Anyone who's seen Food, Inc. has witnessed the terrifying process by which some ground beef finds its way to supermarket shelves. Your backyard burger could come from different parts of several different cows, sometimes killed at separate slaughterhouses, perhaps mixed with a "mash-like product derived from scraps," according to a recent NY Times article. Many of the cuts used for grinding by big producers like Cargill come from less popular parts off a cow, parts that may have more contact with the E. coli bacteria in feces. To fight contamination, some producers treat the meat with ammonia. Yum!
Unless you ask the grocer to grind the meat for you — using a slab of meat you pick right out of the case — it's nigh impossible to determine what went into the grinder for your future meatballs, how long ago it was ground, and what it was treated with. Your best, cheapest, and tastiest choice is, as always, to do it yourself.
Here's a simple guide to the fine art of home-made ground beef:
This article appears in Oct 8-14, 2009.