Is supermarket ground meat inferior to non-ground meat? (restaurant, hamburgers, freezer)

[snowmountains]

Do grocery stores use relatively inferior meat to make ground meat? I suspect so because the best quality meat would be sold as it is, yes? After being ground, it's hard to tell the difference...

[elnina]

Most ground meat is made of round, sirloin or chuck beef and marked so. Max amount of fat is 70%
Interested to know more? Read this:
https://meatscience.org/TheMeatWeEat...the-difference


BUT: When you buy prepackaged ground meat in one of those tubes or foam containers…it may have come from hundreds of cows. If just one of those cows had E. coli on its hide, it’s now in your hamburger. If you ask a grocery store meat cutter to grind your hamburger in the store, it’s coming from just one cow.
There’s still a risk of contamination, but it’s a much lower one.
Also, many supermarkets get big bags full of previously-ground meat that’s coarsely ground, and then they grind that again and mark it as "fresh”.

[mainebrokerman]

here's the beef on burger at the grocery stores....coming from a guy that worked 12 years at a chain supermarket 7 yrs as meat manager and the past 25 years as a meat supervisor for over 40 independent stores

40 yrs ago ….and beyond....the stores would receive hanging beef sides or quarters...
and burger was made all from beef trimmings right on site..keep in mind....the stores would have up to ten bone barrels that had to be hauled away weekly because of the bone and fat ….1/2 a critter is bone fat and waste ..
in the late 70's the big packing plants said we can break down the critters here in our processing plants vacuum seal .. the boneless and some bone in sub primals…. these will last up to 30-40 days in refrigeration ...and they stopped sending the sides because of shipping billions of pounds and the stores had a huge amount of bone/waste at store level..
so the primals started coming to the stores in boxes.....this is 20x more sanitary and safer...also it allowed a store to put on sale a rib eye or sirloin strip steak...because you now could just buy the rib eyes...or strips....before with the whole carcass.....you pluck out the rib eye...you still have to sell the rest of the critter …
because of the less trimmings of shipping sub primals and now the media screaming for lean and low fat in the late 70's the stores started selling more % based burger than … being called ground chuck or ground round..... so the stores started buying the pretested burger from out west ..nicknamed "tube burger" came in ten pound tubes...all preprocessed and fat/lean ratio predetermined …. the supermarkets jumped on this tube burger ...but the smaller iga's independent stores and butcher shops did not....being a chain and multiple stores they have strict policies for all their stores and these tube burger was easier than testing bench trimmings.. (fat/lean ratio testing is done with a small contraption cooking an ounce and measuring the fat on the juice that runs out in a test tube)

so, from the early 80's most large chain supermarkets selling a fat/lean ratio burger 85/15 90/10 was coming from these preprocessed tube burger -you still had to grind twice thru the grinder ..

most of us old time butchers did not like using this stuff...we don't know whats in it and it tasted a little gamey like grass fed beef...….we much preferred the trimmings made on site and ground fresh … the taste is better and we know exactly whats in it....and incidentally ...while "they" the big packers promoted a safer source of this burger - most all the ecoli outbreaks were of this huge batches of tube burgers they make out west and shipped to the stores..
again why the need for this tube burger?? because the public demanded lean and low fat beef and wanted a % of fat on their burger - also because the stores weren't breaking down the whole critter anymore the stores had less trimmings...and because the big plants were doing the boning and breaking ...they had excess trimmings they made into this tube burger

lets talk about today ……. burger is not all the same ...depends where you buy it..
and you wont know unless you ask,,,
the biggest grocery retailer in America...Walmart sells case-ready meats....no steaks or burger is ground fresh on site......this saves lots of labor from having meatcutters in the stores but you also compromise quality ..
I don't recommend anyone buying meats from Walmart...particularly their burger parts of million pound batches...you don't know whats in it ..
now many grocery store chains have also started case-ready pre-packaged meats ..and burger ...how would you know????? you ask ….I have a trained eye I can tell ….but if it had any "distributed" statements on the bottom of the package then its shipped in...

the independent store.....and butcher shops still sell the real bench trimmings that taste the best..many call it ground chuck or ground round and may not have a % lean


so its a great question...…. I recommend to call and ask if the store sells "real bench trimmings" to make their burger or is it shipped in...…..some grocery stores have 5 levels of % burger 73 % - 90% lean but only grind one level (80/20) in their store...so they may say they still do but be specific to the burger you like if you like lean burger ask if their 90/10 or 95% lean is ground fresh in the store or is it shipped in??


this is a big divide in the retail meat industry ...that's why many of us got upset from all the pink slime years ago the media broad brushed the whole industry …..and it was only the stores that sold the tube burger ...not the stores that sold real bench trimmings on site.

simply put go to butcher shops and smaller iga stores … most have the real burger ..

if you want to grind your own like some of us do on this forum.....you can buy a small grinder off ebay ..around 100 dollars and buy the chuck steaks and roasts on sale for 2.99lb or buy the whole primal yourself called a chuck roll or chuck shoulder clod.....the butcher shops and smaller independents will sell you these at a discount ..

I hope this helps

the bench/steak trimmings are ground 3 times thru a big grinder in a store ..

and talking burger if you get this fresh burger and it gets dark in the middle its because of oxidation....the outside is red because of oxygen....without oxygen (the middle) it reverts back to its original color) looks dark/purplish......no different than pricking a vein and the purple blood turns red (blooms) when it hits the air/oxygen

[lieqiang]

I've always just bought grocery store hamburger meat, 85% for most cooking but a bit lower for hamburgers. No worries, tastes delicious, I like eating cows. Going to some butcher shop to buy ground meat would be a waste of my time.

[burdell]

Originally Posted by snowmountains

Do grocery stores use relatively inferior meat to make ground meat? I suspect so because the best quality meat would be sold as it is, yes? After being ground, it's hard to tell the difference...

The "best quality meat" has trimmings. Do think they throw them away?

[Brian_M]

Thanks mainebrokeman for the breakdown. Everything you wrote made sense and I recognized it all while reading it, but hadn't really connected the dots in my head. I go out of my way to buy my ground meat from 'The Fresh Market' (like a whole foods type store) where they sell fresh ground chuck for $2.99/lb on tuesdays. How freshly ground? I've been in there sometimes and had to wait for them to grind my order (usually buying ~20lbs at a time as the store is a bit out of the way). It's always been the best tasting ground meat and anytime I have a gap and try to fill in with ground from my normal grocery stores it's Obviously a worse tasting end product.



Next time I'm in that situation though, I'll try the Ingles (larger IGA group, still have an actual butcher in the store). I have a love/hate relationship with them, lots of unique offerings but you're paying a premium. Doesn't make sense to spend $3 on a box of crackers that can be had for $2 elsewhere (same brand/size).

[TMSRetired]

Mainebrokerman....thank you so much for this quick education on big box meats.
For the past 8 years I had my meat from a "freezer camp" steer done by a custom butcher.
But I've moved and will now need to venture into the big box stores to buy meat.

Your post was very informative and I shall seek out supermarkets that have butchers and look for a butcher shop.
I've cut and pasted your post to keep on my comp as a reference.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

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.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by mainebrokerman

here's the beef on burger at the grocery stores....coming from a guy that worked 12 years at a chain supermarket 7 yrs as meat manager and the past 25 years as a meat supervisor for over 40 independent stores

40 yrs ago ….and beyond....the stores would receive hanging beef sides or quarters...
and burger was made all from beef trimmings right on site..keep in mind....the stores would have up to ten bone barrels that had to be hauled away weekly because of the bone and fat ….1/2 a critter is bone fat and waste ..
in the late 70's the big packing plants said we can break down the critters here in our processing plants vacuum seal .. the boneless and some bone in sub primals…. these will last up to 30-40 days in refrigeration ...and they stopped sending the sides because of shipping billions of pounds and the stores had a huge amount of bone/waste at store level..
so the primals started coming to the stores in boxes.....this is 20x more sanitary and safer...also it allowed a store to put on sale a rib eye or sirloin strip steak...because you now could just buy the rib eyes...or strips....before with the whole carcass.....you pluck out the rib eye...you still have to sell the rest of the critter …
because of the less trimmings of shipping sub primals and now the media screaming for lean and low fat in the late 70's the stores started selling more % based burger than … being called ground chuck or ground round..... so the stores started buying the pretested burger from out west ..nicknamed "tube burger" came in ten pound tubes...all preprocessed and fat/lean ratio predetermined …. the supermarkets jumped on this tube burger ...but the smaller iga's independent stores and butcher shops did not....being a chain and multiple stores they have strict policies for all their stores and these tube burger was easier than testing bench trimmings.. (fat/lean ratio testing is done with a small contraption cooking an ounce and measuring the fat on the juice that runs out in a test tube)

so, from the early 80's most large chain supermarkets selling a fat/lean ratio burger 85/15 90/10 was coming from these preprocessed tube burger -you still had to grind twice thru the grinder ..

most of us old time butchers did not like using this stuff...we don't know whats in it and it tasted a little gamey like grass fed beef...….we much preferred the trimmings made on site and ground fresh … the taste is better and we know exactly whats in it....and incidentally ...while "they" the big packers promoted a safer source of this burger - most all the ecoli outbreaks were of this huge batches of tube burgers they make out west and shipped to the stores..
again why the need for this tube burger?? because the public demanded lean and low fat beef and wanted a % of fat on their burger - also because the stores weren't breaking down the whole critter anymore the stores had less trimmings...and because the big plants were doing the boning and breaking ...they had excess trimmings they made into this tube burger

lets talk about today ……. burger is not all the same ...depends where you buy it..
and you wont know unless you ask,,,
the biggest grocery retailer in America...Walmart sells case-ready meats....no steaks or burger is ground fresh on site......this saves lots of labor from having meatcutters in the stores but you also compromise quality ..
I don't recommend anyone buying meats from Walmart...particularly their burger parts of million pound batches...you don't know whats in it ..
now many grocery store chains have also started case-ready pre-packaged meats ..and burger ...how would you know????? you ask ….I have a trained eye I can tell ….but if it had any "distributed" statements on the bottom of the package then its shipped in...

the independent store.....and butcher shops still sell the real bench trimmings that taste the best..many call it ground chuck or ground round and may not have a % lean


so its a great question...…. I recommend to call and ask if the store sells "real bench trimmings" to make their burger or is it shipped in...…..some grocery stores have 5 levels of % burger 73 % - 90% lean but only grind one level (80/20) in their store...so they may say they still do but be specific to the burger you like if you like lean burger ask if their 90/10 or 95% lean is ground fresh in the store or is it shipped in??


this is a big divide in the retail meat industry ...that's why many of us got upset from all the pink slime years ago the media broad brushed the whole industry …..and it was only the stores that sold the tube burger ...not the stores that sold real bench trimmings on site.

simply put go to butcher shops and smaller iga stores … most have the real burger ..

if you want to grind your own like some of us do on this forum.....you can buy a small grinder off ebay ..around 100 dollars and buy the chuck steaks and roasts on sale for 2.99lb or buy the whole primal yourself called a chuck roll or chuck shoulder clod.....the butcher shops and smaller independents will sell you these at a discount ..

I hope this helps

the bench/steak trimmings are ground 3 times thru a big grinder in a store ..

and talking burger if you get this fresh burger and it gets dark in the middle its because of oxidation....the outside is red because of oxygen....without oxygen (the middle) it reverts back to its original color) looks dark/purplish......no different than pricking a vein and the purple blood turns red (blooms) when it hits the air/oxygen

Love it when you fill us in on meat and meat products: I am not fussy about a lot of things but I do want my beef to be as good as I can afford. We only eat it once in awhile, make it quality. I never buy meat at Walmart and rarely at Aldi's. I will do some places if we are talking chicken or even pork. Mostly our beef comes from Fresh Market, next is Sam's or our small independent grocery here in town.

[WoodyWW]

The only thing that I know about ground beef is this--I generally buy 90% lean ground beef at supermarkets, packed in the styro-foam & cello packages--is to check the "use-by" dates very carefully. I try to buy ones with the date a week off or so.

And I remember at Shaw's, they sold some brand of ground beef (besides their own store brand) that has a woman's name--I think I always had good luck with that. Also Trader Joe's--I think I had good luck with their ground beef.

The worst is buying a package of ground beef--getting it home --& it's kind of grey-ish inside (under the red).....