Ground Beef

[TXGunNut]

With the high price of hamburger and the uncertainty of the actual ingredients I've been grinding my own burger recently. Might as well give the grinder something to do in the offseason, right? Local store had brisket for a (relatively) good price recently so I brought one home. My big Cabelas grinder lets me do a coarse grind and also lets me regulate the fat content, both big pluses. This was a "wholesale cut" brisket so it had plenty of fat. In fact I trimmed off a couple of pounds to use in another project, probably venison burger. I don't eat much beef but it's nice to have 11 1lb bags for when I get a hankering for beef...the other red meat. ;-)

[gbrown]

What are you giving for the brisket? How much a lb. do you think for the ground meat? I got some chuck roasts for 1.99/lb about 6 mos. ago and ground up about 50 lb. That's about a dollar under the current price of 80/20. I've considered brisket, because sometimes around Memorial Day and in the summer, it can come down relatively cheap. I do this because I have a 1 HP Thunderbird that justs sits, most of the time. I got time to work with it. I also like to make my own, as I can control the fat/meat content. Most of the meats nowadays, have water and salt added to them. I don't like paying for that. Rather produce something for my family that is good, healthy (relatively) and cheaper.

[SciFiJim]

80/20 here is about the same price as a trimmed roast. $3.49/lb. I need to start grinding my own as well.

[Teddy (punchie)]

We cheat. Cull and cow out of the group. Hanging weight we did charge was 2.25 after all the this and that of cutting them up etc. average cost per pound was 3.60 to 3.75 little high for ground but cheap for most other cuts. There My first family, LOL I use to get razzed about being a daddy and having kids LOL . But now I have to young girls that drive me nut, hay its a short drive.

[MaryB]

Chuck roll is really good for hamburger meat. Enough fat to make an 80/20 mix and tons of flavor. Before I started buying beef off the farm I bought whole check rolls etc and cut my own steaks and roasts. Would get a rib primal once a year too. Chuck roll rib end has 3-4 really good tender steaks on it too.

[C. Latch]

Being so far from Texas, briskets never get cheap enough around here to justify the work. :x

We'll buy pork fat or bacon scraps to add to our ground venison sometimes; I also save bacon grease and will add it to venison hamburger steaks sometimes.

If you want a real treat, sometimes we'll grind some boston butts to make our own sausage, and once I added a pack of country ham scraps to the sausage. Mmmmmmmm........try it sometimes. A pound of ham is enough to give a unique flavor to 10-15 pounds of sausage, or more. A little goes a long way, but it's wonderful stuff.

[Changeling]

In my area hamburger on sale is $3.49 lb to $7.00+, Ball Park hot dogs $4.00 lb +, beef roast $4.50 to $7.00lb +, Bacon 4.50 to $6.00 lb +.

The only deal I've seen in months is now because Easter is coming up, Shank hams (my favorite) 00.97 per lb. I bought 4!!

Obama Care, they took $60.00 more per month out of my retirement check because of it !!!!!!!!:x I better not say anything else!!!!

[mtnman31]

Red meat prices are no doubt, uncomfortably high right now. Even shopping on a military base at a commissary can be painful. What makes it worse is when my wife feels the need to buy organic beef for my son. I'm not upset she buys the more expensive organic beef for the little man; I am upset that she forgot about it in the fridge and the unopened package went skunky bad.

We don't really eat enough red meat to justify buying a side of beef or a large quantity from a farm. Not to mention, we only have a small deep freeze that doesn't have the room for a large stockpile. Maybe I can get a co-worker to split a side with me...

[Shiloh]

$3.79 for 85/15. $4.29 for 93/7.

$5.49 for sirloin tip steak. I refuse to pay that much for burger. The bride and I had some of the sirloin tips. They are small and run 8-11 oz. tops.

Shiloh

[gbrown]

I just read an article on the cost of beef. Next 4-5 years, its not going down. A lot of ranchers sold off stock in the last 3 or 4 years because of the drought, price of feed, etc. Now they are rebuilding their herds, so the market is kinda scarce for cattle. Just not selling. I'm thinking wild hogs, and other meats. Don't know how that'll fly. We'll see. I'll tell you this much, buying ground hamburger, 70/30 with meat/salt added, ain't no bargain. By the time you get thru cooking it with about 40% loss, it's higher than ground sirloin. Do the math. All you end up with is a little beef and a lot of fat. That's what convinced me to grind my own. A good grinder will pay for itself in 5 years or less.

[TXGunNut]

All the ranchers around here sold all but breeding stock awhile back and it takes awhile to build the herds back up. A few even sold off their breeders. I've heard beef prices would be back to normal in about two years but I also heard we'd be knee deep in primers and powder by June...2013. Haven't found chuck or sirloin for a decent price but I paid $2.79 for the brisket. Hamburger contains a sizeable percentage of water. Hard for me to pay $4/lb for water, reminds me of buying ethanol.
Untrimmed pork shoulders are almost ideal for sausage but meat from a young wild hog generally smells better than domestic, to me anyway. All I need is a little fat and I can make better sausage than I can buy.
I don't digest beef very well so I eat mostly feral pork and venison anyway.

[leeggen]

Yip price of beef and pork is crazy. Glad we raaise goats and butcher our own. Just done one 4 days ago, now have 9lb sausage and 13 lb of ground meat( hamberger). We process our own and and grind it also. Yes we use a Cabelas grinder also. Goats free graze on pasture and only in winter we corn supliment alittle. Our cost per goat is around$10.00 per yr on the hoof. So our meat cost us about .99 per pound. Tastes even better than venison.
CD

[MaryB]

I buy from a local grower, took me 2 years to get on the purchase list. But $3 a pound cut, wrapped and delivered to my front door for a quarter of grass fed beef is hard to beat!

[Lloyd Smale]

ya i just checked my burger supply and ive got enough for about 2 more months. Next year im going to have to put away more venison burger and hold back on making so much sausage. Its going to really hurt to have to buy bugger at those prices.

[Teddy (punchie)]

I buy from a local grower, took me 2 years to get on the purchase list. But $3 a pound cut, wrapped and delivered to my front door for a quarter of grass fed beef is hard to beat!
Hi Mary

How do you like the grass feed? Do they grain at all?

We culled a cow, 5 years old grass feed is okay but not a barn feed 3 months finished, two year old.

We are thinking of going all grass feed. They are getting a extra 25% to 50% for them per puond.

Cost beef is higher but for average small farmer to make, needs to higher. Small farms are all but gone, commercial or huge farms. Not many left small farm left, just a thing of the past. I' m not sure how the large farms do it. I' m in because I like cows, they say the cows are my first kids, lol.
Five years ago I figured if I cleared $50.00 - $75.00 a feed animal I was lucky. Make more money selling what I feed them.

Like cows, unless I have to chase them if out.

Darn Kids!!

I'll have to post some pics, of me calling them , lol

[crowbuster]

If you want a treat sometime grind some slightly thawed bacon in with your burger, make burgers and throw em on the grill. oh lord!

[smokeywolf]

Picked up 88/12% ground beef at Costco a couple of days ago for $3.29/lb. That's unusually low. I'm sure that will go up to the high $3s very soon.

[Changeling]

I buy from a local grower, took me 2 years to get on the purchase list. But $3 a pound cut, wrapped and delivered to my front door for a quarter of grass fed beef is hard to beat!

Witch quarter of beef, front or rear for the $3.00 per lb delivered?

Around here the small growers want about 40% more per lb for there beef.

You guys must remember/know that a range fed bunch of steers on a parcel of land that is overgrazed/bad grass is NOT the same as that same bunch raised/managed on quality grass and mooved from parcel to parcel on managed land for the quality of grass there (they plant the grass varietys). Some of this can be overcome with suppliment feeding, but it will never be Prime!
Please don't refer to a beef that is grown for it's meat quality as a COW, if one wishes to buy a cow for beef I can fix you right up, no gurantees as to taste/tenderness/quality though, I will gurantee it eats grass!

[Certaindeaf]

A thousand tree rats equals right around a thousand pounds a meat.. keep that springer .177 handy. Like ten bucks in pellets.. I don't know.. I know gas and what all equals goose egg so there's always that.

[DLCTEX]

The U S beef herd is lower than it has been since 1951. The population has increased dramatically. If the dry conditions persist in the Southwest, stocking numbers will not increase. A cow is two years old before she will drop a calf. The calf is a year old before it is butchered. Supply will not increase much in at least three years. If ranchers keep heifers for breeding, that takes meat out of the chain. I think it will get worse before it gets better. We will take more deer this year.

[MaryB]

They pasture them until the last month when they give them a mix of grain and forage off the farm. They butcher younger so smaller animals, around 800 pounds max. Taste and tenderness can't be beat but they are aged for 2 weeks before cutting. They have a waiting list, their farm has good water sources so they tend to duck the drought conditions that have been around here. I can't eat grocery store beef after eating theirs. And it is butchered locally in a spotless small shop. The hamburger is safe to eat raw.


Hi Mary

How do you like the grass feed? Do they grain at all?

We culled a cow, 5 years old grass feed is okay but not a barn feed 3 months finished, two year old.

We are thinking of going all grass feed. They are getting a extra 25% to 50% for them per puond.

Cost beef is higher but for average small farmer to make, needs to higher. Small farms are all but gone, commercial or huge farms. Not many left small farm left, just a thing of the past. I' m not sure how the large farms do it. I' m in because I like cows, they say the cows are my first kids, lol.
Five years ago I figured if I cleared $50.00 - $75.00 a feed animal I was lucky. Make more money selling what I feed them.

Like cows, unless I have to chase them if out.

Darn Kids!!

I'll have to post some pics, of me calling them , lol

[MaryB]

It is 50/50 front and rear, plus I usually get all the good innards because nobody else takes them. Beef heart is good stuff. Pasture up here on the prairie is excellent, where they are located lots of natural water in the form of springs, the tilled land is also in a spot that doesn't seem to get the drought as bad.


Witch quarter of beef, front or rear for the $3.00 per lb delivered?

Around here the small growers want about 40% more per lb for there beef.

You guys must remember/know that a range fed bunch of steers on a parcel of land that is overgrazed/bad grass is NOT the same as that same bunch raised/managed on quality grass and mooved from parcel to parcel on managed land for the quality of grass there (they plant the grass varietys). Some of this can be overcome with suppliment feeding, but it will never be Prime!
Please don't refer to a beef that is grown for it's meat quality as a COW, if one wishes to buy a cow for beef I can fix you right up, no gurantees as to taste/tenderness/quality though, I will gurantee it eats grass!

[Changeling]

It is 50/50 front and rear, plus I usually get all the good innards because nobody else takes them. Beef heart is good stuff. Pasture up here on the prairie is excellent, where they are located lots of natural water in the form of springs, the tilled land is also in a spot that doesn't seem to get the drought as bad.

Hi MaryB, it sounds like you have the right guy/Farm, I sure wish he was closer, wouldn't hesitate to be on his list.

Around here the best way some people do it is to get a Farmer with good pasturage to let you run a steer in with his (for a fee/beef). Then the last 30 to 60 days they pour the corn to it on an excellerated level.

[TXGunNut]

The U S beef herd is lower than it has been since 1951. The population has increased dramatically. If the dry conditions persist in the Southwest, stocking numbers will not increase. A cow is two years old before she will drop a calf. The calf is a year old before it is butchered. Supply will not increase much in at least three years. If ranchers keep heifers for breeding, that takes meat out of the chain. I think it will get worse before it gets better. We will take more deer this year.

That's pretty much what the ag guys around here are saying as well. I haven't seen it yet but keep an eye out for imported beef, don't say it can't happen.
I'm making "venisonburger" this weekend. Please don't ask me to figure the cost per pound, kobe beef is dirt cheap by comparison.
And yes, I'll try to kill more critters this year. Freezer was too full last year and my infirmities made field processing exhausting.

[MaryB]

Glad I am on the beef list up here, they haven't changed prices for years, steady customer base makes that possible.

[TXGunNut]

There's an old German butcher shop/grocery store that raises, feeds and sells it's own beef and has packages like that, Mary. They have pork as well. Pretty sure they've kept up with the times on prices but it's better beef than the grocery stores have. They make awesome sausage as well, have to buy some now and then for research purposes.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Witch quarter of beef, front or rear for the $3.00 per lb delivered?

Around here the small growers want about 40% more per lb for there beef.

You guys must remember/know that a range fed bunch of steers on a parcel of land that is overgrazed/bad grass is NOT the same as that same bunch raised/managed on quality grass and mooved from parcel to parcel on managed land for the quality of grass there (they plant the grass varietys). Some of this can be overcome with suppliment feeding, but it will never be Prime!
Please don't refer to a beef that is grown for it's meat quality as a COW, if one wishes to buy a cow for beef I can fix you right up, no gurantees as to taste/tenderness/quality though, I will gurantee it eats grass!
That is not the worst, if the price is right.
5 years ago, I bought a half a cow, She was 4 yrs old or so, and never came fresh. She ate grass with the other cows in the summer and was in the barn all winter. My friend was running a all natural Dairy (Organic without the stamp) at the time. He and I split it. I had it all ground to 80/20 except I told the butcher to save out some roasts if they looked OK and of course the tenderloin. The Roasts were sooo tough, but they ended up as canned Beef and was excellent. BTW, 300 lbs of Burger is a lot for a single guy, it was some excellent stuff...for $1.15 lb hanging weight.

Last fall, I bought a quarter of beef from another friend who had 3 "pets" on a 5 acre parcel that's partly wooded. Steaks are a little tougher as they didn't get "finshed" in a barn,,,but you just can't beat the flavor compared to grocery store meat. Paid $2.50 a lb hanging weight

[Changeling]

Around here the old cows are bought up at auctions by the soup companies or dogfood companies., same for ones that get injured or sick.

Years ago when I first built my home money was really tight. A local guy came around one day and said they had a steer that had stepped in a ground hog hole and broke it's leg that morning.
He was grinding it all up into burger and selling it real cheap because it was in the middle of summer.
I bought 50 lb. delivered to me late that evening. Next day I took it out of the frige and started freezing it. It smelled so bad, all of a sudden my brain remembered that smell ! It wasn't a steer at all it was an OLD bull I found out, that had died and the farmer was just cheating everyone! I had to through it all out in the field for the buzzards to eat it.

[MT Gianni]

I bought 1/2 a hog last week for $1.99 lb cut,wrapped and cured. 10 lb bags of 80-20 burger were $2.99 a lb. We have several ranchers that will sell you a cow for sale auction price then it gets to the local slaughterhouse. Our last one ran about $2.25 cut and wrapped. There will be a lot of calves this year with frozen feet and ears, their weight gain will be less but they will taste the same. Buyers don't like them so they generally sell for less, 10%-15%. You just have to sontact someone beforehand.

[Changeling]

Gianni those aren't bad deals at all. Here in Maryland we don't have the really "SEVERE" cold that you get in Montana. However this has been the worst winter for snow/ice/freezing weather I can remember in Maryland.

Right now I should have already seen some new fawn deer (April 20 2014) back in the valley behind my house, but haven't seen a 1!! Last years fawns are still hanging with there mothers, usuall by now the mothers have kicked them out. Something weird going on here!

Maybe they are worried the Democrats will get another one in office !

[glockmeister]

I went to the store yeaterday to get stuff on the list, wife wanted beef minute steaks. Checked the price, $5.98/lb. Huuuumm, checked the price on pork cutlets, $3.28/lb, guess which I brought home. Wish i had got my deer this past season, weather was wierd and deer were not moving, oh well, hope this year is better. Take care, John.

[Lloyd Smale]

yup pork tenderloin around here is cheaper then burger

I went to the store yeaterday to get stuff on the list, wife wanted beef minute steaks. Checked the price, $5.98/lb. Huuuumm, checked the price on pork cutlets, $3.28/lb, guess which I brought home. Wish i had got my deer this past season, weather was wierd and deer were not moving, oh well, hope this year is better. Take care, John.

[TXGunNut]

Quite honestly I generally prefer pork over beef, partly because of the price, partly because of the way it takes seasonings.

[TXGunNut]

I've rediscovered Hamburger Helper, makes a dinner (actually 3-4 meals for a single man) pretty easy.
Can't leave it alone, tho. I generally season the meat a bit as I brown it and add a few sliced-up fresh mushrooms when it's almost brown. I use milk instead of water whenever it calls for both, just increase the heat a bit just before I add all that cold milk. On the pasta recipes I toss in an extra handful of egg noodles. I usually put in some crushed red pepper with the seasonings. When it's almost ready to head for the table a handful of whatever cheese blend looks good gets sprinkled on top.
Can't wait to try it with the venison burger I ground up a little while back.

[Lloyd Smale]

I like doctoring it up too. I add a can of peas, corn or grean beans to it and some extra cheese. My wife gets mad about it. She thinks i should leave it alone. Told her if she wanted it plain to get out in the kitchen and make it. that usually shuts her up.
I've rediscovered Hamburger Helper, makes a dinner (actually 3-4 meals for a single man) pretty easy.
Can't leave it alone, tho. I generally season the meat a bit as I brown it and add a few sliced-up fresh mushrooms when it's almost brown. I use milk instead of water whenever it calls for both, just increase the heat a bit just before I add all that cold milk. On the pasta recipes I toss in an extra handful of egg noodles. I usually put in some crushed red pepper with the seasonings. When it's almost ready to head for the table a handful of whatever cheese blend looks good gets sprinkled on top.
Can't wait to try it with the venison burger I ground up a little while back.