aging chuck roast for ground beef

[Leonard Varvaro]

Hello. I am new to this and was wondering if it’s a good idea to age a chuck roast to grind into ground beef. Any advice as to how long to age, or even if it’s a good idea, would be apreciated. Thanks

[Rob Babcock]

I don’t see any reason not to, but you might not want to go as long as you would for steaks. Just be sure to trim it well before grinding and use it promptly. Someone that’s got more experience grinding aged beef will probably be along shortly.

[Ron Pratt]

I happen to grind chuck roasts myself for chili and for occasional special hamburgers, but I have never aged a roast before grinding it. My rationale is I want the moisture in the meat, not remove it and besides if you trim back to “grocery store red” like a lot of people do then there is needless waste. I do know one person intended to, but don’t recall a follow up report as for whether he did or not.
Ron.

[Leonard Varvaro]

Thanks for the input. What you say about burgers being too dry makes sense. I may try ageing a small roast and see how it turns out. perhaps when I grind the meat I might add some un-aged fat, or some bacon, to moisten up the mix. Thanks.

[Ron Pratt]

And thanks back at you! I agree with adding the bacon! Just don’t tell your doctor!

[Ron Pratt]

I should have explained myself further – when I make chili I try to hit “in my mind” an 80/20 mixture. Most times the chuck roasts that I select will have sufficient fat to reach that goal. OTHO I know I am far more selective in what fat I include or won’t include far more so than the usual butcher shop. I mean no hard fat and no connective tissue fat. What I do then to compensate for the leaner grind is I add bacon fat(grease) that I save whenever we cook bacon. We always have a jar of the pure white fat in the refrig and I just add it directly to my chili and do not grind it with the meat. At least this works for me and I can always add more near the end of the cook based on what experience has taught me for the appearance of floating fat in my pot of chili. Ron

[Scott Mark]

I have certainly planned to do some grinding – but I haven’t done it. We bought – I don’t know if it was a quarter or a half of a cow – from a 4H nephew of a friend. A person might be overwhelmed by the amount of “grind” (hamburger) one gets. I want to grind my own hamburger but I’ve already got so much hamburger and it is so GOOD. Store-bought hamburger is nowhere in comparison for flavor. I don’t know how to measure it for lean -vs- fat, but we love it in every recipe, including grilled burgers.

I’m looking forward to finding the right clod from a farmer, aging it, and processing it for good grind.

Toasty

[Author]

Posts