, though, I grind my own. I buy whole choice Angus beef shoulders (chuck) and grind it at home. Portion and freeze. My son is extra fastidious about picking through the meat before grinding removing all gristle and whatever that isn't pure meat and we get excellent burger.
I've never bought burger that is sold in tubes that is any good. I won't even buy it to feed to my dogs. Even at the restaurant supply store, the burger that is sold in tubes is heavily greasy and off flavored.
Well I can't say I wouldn't feed it to my dog. Otherwise I completely agree with you on tube hamburger.
Boy I wonder what you would have done if you were buying ground beef 50 or so years ago when we had not much space in the fridge to freeze things. As long as the package says use or best by a certain date it is fine to use by that date. Normally the date will not be more than 3 days out, but one or two: it is safe to use if it is 3 days.
I'll buy a few pounds of ground chuck tomorrow morning, at a weekly farmer's market that's been in operation for nearly 100 years. At the moment my hamburger is still strolling about a pasture. This after noon will be a really bad one, for that particular cow. Fresh, locally butchered ground beef is a totally different product that the "tube meat" that a helpful expert described in the beginning of this thread. Like comparing a bowl of freshly steamed, wild caught shrimp and a bowl of Cheetos. The same butcher turned us on to inexpensive sirloin steaks for grilling. I've bought industrial beef sirloins in the past and tried to grill them. They tasted like a boot, so I just wrote them off as best avoided. Good inexpensive cuts from a real butcher can be mighty tasty.
I'm VERY glad I rarely eat beef now, for health reasons. Two observations on this: first, a distant memory of a book I read as a child (probably early 1960s) in which a kid was taught to ask the butcher for X lbs. of a particular cut of beef and after the butcher cut it, "suddenly" remember that Mom wanted ground beef- so that what he brought home was fresh!
Second- my late DH LOVED Steak Tartare. He'd been raised on a farm, where it was probably safer to eat. He'd come home from the grocery store, unwrap the ground beef, put chunks of it on a cracker and eat it. I shuddered every time. I knew the risks of ground beef made up of meat from an uncontrollable number of carcasses. Ironically, the only time I ever saw it had a bad effect was when we had lunch at the restaurant in The Louvre. They asked him 3 times if he understood that Steak tartare was raw ground beef. I still have a picture of him happily holding the platter up. He thoroughly enjoyed it- and that night I was running around looking for a pharmacy where I could buy him some Immodium. I never found one but fortunately he was fine by morning.
And no, raw beef had nothing to do with his demise!
I'll buy a few pounds of ground chuck tomorrow morning, at a weekly farmer's market that's been in operation for nearly 100 years. At the moment my hamburger is still strolling about a pasture. This after noon will be a really bad one, for that particular cow. Fresh, locally butchered ground beef is a totally different product that the "tube meat" that a helpful expert described in the beginning of this thread. Like comparing a bowl of freshly steamed, wild caught shrimp and a bowl of Cheetos. The same butcher turned us on to inexpensive sirloin steaks for grilling. I've bought industrial beef sirloins in the past and tried to grill them. They tasted like a boot, so I just wrote them off as best avoided. Good inexpensive cuts from a real butcher can be mighty tasty.
A friend of mine, who lived in a rural area, used to buy a "half a cow" from a local farm... i always got a kick out of it... they basically would deliver it however she wanted, some steaks, some roasts, some ground....
Best bet is to buy what ever beef is on sale.....shoulder, top round, chuck. Pick out a steak or roast, and have them grind it. Then you know what you are getting.
Boy I wonder what you would have done if you were buying ground beef 50 or so years ago when we had not much space in the fridge to freeze things. As long as the package says use or best by a certain date it is fine to use by that date. Normally the date will not be more than 3 days out, but one or two: it is safe to use if it is 3 days.
I would do what I do now, what a lot of people used to do more often, and what most Europeans still do: I'd go to the store more often, at least 3 times a week if not daily.
the ungraded is often called no-roll … (carcass not rolled with a grade stamp)
a lot of Mexican beef has entered some retail stores and its tempting because its so cheap...its inspected by usda...but it is not graded.....most is called sukarne…(brand)
and for those that want very lean and cheap.... this is it......but with little marbling...its not choice.grade..it lacks flavor and tenderness.. also you can buy no-roll American beef ….its cheap....but its not consistent.....sometimes its pretty good marbling and sometimes...its very lean..
here's the difference.....say boneless choice grade rib eyes.. market price for wholesalers in the u.s...is 7.50lb … the ungraded/noroll/Mexican beef may cost 4.15lb for bnls rib eye ..
(the top 3 grades go prime, choice, and select...select being the leanest (and usually the cheapest) in the usa ... Canada grades are AAA AA and A triple A being the best
European conglomerates..... my old grocery store chain is now owned my European conglomerates... del haize/Ahold
they now own Hannaford, Food Lion and Stopnshop amongst others.....there's been a huge amount of consolidation in the last 15 years......on the retail and wholesale sides.
look around for any butcher shops or smaller iga's independents in the area …..
im sorry to hear the new owners....went with lower prices and compromised quality..
you can give them this valuable feedback to the new operators/owners they should listen to you ...or they will lose business ..
I love your posts on meat. The information you share is the type that built usenet and forums, intelligent and informed posters giving the low-down that gets covered and glossed over elsewhere.
A couple comments. I remember as a kid going with my mom to the local IGA, where she would ask the butcher to grind round for hamburger. No added fat, she had overweight sisters and was fat phobic. Her hamburgers were fresh but absolutely horrible - overcooked shoe leather that steak sauce could barely mask. Even the 8/1 portion control frozen burgers at the drive in theatre concession had more taste. Those experiences did make me appreciate good burgers.
Su karne sub-primals. Sav-a-lot sells them from time to time as the wrapped sub-primal. Yes, they are inconsistent, but I've learned that if they have the ribeye ones that look decent to buy one, and then if a taste test is good and the fat isn't all in a thick cap, to go right back and buy three or four. Those get overwrapped with small bubble bubblewrap and stored in the freezer. Every once in a while I'll take one out, cut it into steaks while still semi-frozen, wrap and put most in the freezer, again overwrapped, and use the others. I use a homemade variation teriyaki that makes steaks I love. Price on the sub-primals is currently around $5/lb, which is about the price of cheaper tough cuts from Publix. The tow I trim off goes to the wildlife, currently some foxes who are helping with the excess squirrel population.
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