How to Grind Your Own Beef for Burgers

Want to really elevate your burger game? Grinding your own meat is a great way to not only get the best burger you’ve ever tasted, but also get the perfect fat to meat ratio.

While it might seem complicated, our blog will walk you through step by step to make the process easy and fool proof.

Choose Your Meat

The key to a great burger is the meat and the great thing about grinding your own meat is that you can totally customize your burger blend. There are a lot of different routes you can take but her are some of our favorite meat options:

• Chuck cut – the tried and true favorite from the top of the shoulder
• Sirloin cut – we recommend top sirloin for the best burger
• Round Cut – very lean and a good blending meat

The Fat Content

The fat in a burger is absolutely necessary. It makes it juicy, tender, and flavorful. The best meat to fat ratio for a burger is 70% meat to 30% fat. A great way to add fat easily is by incorporating short ribs, brisket, or navel in your burger. The added fat will help the burger retain moisture as well as up the beef flavor.

Preparing the Meat

Before you grind your burger meat, you need to prepare it by removing all the bones and silver skin. The silver skin is tough and chewy and isn’t good in a burger. Once all your meat is cleaned, slice it into one-inch strips and then cut into one to two-inch chunks.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place all the meat on it. Place the baking sheet of meat in your freezer and freeze the meat for 15 to 20 minutes.

Tip: Place your meat grinder and/or food processor blade attachment in the freezer with the meat to get the best grind.

Freezing is a crucial step so do not skip it! Slightly frozen meat grinds better than room temperature or fridge temperature meat. Trust us on this. Your meat grinder and/or food processor will thank you.

Grinding the Meat

Take the meat and grinder parts out of the fridge and start feeding your meat into the grinder until everything is ground. If you are using a food processor, place the blade in the processor and grind the meat in batches. You want the grind to look like small pebbles for the best results.

Forming the Patties

Dealers choice on how to form the patties. You can go big and make serious quarter pounder burgers or you can roll into balls for smash burgers. Grind a lot of meat? Formed burgers freeze well and you can use them for your next cookout!

Have a burger that you love? Tell us about it in the comments!