My home ground chuck steak burgers were a flop!

[Ribber]

I was full of high expectations when I read what JCBBQ posted about his chuck steak burgers turning out so good. This was also my first home ground burgers. I ground the chuck steak in the new Hamilton Beach food processor. I tried to be sure not to over grind them by just pulsing. It made great looking patties and the cooked burgers looked great. I could not wait to dig in. Then I took a bite. It was very rubbery. Ok, that's just one bite. The entire burger was rubbery and grisly. I cooked them on the kettle at 325 to about 120 IT then finished over the coals at 135 IT. I had a second patty and decided to cook it more in the CI skillet and brought the IT to 160. Still no good. I put the cooked patty back in the processor and turned it into taco meat. It was still a flop. The flavor was fine but I had to toss the rest of it.

Is there something here I did wrong or was it just the chuck steak? I'm not a quitter so I want to try again. Can anyone say what I might have done wrong or give any suggestions. It seems so simple and straight forward...eeer! Congrats to you JCBBQ for your success!

[MBMorgan]

My money is on the chuck steak. I grind my own burgers (admittedly using chuck eye steak instead of chuck) and still have to pick over the ground results to avoid those grisly "rubber bands" that can add unwanted texture to the patty.

[Ribber]

MBMorgan It had to be the meat. It did occur to me that next time I need to cull the grisly stuff. But even the small pieces ground it into was rubbery. I wonder what it would have been like if I just cooked it as a steak. Probably not good. Btw, I did not mention that it was choice cut. Thanks.

[Atalanta]

Better meat will make a better burger. When you ground it, was it really cold? I've read that grinding nearly frozen meat yields a better texture (less mushiness).

[Ribber]

Atalanta You know, I did not put the meat in the freezer first for about 30 minutes. I thought that was for making the grind a little easier. The meat was cold when it was ground but not near frozen. The fridge is set to 35°. After grinding I put the patties back in the fridge but they were out a little while (maybe 30 minutes) while I waited for the grill to heat up but I did not check the patty temp before putting on the grill.

[MBMorgan]

Atalanta is right about grinding partially frozen meat. FWIW, after I pasteurize the surfaces of one of my chuck eye steaks, I cut it into approximately 1" cubes, spread them out on a large cookie sheet, and put them in the freezer until they are firm but not quite frozen. I then grind them immediately in small batches (picking out gristle from each batch) then move the ground meat into the fridge until it's time to cook. I form the patties, season, and cook immediately. So far so good ... (knock on wood) ...

[RonB]

I believe fat helps with texture. Was your chuck very lean? If you cook briskets, save some of the fat for adding to you grind, or use something with a higher fat content like short ribs in addition to the chuck.

[Ribber]

The fat % was not shown on the package but it did not seem too lean. I almost bought the short ribs instead. May try that next.

[Ribber]

MBMorgan I knew about the freezer process but failed to do that. How stupid of me. Could very well be part of the problem? Are chuck eye steaks a common find at the grocer? I'll ask my wife if she has seen them. Thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to refer back to this post.

[MBMorgan]

Chuck eye steaks can be hard to find ... mainly because there are only two per cow. They come from the same muscle as ribeye but from one rib closer to the neck. If you make nice with the butcher (mine's at Safeway) he can probably reserve a few for you.

[Ribber]

Thanks. Maybe I won't get the same look as when I asked for leafback for making lard.

[EdF]

I've never found chuck roast to be a problem for burgers. But I do use the partial freeze method. You said you were using a food processor - was that with the blade or a grinding attachment? I could imagine that using the blade could heat things up, melt away some fat, and result in a poor mix.

[Ribber]

EdF Thanks. I used the blade. I was not aware that I should use a grinding attachment or even that there was one. The time it took to grind probably lasted less than a minute. I did not notice any heat generation or fat residue in the processor.

[JCBBQ]

Oh, man, I'm sorry to hear that! Yeah, the only thing I can say has really already been said above. I've done it a couple times now. Each time I cut the meat into 1 inch pieces and tried to get rid of gristle as I did so. Then I put it into a bowl for about 30 mins in the freezer. The first time might have been longer and it ground better. It was almost frozen. The second time it was cold but not bordering on frozen and it was a little more difficult to grind but it ground easily too. My grinder attachment seemed to do all the work. I don't know about using a food processor maybe that overworks the meat..? I'd never heard of a grinder attachment for the food processor either. Keep at it!

[mgaretz]

Other than not having enough fat, I am going to guess the issue was with the food processor. With a blade you will get shredded meat, not ground. Do you have a Kitchen Aid mixer? If so, get the grinding attachment. (As others have said, I am not aware of a grinding attachment for a food processor.)

To test if the food processor was the issue, make half of your short ribs (or another piece of chuck) in the FP, and have your butcher grind the other half for you (assuming you don't have any other access to an actual meat grinder).

[EdF]

Yeah, sorry - I screwed up. I was thinking of my old manual grinder, and the amazing attachment for my Electrolux mixer - similar to the one for the Kitchen-Aid.

I like your empirical approach to figuring it out.

[MBMorgan]

When it's done properly, we've come to prefer "ground" beef in the food processor over that from the KitchenAid grinder. It is most definitely not shredded if done in small semi-frozen batches then picked over to remove any stringy bits.

[EdF]

Thanks MBMorgan !

[Michael Brinton]

You can get good results with a food processor but you have to be obsessive about trimming out connective tissue, or hand picking. Cut the meat into cubes, less than an inch. Freeze in batches because you can only put a little in at a time to grind. It won't look like regular ground meat more like half frozen little broken chips. If it gets warm enough to smear it's ruined. If your feeling really active you can chop, chop, chop with a clever or big knife also. I think doc Blonder says somewhere on the site that he prefers food processor burgers because of the course chop you get.
​​​​if you use the grinder attachment you will probably never want to go another way it's just easier. Especially for more than a few burgers.

[Ribber]

I was going on the suggestion from Meathead that he actually preferred using the food processor and just pulsing a few times. I did also cut it into 1 inch chunks first. Although it did not look like typical ground meat it still actually looked pretty good. I did not anticipate or notice the gristle. Since a manual grinder can be had for about 20 bucks or so, I may just go that route and use the processor for more conventional uses but I'm trying to avoid buying too many bulky kitchen gadgets. It looks like there are several things I could have done to get better results.

[Atalanta]

I picked up a manual grinder in a thrift store last fall. Then for Christmas got a Kitchenaid. Need to get the grinder attachment. Re: Food Processor - In my mom's cheese shop she'd use the blades to grind parm and other really hard cheeses. Probably same principal with using frozen meat.

[PBCDad]

I'm following this thread closely because I've always wanted to try the food-processor grind-yourself burger. I was under the impression that nothing needed to be picked out. Please help a newb out, how do you tell the difference between gristle and non-marbled fat when you grind it?
Ribber, please post if/when you figure out what makes the burgers come out right. I'm in your same boat about not wanting to add more bulky appliances. I feel bad you had to go through a huge disappointment, but selfishly I'm glad you posted about it.

[ecowper]

I'Ve been given a couple shelves in the garage for my food making stuff. Apparently I was taking up way too much room in the pantry.

[PBCDad]

Yeah, I've already used up my shelf space in the garage for my tools, and it has started spreading... I seem to be taking up too much room anywhere I have my stuff

[Nuke em]

Fwiw...Alton brown did a burger segment one time with a food processor and chuck. I know he used 2 different types of meat. I tried it a while ago and was real pleased with it. Might wanna check that out and compare notes

[Ribber]

I'll watch the video again of Meathead and Ted Reader to see if there was something in there that I missed.

[LangInGibsonia]

The AB episode is called "Burger of the Gods" and it does make a really good burger. He uses chuck and sirloin mixed. It definitely has a different texture than a regular burger. We call them steak burgers. They're much more meaty.

[Ribber]

LangInGibsonia, thanks. I'll check it out 1st chance I get.