Grinding beef, eye of round or check steak

[cshenk]

Hi folks who grind your own,

We have a realy good sale on both right now but how well do they work
for ground beef? I have no beef fat to add unless I get some ox tail
and trim the fat for this.

I do have pork fat I can add and dont mind mixing tastes here.

Carol

--

[JRStern]

If you grind beef, grind beef, don't add any fat, don't add ANYTHING!

If you even select different cuts to grind together, you're getting
fancier than 99% of people ever do.

When you start adding stuff you're making sausage, that's a whole
different story, and watch your fingers!

J.


>
> Carol

[sf]

On Wed, 18 Mar 2015 17:44:42 -0500, "cshenk" <csh...@cox.net> wrote:

I think you'll be fine with either one even if you don't add fat. I
remember I had the grocery store grind a bottom round (something
fairly inexpensive without much fat) because all they had was 80% and
I wanted less fat... I think he put it through the grinder 3 times.
In any case, I was surprised by how much fat was distributed
throughout. It cooked up great too. Of course, chuck will be fattier
than the eye of round.


--
A kitchen without a cook is just a room

[pltrgyst]

On 3/18/15 6:44 PM, cshenk wrote:
>
> We have a realy good sale on both right now but how well do they work
> for ground beef? I have no beef fat to add unless I get some ox tail
> and trim the fat for this.

If you're grilling, as in burgers, get the chuck.

If you're sort of stewing, as in chili, where the fat content will not
add extra flavor, get the round.

If you can make a decision based on the above, get whichever is cheaper.

In any event, think about how finely you grind. I generally find the
result to be more enjoyable with a coarser grind, especially for the chili.

-- Larry

[Nunya Bidnits]

"cshenk" wrote in message
news:1NydnQJCycdHYpTI...@giganews.com...

Chuck for best results IMO.

And brisket. ;-) If you can get some point end brisket, grind it
with the chuck after trimming the major fat.

I don't like eye of round for much of anything so a low price
doesn't get me interested.

[Travis McGee]

On 3/18/2015 11:57 PM, Nunya Bidnits wrote:
> "cshenk" wrote in message
> news:1NydnQJCycdHYpTI...@giganews.com...
>
> Hi folks who grind your own,
>
> We have a realy good sale on both right now but how well do they work
> for ground beef? I have no beef fat to add unless I get some ox tail
> and trim the fat for this.
>
> I do have pork fat I can add and dont mind mixing tastes here.
>
> Carol
>

"Grind your own"? Is that a euphemism??? You need to watch your
language; this is a family newsgroup.

[Brooklyn1]

On Wed, 18 Mar 2015 20:31:45 -0500, Sqwertz <swe...@cluemail.compost>
wrote:

>It depends on what you're going to grind the beef for. Eye of round
>would make for shitty, fall-apart hamburgers but may be acceptable for
>taco filling.

Ground eye round is not good for any sort of braising/meat sauce,
eventually it breaks down but becomes like sand/grit, not very
palatable. However eye round makes a very good lean roastbeef if
cooked no more than medium rare, more to the rare. Eye round is one
of those cuts that's best roasted never frozen but if frozen should be
oven roasted while still half frozen at 325ş and it will be moist.

[JRStern]

Huh. When I worked in a xxx restaurant in college one summer we
ground our own rounds, and one of the cooks showed me how to cut off a
nice eye steak for our own consumption first. I thought we were
cheating, but from what you're saying maybe we were doing it a favor!

J.

[Brooklyn1]

On Thu, 19 Mar 2015 10:31:50 -0700, JRStern <JRS...@foobar.invalid>
wrote:

>On Thu, 19 Mar 2015 13:17:21 -0400, Brooklyn1
><grave...@verizon.net> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 18 Mar 2015 20:31:45 -0500, Sqwertz <swe...@cluemail.compost>
>>wrote:
>>
>>>On Wed, 18 Mar 2015 17:44:42 -0500, cshenk wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi folks who grind your own,
>>>>
>>>> We have a realy good sale on both right now but how well do they work
>>>> for ground beef? I have no beef fat to add unless I get some ox tail
>>>> and trim the fat for this.
>>>>
>>>> I do have pork fat I can add and dont mind mixing tastes here.
>>>
>>>It depends on what you're going to grind the beef for. Eye of round
>>>would make for shitty, fall-apart hamburgers but may be acceptable for
>>>taco filling.
>>
>>Ground eye round is not good for any sort of braising/meat sauce,
>>eventually it breaks down but becomes like sand/grit, not very
>>palatable. However eye round makes a very good lean roastbeef if
>>cooked no more than medium rare, more to the rare. Eye round is one
>>of those cuts that's best roasted never frozen but if frozen should be

>>oven roasted while still half frozen at 325º and it will be moist.

>
>Huh. When I worked in a xxx restaurant in college one summer we
>ground our own rounds, and one of the cooks showed me how to cut off a
>nice eye steak for our own consumption first. I thought we were
>cheating, but from what you're saying maybe we were doing it a favor!

Top round makes good burgers but eye round is too lean... and bottom
round contains too much gristle/silver skin. Eye round is good sliced
thin (1/4") and cooked hot and fast for like no more than one minute
per side.

[Nancy2]

JRStern, do you know the old song, "Oh, Mr., Mr., Johnny Verbeck, how could
you be so mean....?" LOL.

N.

[cshenk]

sf wrote in rec.food.cooking:

That kinda matches my versions. Chuck alone should will be ok. Eye of
round might work better with a little fat added.

--

[sf]

What about combining them?

[cshenk]

That may work really well. I go to the store tomorrow for some and may
grind it same day.

I don't use huge amounts of ground beef so for *us* about 1/2 lb every
2 weeks works. I plan to get 2 lbs each and try a bit mixed and see if
it's right. If not, add fat to the eye of round. Shouldn't take too
much.

--