# Too lean ground beef



## Smalltowngirl (Mar 28, 2010)

I bought a lot of 93% lean ground beef for $2.79/#. It was fresh ground at the butchers so no pink slime. 

Anyway, it is beautiful but sadly, when I tried making a burger it was too lean. I wanted to make a big batch of stuffed peppers this weekend for the freezer using some of this gr. beef. I make a meatloaf like mix to stuff the peppers. 
I'm afraid they will be dry if I use the beef as is. Do you think adding 1# of ground pork to 1 1/2 # of the lean gr. beef would make it more juicy?
Any other suggestions-I have 20# in the freezer in 1# & 1/2# packs.


----------



## pattycake (May 16, 2010)

To me, the leaner the better!!


----------



## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Adding pork will help. Dry low fat beef is an abomination.

Your body needs good fat, too.


----------



## Zilli (Apr 1, 2012)

I get my extra lean ground beef at a meat market/butcher, too - ground there, no "pink slime" - and I like it so much better than anything I've ever gotten "mass produced" at the grocery store.

When frying, I do end up adding a small amount of vegetable oil to the pan to prevent sticking, but I figure what I add is far less than what I would be getting by using ground beef with a higher fat content.

I don't have any problems with it in things like meatloaf.


----------



## thequeensblessing (Mar 30, 2003)

We butcher our own beef, and we take out every bit of fat we can see. We like ultra-lean meat. We get plenty of healthy fats from the rest of our diet, we don't need all the saturated fats in our meat.
Adding pork would definitely make the beef more moist, unless the pork is ultra-lean too.


----------



## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

I always add a bit of olive oil to the pan to fry my lean grass fed gr beef. When making meat balls or stuffing things like peppers I normally mix the beef with a cracked egg or two and maybe some bread crumbs and some olive oil.


----------



## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

For the most outrageously rich and delicious hamburgers ever grind some bacon and mix it into your gr beef - so good!


----------



## Fair Light (Oct 13, 2010)

I use extra lean ground beef as well....careful not to over-cook it...that would really dry it out...for meat loaf or meat balls I do the eggs, milk and cracker crumbs mixture....


----------



## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Food for Healthy Skin | Mark's Daily Apple


----------



## countrysunshine (Jul 3, 2008)

I just ground a couple of chuck roasts this afternoon for hamburgers. It was very lean. I sauteed some onions in bacon fat, cooled everything and added the onions and bacon fat to the ground chuck. Made nice, juicy burgers with excellent flavor. 

Since I used onions in a LOT of beef dishes I think this process would work well for most things. Addition of eggs adds a lot of moisture, too.


----------



## CJBegins (Nov 20, 2009)

Alice, I have read that kind of information before. We just had a hog butcher and I will be rendering the fat, my first attempt, for some healthy lard. We also send in a grass fed steer and won't make the mistake of request a 90/10 mix on the ground beef. It's just too dry. Probably 85/15 this time around. We always have homemade butter, cheese and whole jersey milk on hand. Plenty of fat here....lol


----------



## danielsumner (Jul 18, 2009)

I buy London Broil when it's on sale and grind my own, leaner the better. Once through the grinder for spaghetti sauce or chili. Twice for Burgers or meat loaf. Grind cheap leaner cuts of pork for sausage also.


----------



## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

countrysunshine said:


> I just ground a couple of chuck roasts this afternoon for hamburgers. It was very lean. *I sauteed some onions in bacon fat, cooled everything and added the onions and bacon fat to the ground chuck. Made nice, juicy burgers with excellent flavor.*
> 
> Since I used onions in a LOT of beef dishes I think this process would work well for most things. Addition of eggs adds a lot of moisture, too.


This is the technique we use for lean ground beef when making burgers, too. We make several variations-mushroom, garlic and herb: mushrooms chopped fine and then cooked in butter, then mixed in the meat before forming patties. The hands down favorite is "fajita burgers", bell pepper and onion chopped fine and sweated down, chipotle peppers, garlic, all the good flavors of a fajita in your burger. The vegetables add juiciness and flavor, plus the little bit of fat you cooked them in.

For meatballs, meat loaf, sloppy joes, etc., the lean beef is just fine. I think it just needs "help" if you want to grill a very lean burger.


----------



## lemonthyme7 (Jul 8, 2010)

Since seeing Rachel Ray grate onion into her burgers before forming them, I have tried that. She says it makes them more moist and I find it really does.


----------



## wolffeathers (Dec 20, 2010)

When we harvested our first home-grown beef, the meat was a lot leaner than we are used to. Fine for most ground beef dishes, but too lean for burgers.

We find that mixing a homegrown egg or two when making burgers really does the trick. Try cracking an egg and mixing into the meat before making patties. It solved the problem for us without having to mix in grocery store meat.


----------



## Oggie (May 29, 2003)

I sometimes make what I call "Fake Fillet Mignon" by wrapping thick-sliced bacon around a patty of lean ground beef and securing the ends of the bacon with a toothpick. As mentioned earlier some onion and chopped garlic mixed into the beefs can help, too. Then, I put it on a Weber charcoal grill. The patty gets a liberal seasoning of whatever strikes my fancy.


----------



## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

Ask your butcher for some beef fat...if they are grinding their own meats and the store has a real butcher then they should have some available..some places sell it..others give it away. I generally try to find some in the fall for adding to venison when grinding as it is much too lean alone to make a good burger.


----------



## Belfrybat (Feb 21, 2003)

Ditto on the beef fat. I too use it when the venison I get each year is too lean. I prefer a 90/10 mixture of beef, but sometimes the mix I get is a bit too lean, so I add ground beef fat that I keep in the freezer in small amounts.


----------



## Cliff (Jun 30, 2007)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Food for Healthy Skin | Mark's Daily Apple


You can find someone out there to tell you anything you want to hear. This guy is soft pedaling what types of fats are important and what kinds are dangerous. Animal fats across the board are very inflammatory and very bad for us when they are from commercially raised animals. And vegetable oils are damaging to the lining of your arteries and cause tons of inflammation in general also. Inflammation is at the root of many of our chronic diseases. But I suppose if he told the absolute truth he wouldn't sell many books. He is a fitness writer, not a doctor, though with the abysmal nutrition education doctors get unless they choose to educate themselves that's sort of a moot point I guess.

You can get all the good fat your body actually needs with a handful of walnuts per day. Unless you're very active you aren't going to burn off the calories from lots of extra fats even the good kind. Thus you will be fat


----------



## Cliff (Jun 30, 2007)

So, based on my above post, my answer is learn to cook with leaner meats  After all you just want what you're calling juicy (fatty) out of habit. Make a new habit, it's as simple as that. Our tastes change pretty easily.


----------



## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

I have never had too lean a meat. In fact I remove all fat I can, wild meats have very little and some animal fats taste terrible. People get used to what they like and thnk that is the only way to eat it. To each their own. Add a little bacon fat to the pan and cook slow. I add onion and mushrooms to my burger....James


----------



## Terri (May 10, 2002)

When I cook burgers with the 93% meat, I reduce the heat. This helps to keep the burger from breaking when you flip it and it makes it juicier as well.


----------



## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

Smalltowngirl said:


> I bought a lot of 93% lean ground beef for $2.79/#. It was fresh ground at the butchers so no pink slime.
> 
> Anyway, it is beautiful but sadly, when I tried making a burger it was too lean. I wanted to make a big batch of stuffed peppers this weekend for the freezer using some of this gr. beef. I make a meatloaf like mix to stuff the peppers.
> I'm afraid they will be dry if I use the beef as is. Do you think adding 1# of ground pork to 1 1/2 # of the lean gr. beef would make it more juicy?
> Any other suggestions-I have 20# in the freezer in 1# & 1/2# packs.


I like to mix lean ground beef or venison with pork sausage when I make stuffed peppers, usually run about a fifty fifty mix.


----------



## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

Cliff said:


> You can find someone out there to tell you anything you want to hear. This guy is soft pedaling what types of fats are important and what kinds are dangerous. Animal fats across the board are very inflammatory and very bad for us when they are from commercially raised animals. And vegetable oils are damaging to the lining of your arteries and cause tons of inflammation in general also. Inflammation is at the root of many of our chronic diseases. But I suppose if he told the absolute truth he wouldn't sell many books. He is a fitness writer, not a doctor, though with the abysmal nutrition education doctors get unless they choose to educate themselves that's sort of a moot point I guess.
> 
> You can get all the good fat your body actually needs with a handful of walnuts per day. Unless you're very active you aren't going to burn off the calories from lots of extra fats even the good kind. Thus you will be fat


well, when the day comes that I eat a handful of walnuts instead of a juicy hamburger...well, that will be the day I cash in my chips! :teehee:


----------



## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

Cliff said:


> Unless you're very active you aren't going to burn off the calories from lots of extra fats even the good kind. Thus you will be fat


You make it sound like Santa Claus is a bad person!


----------



## frankva (May 21, 2009)

You might be surprised. Not that many years ago I might have said the same.

From back in the day- Mix 1/2 pkg Jimmy Dean sage breakfast sausage with the 93%. Some wicked yummy. Just don't be cooking it around me these days.


----------



## Cliff (Jun 30, 2007)

Ardie/WI said:


> well, when the day comes that I eat a handful of walnuts instead of a juicy hamburger...well, that will be the day I cash in my chips! :teehee:


And that is why I'll always have a job


----------



## Elffriend (Mar 2, 2003)

In the absence of excessive carbohydrates, your body will use fat for fuel.

To make your burger healthier, add fat and ditch the bun.


----------



## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

All our meat is Wild Game so very Lean.Never Overcook.

big rockpile


----------



## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

and NEVER press the burger on the grill or pan with a spatula...you lose all the juices that way, but I see people doing it all the time. Also, only 1 flip...less messing around with, the better


----------



## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

I prefer 93% hamburger. It won't be dry in peppers because of the other stuff. Heck, I don't think it's dry when eating a plain hamburger. Tastes much better and is a whole lot healthier IMO.

I think pork would change the flavor too much.


----------



## kara_leigh (Jul 28, 2010)

We buy the leanest ground beef we can afford, the leaner the better. We never have a problem with dryness. You just can't cook the heck out of it. Know when to say when.


----------



## jdrobison (May 28, 2012)

havent had ground beef for so long I forgot what it tastes like. we use ground deer in everything where we would use beef. great taste and low fat. we also never add anything to the deer when grinding like a lot of processors want to, it lasts much longer in the freezer that way.


----------

