We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
Alton Brown taught us how to brine a turkey in a bucket and plied the world with countless ingenious food hacks on his revolutionary T.V. show, “Good Eats.” When he demonstrated how to make a so-called “Burger of the Gods” way back in Season 2 of the series, there was one major step that Brown took that, by his own admission, is the secret to the best burgers ever: he ground his own meat. “This may seem like a lot of work for a burger, but if you really love them, you won’t mind,” he insisted (via his website). Brown’s formula for burgers uses equal parts sirloin and chuck steak.
There is a compelling reason to grind your own meat — not just beef, either! — and not solely because of superior taste. Unlike prepackaged supermarket ground beef, when you grind your own, you know exactly what goes into it. You are able to source the freshest, highest-quality ingredients, for one. If you have a source for free-range, farm-grown organic beef, you can guarantee that your mince is what you want to be eating.
And, again, let’s not forget the eating experience. Freshly ground beef is meaty and light in a way that stodgy, processed beef at the grocery store simply cannot hope to be. With a little care directed towards ingredients and technique, your burgers will be juicier, tastier, and nicer in texture when you grind your own meat. Though doing so may seem intimidating at first, all you really need is a strong food processor or a dedicated meat grinder.
What to know about grinding meat for burgers
One of the mistakes everyone makes cooking beef is letting it thaw on the counter, and, when it comes to grinding beef, that’s a bigger error than usual. You want your meat — and, if possible, even your grinding device — to be as cold as possible when you are processing the protein. The reason is that, as the fat in meat warms up, it gets mushy and smears. This isn’t just unsightly, as it actually changes the texture of the burger for the worse because of uneven fat distribution. If you want clean, uniform ground beef, keep things chilly. In the same vein, don’t handle the meat too much, as the warmth of your hands represents a similar potential problem!
Don’t think, either, that you are limited to just beef when it comes to grinding your own. We’ve seen great burger recipes that incorporate pork, venison, oxtail, and even bacon! Just remember that fat equals flavor, and some of these cuts have a tendency to be very dry, so you may want to grind in some beef or pork lard that you’ve sourced from a butcher or meat market. Once you have your homemade ground meat ready to go, all you have to do is heat up your griddle and look up the best temperature for grilling burgers! Alton Brown warns not to smash the burger with your spatula so that all those precious juices stay encased in the patty. He also noted that, for a medium-rare burger, you want to cook one for approximately four minutes on each side.
