# Grind meat into burger, is it cheaper?



## sidepasser

Am curious about this since I just bought ground beef at 3.89 per lb. on SALE..jeez.

Is it more economical to buy meat, like shoulder roasts, etc. and grind them into burger or is it cheaper to just buy the ground beef? I am not talking buying "steak" cuts to grind, but regular "less tender" cuts?

I know it might be cheaper to raise a calf as I used to do that, but since I moved it isn't possible right now to raise my own beef or pork and I am looking for ways to cut my grocery bill down some. It's just me and Mr. B, but every penny saved is a penny towards our new farm!


----------



## stanb999

sidepasser said:


> Am curious about this since I just bought ground beef at 3.89 per lb. on SALE..jeez.
> 
> Is it more economical to buy meat, like shoulder roasts, etc. and grind them into burger or is it cheaper to just buy the ground beef? I am not talking buying "steak" cuts to grind, but regular "less tender" cuts?
> 
> I know it might be cheaper to raise a calf as I used to do that, but since I moved it isn't possible right now to raise my own beef or pork and I am looking for ways to cut my grocery bill down some. It's just me and Mr. B, but every penny saved is a penny towards our new farm!


Really depends, How much can you buy bulk meat for? 

I've found that if I buy a whole top round for instance,
They are 30 lbs and the cost is 10 - 20 cents more than the cost of just Ground beef. This past week I bought one for 2.80 a pound. GB was 2.59 a pound.

With this I can make about 5 two pound roasts. 
Two London broils or a few steaks total about 4 pounds, 
Some stew beef and strips for stir fry about 6 lbs,
The above costs about 3.75 a pound at the same store. 
and about 10 pounds of ground from the trimmings and odd shaped pieces.

So if you figure it this way. It Cost me 2 bucks on the ground beef to save 20 on the roasts, steaks, and stew beef. So I'm about 18 bucks ahead. It did cost nearly 90 bucks to save the 18 bucks tho.

I will say the ground beef will taste much better than the stuff you get at the store. Even if they grind it there. It will taste like ground roast beef.


----------



## Mike CHS

We have been able to buy chuck roast recently for $1.19 and eye of round roast for $2.79 and mix the two together to get fairly lean ground beef. We found that we may not save as much as expected but none of the packages in our freezer say anything about "enhanced" and don't have any fillers.


----------



## Cyngbaeld

How much for a trip to the ER? How much does a lost day of work cost? I wouldn't buy "hamburger" at the grocery for anything.


----------



## stanb999

Cyngbaeld said:


> How much for a trip to the ER? How much does a lost day of work cost? I wouldn't buy "hamburger" at the grocery for anything.


There is two kinds of ground beef available here....

The E. coli beef that comes in pre-made sausage like plastic packages. This is made from the lips and a......

And the store or butcher made ground beef. Where we shop they butcher on premises so they make their own from the meat trimmings. This is what we buy.

Do they have both where you shop?


----------



## elkhound

beef live weights prices i have seen around here range from 1.30 to 1.50 pound....this alone wont allow us to have that good ole .99cent hamburger.

the cheapest burger here is about 2.89 and going up.welcome to a new time period in history.people in future will say they were so dumb they used corn for fuel.


----------



## Bearfootfarm

We can get chuck roasts on sale cheaper than the mostly-fat already ground hamburger


----------



## Sunbee

When I buy meat to grind, it's lower in fat than the ground beef that's cheap at the store. So make sure you're comparing fat contents as well as prices. The meat I grind myself sure tastes better and is juicier.


----------



## mnn2501

sidepasser said:


> Am curious about this since I just bought ground beef at 3.89 per lb. on SALE..jeez.


You need to find cheaper stores. I just paid 2.49 on sale and 2.89 is the regular price around here of 80/20


----------



## Harry Chickpea

There are lots of reasons to grind your own, but it can be a messy process, and one where you might want to accumulate your meat, freeze it, and process a big batch.

There is a now common process where the meat protein is extracted from meat using ammonia, and then selling that otherwise waste as something to mix in to hamburger. It is supposedly safe, but one of the few things where the "yuck" factor is more than I'm comfortable with. I also am aware of some odd things with food processed in the presence of other stuff. In a blind test, DW can become ill with processed granulated sugars, yet more or less tolerates small amounts of sugar that hasn't had that final process into white sugar. Odd? Yes. Since the tests have been blind, I tend to trust the empirical evidence over assertions otherwise. I simply don't trust that extraction process used with beef.

When you buy pre-made, you are getting meat from hundreds of cattle, all mixed together. In food safety classes, we were emphatically told NOT to mix large quantities of eggs because ONE contaminated egg would taint an entire batch. That supposedly doesn't happen with hamburger, but I have had prefrozen patties where I realized that some of the meat was rancid. I've stopped buying those, but have begun to notice the same thing now happening in hamburger purchased "fresh."

Hamburger used to be the quick "go to" bargain meat. That has changed. At this point, I'm much more comfortable with my skills and safety with a few cuts of beef than the safety of the stuff coming out of the stores, even though I know the places are sanitized daily and there is some oversight and checking.

I've also begun to work more with portion control and roasts. Where I might have had a 4oz burger before, I just cook and thin slice a roast cross-grain and use a couple ounces of that in a homemade sub.


----------



## sidepasser

Wish I could find cheaper stores, I shop at Kroger, and did try the Target (blech) ground beef. We have Kroger, Publix, an Aldi's is being built and Walmart, Target and a quite smelly Food Saver store.

I shop at Kroger and Publix and use coupons. I use to shop at Winn Dixie (they went out of business in my town) and Piggly Wiggly (have to travel an extra 20 miles to shop there now).

Sounds like I could probably save a few dollars if I catch meat on sale and do the grinding myself - at least the meat would taste better. Oh and the Target ground beef made a lot of watery grease and had no taste at all. I won't do that again. (and it was 93% lean). At any rate, the ground beef would taste better than what I have been getting. 

Harry, I'm near Huntsville, do you know of a meat market near here? I used to go to one in Roanoke, Ala. when I lived just across the Ga. line. Got some fair prices of beef and pork there and the meat was very good.

Thanks everyone!!


----------



## beaglebiz

Mike CHS said:


> We have been able to buy chuck roast recently for $1.19 and eye of round roast for $2.79 and mix the two together to get fairly lean ground beef. We found that we may not save as much as expected but none of the packages in our freezer say anything about "enhanced" and don't have any fillers.


Mike, freeze slightly your eye of round, and slice paper thin to make the best cheese steak subs you have ever had (pan fry)


----------



## Cyngbaeld

Stanb999, I raise all our meat except beef and buy organic, grass fed beef from a local farm.


----------



## Harry Chickpea

There was one that advertised over near Florence, but I haven't been there.

Southlander (different forum) has suggested Holloway's on Danville Road in Decatur, in a strip center next to Sonic Drive-In.

The real deal is an abattoir. Those are rare.
http://www.aaes.auburn.edu/comm/pubs/agecon/ae44directory.pdf


----------



## sidepasser

I'll give Holloway's a call tomorrow and see what kind of prices they have. I'll google, maybe they have a website.

Thanks Harry, getting good meat is getting harder unless you know the area pretty good.

Look what I found:

Jerryâs Slaughter House 14 Beef: 12 hd./wk.
22296 Carey Rd. (Limestone) Deer: 150 hd./wk.
Athens, AL 35611 Hogs: 25 hd./wk.
256-232-8934 

Think I will give Jerry a call too. 

Thanks Harry, I didn't know this publication existed!


----------



## Harry Chickpea

I'm a little puzzled by that slaughterhouse address. Seems like it would be off Elkton Rd., but don't remember it. There is a deer processing place further west on Easter Ferry Rd., but he looks to be pretty private.


----------

