What Actually Goes Into Ground Beef? Everything You Need To Know

Ground beef is one of the most commonly consumed types of beef in America. From chili to tacos, burgers, casseroles, meat sauces and more, it’s highly versatile, and ground beef is easy to prepare, freezes well, and stores excellently in cooked dishes! But, what actually goes into ground beef?

But what actually goes into ground beef? You may have asked yourself this before, and you may be wondering what the answer is. What beef parts are actually used to create ground beef? That’s a great question, and in this blog from Pre, we’ll discuss everything that you need to know. 

What Beef Parts Go Into Ground Beef?

There’s a misconception that “ground beef” contains unwanted “variety meats” such as organs, ears, snouts, or other parts of the cow that are not usually sold in American and other western countries. But that’s not true. In fact, ground beef cannot be sold with organ meats, unless it’s specifically labeled as containing organ meat. The only exception to this is heart and tongue, which are allowed in ground beef under USDA guidance. But at Pre, we never use heart or tongue in our ground beef.

To begin the process of butchering cattle, the butcher seperates the meat into primals, sub-primals, and whole cuts. Basically, the butcher is segments it into big chunks, then trims and cuts it into the meat “cuts” you’re familiar with, such as chuck roast, ribeye steak, skirt steak, filets, sirloin, and so on. 

And while butchers are great at cutting away this meat and leaving minimal meat behind, there are always some “trimmings” that stay on the bone and can’t be sold on their own. These consist of both lean meat and fat, and are wholesome and just as good as any other part of the cow.

Ground beef is a way to use these trimmings. We remove and seperate the leftover lean meat and fat. Then, we combine it in a specific ratio – such as 80% lean meat and 20% fat – and grind it into ground beef, which we sell to you for cooking at home. 

Fun fact: we always grind our ground beef three times for the most optimum bite.

What’s The Difference Between Ground Beef, Ground Chuck, And Ground Sirloin?

“Ground beef” refers to meat that’s from meat trimmings, as mentioned above. Any meat you see labeled as “ground beef” will be made using the method we described.

But what about meat called “ground chuck” or “ground sirloin?” This is a bit different. This ground meat is simply taking that cut of beef and grinding it up.

In other words, ground chuck is not from trimmings. It is from loading a chuck roast into a grinder and grinding it up. The same is true of ground sirloin, which is comes from grinding up a sirloin steak.

Complicating things even further, some stores sell “hamburger.” This is distinct from ground beef. It uses the same trimmings as ground beef. But, while the fat content of ground beef can only come from trimmings, “hamburger” can have fat added from other sources. So, ground beef is higher quality over “hamburger meat.” 

Shop For Grass Fed & Finished Ground Beef At Pre Today!

At Pre, we’re one of the leading grass fed beef brands on the market. Pre is the way to go! Whether you’re on Whole30, you’re keto, or you just want to feed your family high-quality meat, choose Pre. You don't have to worry about antibiotics and other unnecessary additives, we’ve got what you need! 

Our ground beef only uses wholesome trimmings and includes absolutely no added hormones or antibiotics, and we have a wide variety of grass fed & finished ground beef available, including 80%, 85%, 92%, and 95% lean beef. So don’t wait. Shop online today at Pre, or feel free to contact us if you have any questions or want more information about why we’re one of the best grass fed beef brands in the industry!