Grinding your own burger beef (with a Kitchenaide)

[jfmorris]

Ok ladies and gentlemen, before I waste time on the Interwebs, I figure this is the place to ask.

I bought an all metal Kitchenaide grinder back in 2020, when someone on here told about it being on sale for 1/2 price, and used it exactly ONCE to make breakfast sausage from a Boston butt. Then its sat in the box for 2 years, until today.

I broke up a chuck roll yesterday, and had almost 5 pounds of trim with a nice mix of fat and lean, and SWMBO selected burger rather than stew meat for those scraps. Which was easier on me! I just ran across the pile with a knife until it was chunks small enough to put into the Kitchenaide grinder, and then tossed it around to mix up the fat and lean chunks - some chunks had both on them - put it all in the freezer for 30 minutes, then came back and started stuffing it in the grinder. I used the course plate, per the manuals recommendation. I think it is 8mm holes.

The burger is definitely more of a "chili grind", so I may try the medium plate next time with smaller holes. But the thing that surprised me was how different it ended up being from store bought burger. Differences I noticed:

1.The meat was courser - only time I've seen ground beef this size is when I bought some "chili grind" from Porter Road one time.

2. The fat and lean didn't really "mix" as much as I thought it would in the grinder. There are extruded hunks of fat and extruded hunks of lean, but its not as mixed up as with store bought ground beef. Do I need to "regrind" the ground beef to mix it up more?

3. The extruded beef is not "long" like in store bought, but more like pellets of beef. Not a continuous extrusion of beef.

So, questions are, what did I do wrong, or is this just the way it will come out when doing this with something like the kitchen aide grinder? Are the shorter peices of grind due to me cubing everything up into 1 inch peices, due to using the courser plate, or something else?

I browned 1 pound of it tonight and made spaghetti, and it was very good. I would say the fat I drained from the skillet after browning was similar to store bought 80/20 beef, so I think I got the overall fat content about right. And I kinda like the courser grind for spaghetti with meat sauce. But I am not sure it will hold together well to make a burger, without a lot of compression.

I froze 3.5 pounds in vacuum bags after using a pound for dinner, and we will use it for cooking, not burgers. But I would like to be able to make ground beef suitable for burgers for sure. I actually bought a brisket today for $1.99 a pound and was toying with the idea of grinding it into burgers.

Any advice is appreciated!

Jim
Burgermeister Meisterburger of Huntsville

[rickgregory]

For the fat and lean mix you'll likely have to mix it up by hand. For the short strands, that's caused by the knife that cuts the meat as it extrudes.

[jfmorris]

Hmmm. The kitchen aide has a rotary 4 bladed thing that spins against the back of the extrusion plate, so its likely always going to be short peices I guess.

[Reds Fan 5]

jfmorris The short strands are normal for the Kitchenaid. It does not look like store bought ground beef.

[jfmorris]

Ok - makes sense. I just was thinking it was something I did!

[mnavarre]

1. The grind from the coarse plate is obviously going to be bigger than the fine plate. It works better for things where you're forming patties, or using it for ground beef. Like taco meat, or in a stir fry

2. Just "fluff" through it with your fingers, just try to mix as lightly as you can without working the meat too much. You can either also just run it through again, or switch to the smaller plate and run it through.

3. It'll look more like store bought ground beef on the small plate.

I usually just grind on the coarse plate, you just need to work things a little more for smash burgers or diner style patties, the small plate I use if I know I'm using all of the grind for smash burgers or sausage, otherwise I prefer the coarse grind, just because it gives me more options.

I also find that cutting things into 1" strips works better than cubing stuff up, the auger seems to grab it better.

[Darchie03]

What he said

[jfmorris]

Thanks! How long are the strips?

[mnavarre]

The length doesn't really matter as long as the strips are narrow enough to feed down the throat of the grinder.

[Andrrr]

I just did this on Sunday because I was running out of ground beef from the steer I got last fall, but I used a chuck roast and two arm roasts. I had no plans for the arm roasts and they were lean but I had bunch of brisket fat trimmings that I used to balance the blend out.
I started with cutting everything in to 3/4" or so strips as mentioned above, reason being is when you feed it down the hole the auger grabs it and pulls the rest in. While I was cutting everything up I was putting all of the meat in one pile and fat in another, and honestly there wasn't much fat there. I wasn't going crazy about dividing it perfectly either, just the big stuff was separated and silverskin or anything unsavory looking was discarded. Once I was done cutting the meat I weighed it and calculated how much fat I needed to add to get 80/20, then cut the brisket fat trimmings in the same fashion.
I have the plastic grinding attachment and it only comes with 2 discs so I used the coarse one. During grinding I alternated between adding a few chunks of meat and then a little bit of fat, figuring that was just less mixing and handling I had to do later. When I was done I pondered back and forth on grinding again and after looking at the grind a little closer I noticed that it wasn't quite all mixed together the way I wanted so I figured I'd grind a pound again through the same coarse disc to see how it looked. Turns out I liked it! I even formed a bit of it into a burger patty just to see how the consistency looked and it seemed comparable to store bought so I went with it and ground up the rest again. Afterwards everything was vac sealed and put into the freezer.
A couple days later we pulled out a pound to use for tacos and it cooked up like any other package of beef. Overall I'm pleased with how it turned out and I even wrote it down so I can remember for the next time.

[jfmorris]

Thanks. How long were these strips you were feeding in? I was just shoving stuff into the hopper and using the plastic "pusher" to shove things down to the auger.

I may regrind next time. What I had cooked well for the spaghetti last night, and the packs I put in the freezer last night will likely get used for similar purposes.

[Andrrr]

jfmorris I'd say the strips were probably in the 6" range. Not an exact science but aside from the firmer fat you really won't even need the pusher for the first grind.

[RonB]

You don't have to stick to just one cut when you grind your own. You can mix brisket with chuck or short ribs, or whatever you think might work.

[jfmorris]

Oh - I know that. I've got bags of saved fat trimmings from brisket and short ribs in the freezer.

[jfmorris]

Thanks for all the advice. Sounds like folks like strips - but how long are the strips you feed the grinder?

I am also hearing that I can regrind if I choose, with the same course plate, and get a more uniform mix of fat and lean in the grind.

So.... has anyone ground a brisket for burger meat? I bought a $1.99 a pound 12 pound brisket yesterday, and am debating whether I want another choice brisket in the freezer (already have 2), or if I should turn it into burger, since burger is $3.99 a pound most places around here right now (or higher).

If there isn't enough fat content for 80/20 on a single brisket, I've got saved brisket and short rib trimmings in the deep freeze that can be pulled into the mix.

[Andrrr]

I ground a brisket up a few years back and I can't really remember the particulars but I do recall putting it on my "will do again" list. I had some roasts already but I was looking around here for some cheap brisket just for that reason because like you said you can find that cheaper than 80/20 ground beef in the stores, plus you know exactly what's in it. Costco Prime brisket by me is back up to $4.20/lb and I was considering that as well.

[Murdy]

I worked in a butcher shop a long time ago, going on 30 years. I can't quite recall if we did 2 grinds on our ground beef (one course then one fine), we'd typically do 2 for sausage that was going into casings. Maybe you want to run a pound of the stuff you ground with the coarse plate thru one more time with a finer plate and see what it comes out like?

[jfmorris]

I will try that experiment next time.

[Murdy]

And if that's too mushy, one grind with a finer plate might do it.

[Rod]

jfmorris Your experience is identical to mine. I too got the metal attachment and have had the same exact experience. The only difference is I made a couple burgers. It was hard to form patties that stayed together. Though I was able to successfully cook them on the flat top, I had to be SUPER careful while doing so. That was my one and only experience as well. So thanks for bringing this up. I'm just not sure it's worth the effort considering what we typically use GB for. It's not like people just have a plate of GB for dinner.

[jfmorris]

Well, my wife uses it in tacos, chili, spaghetti, soups, casseroles, etc. So for that it would be fine even if it doesn't hold together. I am thinking a re-grind is going to be the trick to making burgers that hold together better. I'll give it a whirl anyway, and if its a fail, it won't be like we can't use the ground beef in other ways.

[radshop]

I don’t think the strips vs chunks things will make a difference. Either way the auger pushes the meat into the blade and it gets cut.

I have a large grinder that I use when making big batches of sausage or whatever, and I also have the Kitchenaid attachment for grinding trim just like you. The mechanism of the 2 is exactly the same, but the result is very different. The big one pushes out a flow of meat just like you see in grocery store packages, but the Kitchenaid doesn't. My best guess on why is that the Kitchenaid has a much shallower auger and is therefore pushing the meat with a lot less pressure - and it has to be that way because the mixer is underpowered compared to the motor of the big grinder.

I use the Kitchenaid because it's convenient, and I know it's going to be fine for smash burgers, taco meat, breakfast sausage patties, etc. But if I want thick, juicy burgers that hold up on the grill, it's not going to do that very well.

EDIT:
To expand on why I think the pressure matters. Because the big grinder is pushing with more pressure, there will be more of a mass of meat that's been cut by the blade but not yet made it through the die. As the blade continues to mix those cut fibers, the proteins start to stick together and form those ribbons of grind. I'm not a biologist or anything, but I think I understand a little about how proteins work, and the big thing is they form long strands when you work them.

[glitchy]

For your brisket, watch a Chud video on brisket trimming. If you go aggressive like him, you can have a brisket and a good amount to grind.

I haven’t used my KA grinder yet, probably picked it up at the same time you did, but on the STCG videos where I’ve seen him grind, he usually does a double grind.

[Willy]

Here's Meathead's discussion on grinding burger.

https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/hamburger-sloppy-joe-salisbury-steak-recipes/grinding-your-own-hamburgers/

[gboss]

I've done medium grind to get all the trim and such mixed and incorporated with the fat. Then, I'll put the fine grind die back on and put all the meat through a second time.
(I think medium and fine, but it might be coarse and medium. I don't remember offhand.)
I definitely think the second grind makes a difference both in mixing and texture.

I've ground a couple of batches, each came out really well.

First one was a variety of trim - brisket, sirloin, and striploin.
Most of the other times were just brisket trim.

I cut the trim into "strips" as long as I can make them: the auger will pull strips right through instead of having to shove them down the hole. Not a big deal, just makes feeding the grinder a little easier. I usually mis-over-estimate how wide a piece will fit down the tube and end up having to make my strips narrower. Some day I'll learn.

I pre-freeze the grinder and make sure my meat is as cold as it can be (but not frozen).

100% brisket is my go-to for smashburgers. It's a great application for them.
My last effort, I tried to make regular burgers using 100% brisket trim. This did not go as well as I had hoped: my eyeball ratio was way off and they ended up very fatty. They were juicy and delicious, but didn't hold together as well and cooked a lot quicker than I was expecting. I've never really done fat ratios by weight, but that's probably a good idea for consistency.

The meat ends up WAY looser than store bought. (I use butcher paper on a sheet pan on a kitchen cart. This prevents a huge "pile" of ground meat and makes it easier to portion). I try to handle store bought ground beef as little as possible to prevent overworking, but the home ground can use some pressing together to stay as one unit through cooking. I've also since bought a burger press.

[jfmorris]

Thanks gboss. I've about decided that the 12 pound choice brisket in my fridge is going into the grinder, along with a little extra fat I have in the freezer if it looks like I need more.