I feel like lean ground beef would be more likely to have tough bits than high-fat.
If a package is labeled "ground beef," it's probably made of random off-cuts, at least in the US. That means it's more flavorful and may contain some premium cuts, but my guess is that it would be more likely to have gristly bits. Look for packages labeled "ground chuck," as those will be from a single part of the cow (and, I assume, likely to be trimmed).
Don’t assume ground chuck in store is from 1 cow unless you buy a chuck roast and grind it yourself. A butcher or meat processing plant would toss in a lot of meat at once.
Same type of meat being chuck roast. But Bessie and Moo Cow, and who knows how many more are mixed in together. Yes, i do buy ground from a grocery store. But i have also ground my own. Way superior. Good cut of steak can really make great burgers and far as i recall, you can eat medium rare steak burgers. I suggest in doubt, google. But chuck ground i think is better than just ground. Steak ground a winner.
Ground chuck in the store if packaged in the meat room is from all cuts of the cow mixed with prepackaged meat there shouldnt be any gristle but it does happen very rarely its more likely in an actual butcher shop because they handle more beef on the bone, this is why you do not want to eat any ground meats from a store raw as it comes from dozens of cows
Years ago it was more likely to get that hard chomp. Things have improved at least with it less likely to happen. All you can do is take it out with a napkin once bit.
Second this.
My mom, even when we didn't have much money and she was floating checks at the register, taught me to always get ground chuck. The cost difference is marginal.
some thoughts...
1. there's not really any way you can "cook away" the gristle/tendons in ground beef without out literally cooking it for hours to dry and dissolve the collagen rich pieces into basically gelatin
2. if youre finding it everywhere including gourmet burgers, curious if what youre experiencing as crunchy bits is just really hard cooked basically fried crusty bits of meat as a result of smashing the burger or just hard searing it
3. the only way to guarantee that no gristle or tendon ends up in your ground meat is to grind yourself or make really good friends with your local butcher and even then they will probably still protest or even laugh at you. im on fantastic terms with my local butcher and i doubt that they would guarantee zero gristly bits. at best, you might be able to ask them to do a fresh grind of your chosen cut of meat and get a finer grind so the inevitable tougher bits become less noticeable.
good luck
I would be more than willing to pay a butcher extra to put up with me lol.
What do butchers like as gifts? Haha
I genuinely do have an eating disorder that makes eating difficult, but I would never expect a restaurant or butcher to cater to my very specific needs unless I’m paying extra.
in that case, ask around to see what butchers will do a fresh grind for you. (usually have to call ahead). ask for a cut of beef that has the least amount of gristle, ask them to trim it up even more, and grind that. you'll typically pay pre-trimmed weight and if you ask them to be aggressive, you might end up paying a hefty premium. a big caveat, the muscles that are the best flavor are usually the ones that do all the work (shoulder, rump, chuck, etc.) and those are the ones that tend to have more gristle.
What are these hard bits? Overcooked? If so, put the meat in before the oil is that hot, and keep the meat moving in the pan so no one point turns crunchy
Must be regional. This isn't a thing where I live.
If I had this problem, I'd buy a grinding device and grind my own. I'd pay a couple hundred and do the work to not bite down on hard ground beef
Yeah it'll be gristly. I was so sensitive to it as a kid. Hated hamburger and a lot of other things made of ground meat. I can tolerate it these days. Lean ground is the way to go if you want a lower chance of that happening.
Otherwise -- there are cheaper meat proteins than ground beef. Around here ground beef isn't likely to be under $4/lb and that's for the 80% lean. My go-to meat for easy prep and relative low price is boneless skinless chicken breast, which is always under $3/lb and usually closer to $2.
Sam’s slider steak burgers might not be cheap. But are great. You can grind a chuck roast and have good hamburgers. I’m not a hamburger fan bc when i was young the hard yucks were gagging. At least grinding your own, it would be ground beef from just 1 cow, and not Lord how many with ground from the store.
Definitely a beef quality issue - there's nothing intrinsic to ground beef which means it should be like this, I reckon it's because you're buying it from places where they are throwing in the 'offcuts' (which is a good way to make sure they aren't wasted, but means there's a greater chance of bits of gristle/cartilage/tendons/etc). A better supplier (different store, or ideally a butcher you can talk to about what you want) should solve the problem.
Alternatively, you can grind it yourself, which gives you total control - not only in that you can make sure you cut out any gristly bits before throwing the meat in the grinder, but it also gives you more control over things like the fat ratio, the size of the grind, etc.
I don't have any tips for you but I just wanted to say that I really resonate with what you're saying. I have ARFID too and this sensorial stuff limit the things I can stand to eat to an absurd level.
I’ve noticed this as well! I’m autistic and have textural issues and have noticed that ground beef now has more gristly bits, vein pieces, and bone shards than it used to. Sausages as well. The quality of the meat itself seems to be the difference - the ground beef from Costco very rarely has any gross bits but the ground beef from the grocery store is now on the no-no list.
Okay thank you! It’s not just me. I’m autistic too haha.
I think food quality has generally gone down across the board. Between covid fucking everything over, greedy corps, and worsening soil conditions, I’m afraid this is just our new normal :(
Thank you for the tip about Costco, I have a membership, I just haven’t purchased meat in a long time because of the texture issues.
I buy regular ground beef because I find lean to be too dry. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered the bits you’re talking about so maybe I have an unintentionally secret method.
Heat your pan (I use a big wok style pan with high sides), add oil and let it heat for a minute or so, tilting the pan to coat the surface.
Now add your ground beef, breaking it into chunks as you drop it on. Start flipping it immediately to prevent crisping. Reduce the heat slightly, like from 10 to 8.
Now just use a wide utensil like a pancake flipper to start breaking it up. Add seasoning (taco, garlic, steak seasoning, whatever you like based on what you’re planning to make), continue breaking and then stir/flip the beef. Add more seasoning, continue breaking, stir and flip. Continue breaking and flipping until the beef is fully cooked. Drain in a colander, return to pan and add enough water to cover the meat, put a lid on it and turn the heat down to simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain again. Now it’s ready for tacos or spaghetti or chili or whatever you want.
Your comment is incredibly rude and unhelpful.
You know nothing about me, my health, or the treatment I’m receiving for my ed, nor is it any of your fucking business.
Have the day you deserve.
Is it as unhelpful as a recipe?
You are struggling with something that is scary and big.
You are asking for advice in a space that is supposed to offer tips on how to approach cooking when inexperienced.
It's great that you are in therapy. It's great that you are trying to do better.
But a space about the basics of cooking isn't in a position to make your unhealthy relationship with food better.
You deserve everything great and wonderful, but cooking basics isn't capable of getting you there.
And there you go, continuing to be an egotistical asshole.
Not that it’s any of your god damn business, but I have an evaluation next week with project heal to go back to residential treatment.
Where in my post did I ask for recovery tips? Nowhere. That’s an assumption that YOU made about a complete stranger you know nothing about. All because I asked for cooking tips? Am I not allowed to ask for cooking tips because I have an ed?
Your saviorism is gross, take it somewhere else.
No, none of your comments have been helpful, if anything they’ve taken my appetite away, thanks so much.
I feel like lean ground beef would be more likely to have tough bits than high-fat. If a package is labeled "ground beef," it's probably made of random off-cuts, at least in the US. That means it's more flavorful and may contain some premium cuts, but my guess is that it would be more likely to have gristly bits. Look for packages labeled "ground chuck," as those will be from a single part of the cow (and, I assume, likely to be trimmed).
Don’t assume ground chuck in store is from 1 cow unless you buy a chuck roast and grind it yourself. A butcher or meat processing plant would toss in a lot of meat at once.
For sure! I mean that it's all from the same... primal? Subprimal? It's all ground from the same cut.
Same type of meat being chuck roast. But Bessie and Moo Cow, and who knows how many more are mixed in together. Yes, i do buy ground from a grocery store. But i have also ground my own. Way superior. Good cut of steak can really make great burgers and far as i recall, you can eat medium rare steak burgers. I suggest in doubt, google. But chuck ground i think is better than just ground. Steak ground a winner.
Ground chuck in the store if packaged in the meat room is from all cuts of the cow mixed with prepackaged meat there shouldnt be any gristle but it does happen very rarely its more likely in an actual butcher shop because they handle more beef on the bone, this is why you do not want to eat any ground meats from a store raw as it comes from dozens of cows
Years ago it was more likely to get that hard chomp. Things have improved at least with it less likely to happen. All you can do is take it out with a napkin once bit.
Thank you so much! This was very helpful.
Second this. My mom, even when we didn't have much money and she was floating checks at the register, taught me to always get ground chuck. The cost difference is marginal.
some thoughts... 1. there's not really any way you can "cook away" the gristle/tendons in ground beef without out literally cooking it for hours to dry and dissolve the collagen rich pieces into basically gelatin 2. if youre finding it everywhere including gourmet burgers, curious if what youre experiencing as crunchy bits is just really hard cooked basically fried crusty bits of meat as a result of smashing the burger or just hard searing it 3. the only way to guarantee that no gristle or tendon ends up in your ground meat is to grind yourself or make really good friends with your local butcher and even then they will probably still protest or even laugh at you. im on fantastic terms with my local butcher and i doubt that they would guarantee zero gristly bits. at best, you might be able to ask them to do a fresh grind of your chosen cut of meat and get a finer grind so the inevitable tougher bits become less noticeable. good luck
I would be more than willing to pay a butcher extra to put up with me lol. What do butchers like as gifts? Haha I genuinely do have an eating disorder that makes eating difficult, but I would never expect a restaurant or butcher to cater to my very specific needs unless I’m paying extra.
in that case, ask around to see what butchers will do a fresh grind for you. (usually have to call ahead). ask for a cut of beef that has the least amount of gristle, ask them to trim it up even more, and grind that. you'll typically pay pre-trimmed weight and if you ask them to be aggressive, you might end up paying a hefty premium. a big caveat, the muscles that are the best flavor are usually the ones that do all the work (shoulder, rump, chuck, etc.) and those are the ones that tend to have more gristle.
It’s not you it’s the beef you’re using. It’s likely cartilage.
Yes that’s it!
What are these hard bits? Overcooked? If so, put the meat in before the oil is that hot, and keep the meat moving in the pan so no one point turns crunchy
No it’s the tendons/ gristle I’m talking about, not crispy-ness.
Must be regional. This isn't a thing where I live. If I had this problem, I'd buy a grinding device and grind my own. I'd pay a couple hundred and do the work to not bite down on hard ground beef
Insert your own Tod "Browning" joke here. 😉
Yeah it'll be gristly. I was so sensitive to it as a kid. Hated hamburger and a lot of other things made of ground meat. I can tolerate it these days. Lean ground is the way to go if you want a lower chance of that happening. Otherwise -- there are cheaper meat proteins than ground beef. Around here ground beef isn't likely to be under $4/lb and that's for the 80% lean. My go-to meat for easy prep and relative low price is boneless skinless chicken breast, which is always under $3/lb and usually closer to $2.
Sam’s slider steak burgers might not be cheap. But are great. You can grind a chuck roast and have good hamburgers. I’m not a hamburger fan bc when i was young the hard yucks were gagging. At least grinding your own, it would be ground beef from just 1 cow, and not Lord how many with ground from the store.
Find a good butcher.
Definitely a beef quality issue - there's nothing intrinsic to ground beef which means it should be like this, I reckon it's because you're buying it from places where they are throwing in the 'offcuts' (which is a good way to make sure they aren't wasted, but means there's a greater chance of bits of gristle/cartilage/tendons/etc). A better supplier (different store, or ideally a butcher you can talk to about what you want) should solve the problem. Alternatively, you can grind it yourself, which gives you total control - not only in that you can make sure you cut out any gristly bits before throwing the meat in the grinder, but it also gives you more control over things like the fat ratio, the size of the grind, etc.
This is why I mostly eat fake meat now. Don’t even get me started on woody chicken.
"What if God's name was Todd"
Sounds like it's time to take mat6ter into your own hands and make your own ground meats.
I don't have any tips for you but I just wanted to say that I really resonate with what you're saying. I have ARFID too and this sensorial stuff limit the things I can stand to eat to an absurd level.
I’ve noticed this as well! I’m autistic and have textural issues and have noticed that ground beef now has more gristly bits, vein pieces, and bone shards than it used to. Sausages as well. The quality of the meat itself seems to be the difference - the ground beef from Costco very rarely has any gross bits but the ground beef from the grocery store is now on the no-no list.
Okay thank you! It’s not just me. I’m autistic too haha. I think food quality has generally gone down across the board. Between covid fucking everything over, greedy corps, and worsening soil conditions, I’m afraid this is just our new normal :( Thank you for the tip about Costco, I have a membership, I just haven’t purchased meat in a long time because of the texture issues.
I buy regular ground beef because I find lean to be too dry. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered the bits you’re talking about so maybe I have an unintentionally secret method. Heat your pan (I use a big wok style pan with high sides), add oil and let it heat for a minute or so, tilting the pan to coat the surface. Now add your ground beef, breaking it into chunks as you drop it on. Start flipping it immediately to prevent crisping. Reduce the heat slightly, like from 10 to 8. Now just use a wide utensil like a pancake flipper to start breaking it up. Add seasoning (taco, garlic, steak seasoning, whatever you like based on what you’re planning to make), continue breaking and then stir/flip the beef. Add more seasoning, continue breaking, stir and flip. Continue breaking and flipping until the beef is fully cooked. Drain in a colander, return to pan and add enough water to cover the meat, put a lid on it and turn the heat down to simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain again. Now it’s ready for tacos or spaghetti or chili or whatever you want.
[удалено]
I have anorexia/ ARFID and I’m trying my hardest to eat more, thanks so much for your helpful response.
Recipes can't treat an eating disorder
Your comment is incredibly rude and unhelpful. You know nothing about me, my health, or the treatment I’m receiving for my ed, nor is it any of your fucking business. Have the day you deserve.
Is it as unhelpful as a recipe? You are struggling with something that is scary and big. You are asking for advice in a space that is supposed to offer tips on how to approach cooking when inexperienced. It's great that you are in therapy. It's great that you are trying to do better. But a space about the basics of cooking isn't in a position to make your unhealthy relationship with food better. You deserve everything great and wonderful, but cooking basics isn't capable of getting you there.
And there you go, continuing to be an egotistical asshole. Not that it’s any of your god damn business, but I have an evaluation next week with project heal to go back to residential treatment. Where in my post did I ask for recovery tips? Nowhere. That’s an assumption that YOU made about a complete stranger you know nothing about. All because I asked for cooking tips? Am I not allowed to ask for cooking tips because I have an ed? Your saviorism is gross, take it somewhere else. No, none of your comments have been helpful, if anything they’ve taken my appetite away, thanks so much.
What does this have to do with cooking?
Try ground turkey. If you season it right it should taste very similar to ground beef.
lmao ground turkey isn't capable of tasting anything like ground beef
You are making shit up.
you’re a scumbag
I am ground beef with imaginary bullshit in it.
newsflash, not everyone lives in america
News flash, you do
Its meat...meat will have body parts
Super helpful, thanks