There are many ways to buy quality burger meat, but one of the most fun is buying your own high quality meat and blending in a meat grinder.
One of my friends has one, and had a great success with this simple blend. The burgers came out juicy and delicious, with a perfect mix of savory meat and fat content.
I like to buy good meat from Whole Foods since they usually have a better quality meat selection than other grocery stores. The better the meat, the better the burgers will taste.
Ingredients
- 1 lb beef chuck (ideally not pre-chopped)
- 1 lb beef brisket
- 1 lb beef short rib
The amounts of each don’t have to be 100% exact, but make sure you have enough meat to form 6oz burgers for your guests. 6oz is a good size to aim for because the burgers will shrink a little while cooking. The above yields 8 burgers.
Try to get whole pieces of meat for each, and not pre-chopped (often chuck is sold like this). The meat will last longer the less surface area it has.
One important thing: feel free to buy the meat ahead of time, but don’t chop or grind the meat until right before cooking. One it’s ground, it won’t stay as fresh for long.
Steps
- Pre-heat your grill to medium heat.
- While the grill heats, chop the meat into 1-inch cubes and trim away any huge sections of fat. A reasonable amount of fat will be good for the flavor but large chunks can be too much.
- Optional: My friend recommended placing the cubes in a zip lock bag in the freezer for 20 minutes to cool them. This aids in the grinding process, making it go through the grinder more easily.
- He also pre-froze the grinder attachment too. Your grinder might have different recommendations.
- Grind the meat into a bowl, and make sure to vary the chunks you feed it so there’s a good distribution of meat after grinding.
- You may be able to use different grinder settings (such as course or fine). We used the course setting, which resulted in chunkier and more brittle burgers. You could try a finer grinder setting too, depending on the meat you’re using.
- Usually when I’m making burgers I add an egg and some Worcestershire sauce, but with these fresh ground meats it wasn’t necessary.
- Form hamburger patties in your hands by grabbing a handful of meat around the size of a baseball and squeezing it together. Flatten the meat into a disc, and form a small indent in the middle of top of the patty. It will help keep the meat moist by collecting juice while cooking.
- If you want to salt or pepper to the meat, add right before grilling (and not while mixing the meat) so it doesn’t dry the meat out.
- Toss the burgers on the grill and cook until desired doneness.
- Here’s a nice trick for telling how done the meat is: press lightly on a burger with a spatula and check the color of the juice that comes out. If the juice is pink, it’s medium, and if the juice is grey, it’s well done.
- Remember too if you chilled the meat, the center will take longer to cook
It’s hard to go back to grilling store-bought burgers after making your own mix of meats. The best part is you can experiment and come up with your own blend to impress friends.
I didn’t get any photos of the meat chopping or grinding process, since my hands were covered in meat. But here are some pics of the grilling and finished product.
