How do you grind your burger?

[tdcour]

Hey everyone, I set myself up to process my own deer this year after several years of wanting to. Just got finished doing about 80 pounds from the deer this year, which went rather smoothly for my first time if I say so myself. I do have one question, the texture of the meat is a little off from what we are used to. I added beef fat to it, so I added beef fat with meat chunks and ground on a course ground. I then turned around and did a fine ground to mix the meat and fat up a little better. From there, I used the grinder to stuff the burger into the plastic bags. I don't know if it was the fine grind or the multiple times through the grinder, but the meat just doesn't seem to have enough "body" if that's the right word. Its almost too soft to chew or something. Hard to explain, but it doesn't seem the same. Was just wondering how everyone else grinds their meat, how many times, and what you mix with it. Taste is good, but texture is off. Bummer deal with 80 pounds done, but its definitely edible.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

IMHO your grinding it too much.

I cube my meat mixture and alternate adding it to the power grinder. I the transfer it to a large hand cranked SS mixer I bought from Cabelas (on sale for $99.99 "HD Meat Mixer, item#IK-541001). It does a great job of mixing, not regrinding. I also use it for mixing my breakfast sausage & chorizo spices into the burger. Too many grind cycles makes the meat exactly as you describe it.

My meat mixture is different that yours. I DO NOT use beef suet, don't like the flavor of it. I buy pork shoulder roast when its on sale (usually around $1.00/#). No other fat added, just what is on the roasts. I use defatted game meat (deer, elk, etc) and mix ratio is 80% game meat/20% pork). I've been using this for years and we love it. For breakfast sausage & chorizo, I add about 5% bacon ends and pieces and the commercial spice mix.

 

[mallardsx2]

I grind mine with cabelas 3/4 HP (This thing would kill a man...). If im making snack sticks I use the coarse plate then the fine plate.

If im making burger I run it through the fine plate one time.

When I make snack sticks I try to add pork to it. This keeps my snack sticks from drying out.

Hope this helps.

 

[brianboh]

i have cut meat for 20 years and used a lot of grinders from cabelas all the way up to top of the line commercial grinders. You should defiantly run it through two times. IMO that is the only way to have it mixed good. However unless you have a really good grinder i would use the coarse plate both times. They tend to not have the power to push the meat through the finer holes and turns the meat to mush. The more you can spend on a grinder the better off you are. The biggest grinder at cabelas will have the power too use the fine plate but they do cost more. IMO it is worth it with the time you save as well as the end product.

 

[Slugz]

IMO its the beef fat that's doing it. I'm sure it will taste great. We use pork fat/meat. Like CC said the shoulders

 

[Fink]

How cold was the meat and fat?
When I grind, I start with smaller cubes of meat, no bigger than 2". I leave it in the coldest part of the fridge, so it is near freezing. the beef fat I buy comes straight out of a very coarse grinder, so I just keep it in the freezer. I usually weigh out 5 pounds of meat, and the appropriate amount of fat, and work in batches, to ensure I'm getting the correct ratio. I run through each 5 pound batch, and then put it in the fridge. Once I'm done running every thing through once, I'll let it all get cold again in the fridge, and then run it through the grinder one final time before bagging and freezing. I do both grinds with the course grind.

I'm betting that if the texture is off, and the meat is 'soft', your beef fat got too warm, and basically liquefied. You want that to happen during the cooking process, not the grinding process.

I'm no grinding expert, but the ground I have done has all turned out great when I make sure to keep everything COLD, and used a coarse grind. Things can get a little pulverized with the fine grind, and warmer meat.

 

[Work2hunt]

I agree with a lot that has been said.

IMO, a couple key points to reiterate or mention:
-Keep the meet and fat cold, I try to keep it below 40°F the whole time I am grinding and packaging. This is important for many reasons.
-I don't grind through the small plate unless I am making hot dogs. IMO, these Cabela type grinders can not get the meat through the small holes without making the meat mush. If I do use the small plates I will partially freeze the meat to get it to feed easier.
-I grind the meat and fat separate then mix in a Cabelas mixer attachment for a grinder. Then place into a stuffer and place into bags.

 

[Hilltop]

It's been said a lot but I'll re-iterate- Keep the meat and fat very cold. I like to grind when the meat and fat are almost frozen. I also keep my grinding room very cold so nothing warms up through the process. I use the Cabelas biggest grinder through a coarse plate- 2 times. The first grind I alternate putting meat and fat through. I then lightly hand mix and run it through a second time, then bulk package. Texture is very similar to store bought burger when done.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I do small batches of grind as well usually no more than 15lbs. I run the very cold cubed meat and whatever fat I'm using whether it's pork fat or bacon ends and peices through the course plate once.
Then mix by hand to distribute the fat evenly and then once more through a 1/4 inch plate and I end up with burger with the texture we are used to with store bought burger.
It took me a couple of times to get it right and I did ask for help from the great guys here as well, so just keep experimenting with smaller batches.
I also make sure my grinder is very cold as well.
Put as many parts of your grinder as you can in the fridge for a couple of hours except for the motor.

 

[Tim McCoy]

The only other idea I can offer, outside what's already been said, is check your knife. If it is dull or does not seat properly against the plate, it will mush the meat some.

We usually make the burger with no added fat, a concession to a low saturated fat diet. But have used beef tallow, port shoulder and bacon tips at various times. Usually do two grinds like Hilltop/gr8 describe, but have on occasion done a single coarse grind for chili meat/spaghetti etc. So experiment, grinders and tastes are different. But once you hit on it, you'll be able to tell if your grinder is set up right by the look of the meat coming out, Gr8's picture looks like we like it.

 

[nv-hunter]

I grind mine just about like everyone else on here does. Might try stuffing your tubes as it comes out of the grinder the second time.

 

[gypsumreaper]

We have always processed our own meat. Used to go through one cheap grinder a year til we finally got a good commercial grade one. We go through and grind out meat with the biggest plate, then we will get everything ground and run it again through the next size down plate. We will then add our suet and grind together with same plate then we will mix it in our mixer. And grind again.
This past year we then took so much burger and mixed it with seasoning (taco, Italian, sloppy joe, breakfast) then ground it one last time. It turned out really good and was so much nicer to pull meat out already seasoned and just cook vs adding stuff later.

 

[buckbull]

I mix 20% beef suet to make my burger. I grind once with the medium plate, grinding both the suet and venison together. I'll do say 8lbs of venision and 2lbs of beef suet and mix by hand. We have found it much easier to simply bag by (1lb hamburger bags) hand using spoons. We have tried using the grinder and sausage stuffer but can manually bag faster. Things that I stuff like breakfast sausage, polish sausage, chorizo etc. I grind once with the 1/8" plate. One key to whole grinding process is to grind with half frozen meat and fat; grinds so much better.

 

[CrimsonArrow]

Lots of varying opinions here, I think it has to do with the brand of grinder. I have a cabelas commercial grinder and run my venison through the fine plate(4.5mm) once for burger. Done. If I'm making sausage, then I'll put it through the fine plate again after mixing it with the ground pork. I grind well over 100# per year, and get no complaints.

 

[Triple BB]

One thing that I do is add a small amount of water when I'm mixing the meat and pork suet. It makes the meat juicier and helps to replace water lost during aging or the time its hanging. One of these days I'm going to use beef broth to see if it makes a difference.

 

[tdcour]

How cold was the meat and fat?
When I grind, I start with smaller cubes of meat, no bigger than 2". I leave it in the coldest part of the fridge, so it is near freezing. the beef fat I buy comes straight out of a very coarse grinder, so I just keep it in the freezer. I usually weigh out 5 pounds of meat, and the appropriate amount of fat, and work in batches, to ensure I'm getting the correct ratio. I run through each 5 pound batch, and then put it in the fridge. Once I'm done running every thing through once, I'll let it all get cold again in the fridge, and then run it through the grinder one final time before bagging and freezing. I do both grinds with the course grind.

I'm betting that if the texture is off, and the meat is 'soft', your beef fat got too warm, and basically liquefied. You want that to happen during the cooking process, not the grinding process.

I'm no grinding expert, but the ground I have done has all turned out great when I make sure to keep everything COLD, and used a coarse grind. Things can get a little pulverized with the fine grind, and warmer meat.

Pretty sure you are right on with the fat getting too hot. I could see it starting to cake on the stuffing tube when I was filling the bags. All the meat was about half frozen and half thawed, so it was plenty cold, but the fat warmed up a lot faster than the meat did. I worked it all in a big batch in the garage that was about 50 degrees and kept throwing the grinder parts in the freezer when I needed a break or something to keep it cool. I think I'll try the course grind twice next time like you suggest. It looked really good after the fine grind, but just got worked too much.

 

[tdcour]

i have cut meat for 20 years and used a lot of grinders from cabelas all the way up to top of the line commercial grinders. You should defiantly run it through two times. IMO that is the only way to have it mixed good. However unless you have a really good grinder i would use the coarse plate both times. They tend to not have the power to push the meat through the finer holes and turns the meat to mush. The more you can spend on a grinder the better off you are. The biggest grinder at cabelas will have the power too use the fine plate but they do cost more. IMO it is worth it with the time you save as well as the end product.

was using a 3/4 horse westin to grind it. No problem grinding it at all. It took the cubes as fast as I could feed it. Think I'll definitely try the course plate twice next time.

 

[tdcour]

The only other idea I can offer, outside what's already been said, is check your knife. If it is dull or does not seat properly against the plate, it will mush the meat some.

We usually make the burger with no added fat, a concession to a low saturated fat diet. But have used beef tallow, port shoulder and bacon tips at various times. Usually do two grinds like Hilltop/gr8 describe, but have on occasion done a single coarse grind for chili meat/spaghetti etc. So experiment, grinders and tastes are different. But once you hit on it, you'll be able to tell if your grinder is set up right by the look of the meat coming out, Gr8's picture looks like we like it.

the pictures look very similar to what mine looked like, but mine went through the fine grind again after that. Think that may have been my biggest mistake.

 

[Tim McCoy]

the pictures look very similar to what mine looked like, but mine went through the fine grind again after that. Think that may have been my biggest mistake.

Another thing I've done while learning the grinder ropes is grind just a little, then cook it and see. Takes a bit of time, but you will know how it turned out before grinding a whole pile. I use a 3/4 HP from Cabela's.

 

[Swedishhunter]

I do it pretty much exactly how you describe it and it comes out great in my opinion. Definitely want to grind twice when you are using fat, it mixes it much better. Only thing I can think of was if grinder is not powerful enough or the meat was not trimmed enough then it can get a bit mushy. Keeping meat and grinder parts very cold helps some people say, i haven't noticed much of a difference. Perhaps you are just not used to the texture if you are usually doing it differently?