[greyeaglem]

Welcome Bruce, and thank you. I want to ask if it's my imagination or does beef really not taste the way it used to. I particularly have trouble finding hamburger that doesn't outright stink when I cook it and tastes like hamburger used to. It seems like even choice beef is dry and flavorless. No one but me seems to notice this, so I wonder if it's my imagination. I also remember being told in scool that grass fed beef was dry and stringy, and now I see menus featuring grass fed beef. What are your thoughts about the quality of beef we have today? Thank you.

[Bruce Aidells]

The dryness of ground beef is dependent on the fat content. I prefer a minimum of about 20% fat which in the old days was called ground chuck. Today even if it is called ground chuck it doesn't necessarily have to come from the chuck but the naming instead is based on the fat percentage of 20%. As far as grass-finished beef it can be nice and juicy and tasty if it has ample fat. Again 20% is ideal. To my taste ground beef made from chuck meat is the best tasting so if you want to insure true ground chuck but some chuck meat and enough fat and grind it yourself of ask the store to do such for you.
B