Ground MeatāWhat You Need to Know
Ground meat is a fascinating thing. You can make it from any animal. Itās widely available. Itās tasty. But did you know that thereās a lot of alchemy happening when you grind meat? š§āāļø And by alchemy I just mean science. š¬š§Ŗš©āš¬
Letās talk about ground meat! Hopefully, I wonāt butcher it! š
Why Do We Grind Meat?
Cuts of meat from places like the shoulders or hind legs are some of my favorites to cook with. Theyāre the muscles that are most used on the animal. Therefore, theyāre full of flavor!
Butt (pun always intended) theyāre also the toughest cuts. Why? Itās the length of the muscle fibers and all the chewy connective tissue that come from working out. šļøāāļø
When you cook tough cuts whole, they have to cook for hours to transform the collagen in the connective tissue into gelatin. Once you hit that point, the end product will be tender and delicious! (Learn more about cooking tough cuts of meat.)
But you donāt have to worry about hours of cooking when you grind up tough cuts. A tender, juicy, flavorful meal can be ready in a fraction of the time! š
How? The long fibers and tough tissue are broken down when ground. It makes those tough bits naturally more tender and juicy. Itās why we thinly slice tough greens to tenderize them.
Be Careful About How Much You Mix Ground Meat
This is important! Grinding meat makes the proteins super sticky. This works in our favor because the stickiness helps hold the meat together. That means we can form the ground meat into patties, loaves, links, or balls without them falling apart! Nifty, right?
But keep this in mind. The more you handle and mix the meat, the more it will stick together and the denser/snappier the texture becomes. 𤲠This is important depending on what end result you want.
For example, hamburgers should be barely mixed to keep them tender. Maybe you donāt even pick it up to form a patty. Plus, when the meat isnāt formed as tightly, there are more nooks and crannies. That creates extra surface area, which means better browning!
On the other hand, sausages are heavily mixed. This extra mixingāalong with when theyāre salted (more on this in a bit)ācreates a snappy, springy texture.
Meatloaf is probably more in the middle. You probably donāt want the loaf to fall apart when you slice into it. But you also donāt want it overly chewy.
So be mindful of how much you mix or pack ground meat!
How Salt Affects Ground Meat
Salt dissolves proteins in meat. Normally, this makes the meat juicy since those dissolved proteins hold onto moisture better. Itās why we salt meat ahead of time.
But ground meat is a little bit different. Salt greatly increases the chances that proteins in ground meat link together. To understand what this means, take a look at this photo from J. Kenji López-Alt of two identical burgers except for one variable: when it was salted.
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The photo on the left is from a burger that was salted on the surface right before cooking. The photo on the right shows a burger where the meat was salted before the patty was formed. See it makes a drastic difference! š¤Æ
So hereās what you need to know:
- If you want a looser, more tender structureālike with a burgerāonly salt the surface of the patty right before cooking. Itās worth saying another way. When making burgers, donāt add salt until your patties are already formed!
- If you want a springier textureālike with sausage or Swedish meatballsāadd salt before forming the meat mixture.
Whatās Fat Got To Do, Got To Do With It?
The ratio of lean meat to fat makes a difference. So when should you buy 80/20 vs 90/10? š¤
Really itās all about the final texture you want and how juicy you want it to be.
The Type Of Fat Affects The Texture
The consistency of fat changes based on the type of animal it came from. Pork fat is softer than beef or lamb fat which may be slightly waxy. And then thereās veal. It creates a super tender, gelatinous structure.
This means you can combine types of ground meats in order to influence the final texture. For example, add ground pork to your meatballs to give them a smoother, softer texture than just using ground beef alone. Or better yet, you could mix in diced bacon, pancetta, or prosciutto!
Fat Prevents The Ground Meat From Drying Out
The more fat, the juicer the final product, even if you cook it longer. The leaner the ground meat, the quicker it dries out.
So hereās how I think about it. If I know Iām cooking something longerālike with meatloafāIāll want enough fat in there to keep it juicy over time. If Iām using lean meatālike ground turkeyāIāll be extra careful to make sure I donāt overcook it. And then, Iāll think about how I might add juiciness elsewhere, like with a sauce.
Who knew there was so much you needed to know about ground meat?! Hope you learned as much as I did doing the research for it.
Luciano šØāš³
P.S. Please remember to tell a friend about the newsletter and help me reach my goal of 1,000 subscribers before the end of the year! Youāre the best! ā¤ļø
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