If you are going for a particularly lean ground beef, then maybe look for a lean cut, top sirloin or flank etc, with little marbling, and trim it well. Sear, if you want to. Cut into chunks about 1'' big. If you're using the food processor, do small batches, like a layer 1 cube deep (rather than filling the processor bowl). Process in 1 second pulses, start with 10 pulses, adjust to get the consistency you want. I like my ground beef fairly chunky like hand-chopped meat, not mushy like a meat hummus. If using a grinder, then just send it through. I prefer the food processor. Maybe annie1992 has more information. E.g., her method of half-freezing the pieces is cool. Same process for making ground pork, turkey, chicken, by the way. Though I won't eat those raw even if I do grind them at home. If you make a really low fat ground beef, it may make for a dry chewy burger. Fat adds flavor and juiciness. You can replace that by mixing flavor and liquid into the meat. I usually add at least salt, pepper, and olive oil (melted butter when I'm being baaad). SWMBO likes her meat mixed with something like teriyaki sauce. If you're not a purist, you could get all experimental, mix in huckleberries or wasabi or weird stuff. Don't mash the meat when mixing, or making the patties, or cooking the patties. I don't like ground beef that's been compressed to cardboard or burgers squeezed dry. I like almost a loose, slightly crumbly burger , admittedly I use a skillet not a grill. Medium rare inside, brown and crusty outside. Yum.

We eat a lot of ground beef and I buy it here at Smith's(Kroger).I always get the 85/15 and pay $1.98 a lb. for the family pack most of the time.They always have really good specials and sometime if I get there at the right time the meat ground that day is marked down even more.I stock up then.They also have great specials sometime on steak.usually Sirloin and London broil and I stock up on those too. What I can't stand is getting those tiny little pieces of bone in a bite of meat.Ruins the whole burger for me.Don't have much of a problem with that with Smith's. Someone had organic,grass fed beef on the local Craigs list a while back.You could get a half,1/4 or whole beef.I called about it and it would have cost about $9.00 a pound! Would have been nice but who can afford that! Wish I had a way to grind my own.With the london broil and sirloin specials I can get,it would save a lot of money.

Tried this the other night--sort of "cabbage rolls/Polish Pigs" without the rice-- nice change of pace. Diane's Home Cookin Chapter: 2014/15/16--to try--main dishes & sides Unstuffed Sweet-and-Sour Cabbage ================================ source: Gourmet 11/2008 1 (2-pound) head green cabbage, quartered or cut into sixths-- lengthwise and cored 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced, divided 1 large onion, thinly sliced 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 pound ground beef chuck 1/2 pound ground pork 1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice 1/3 cup dried cranberries 3 tablespoon red-wine vinegar 1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar 2 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley Accompaniment: steamed rice . Cook onion and remaining garlic in oil in a heavy medium pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and stir in ground meats along with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring and breaking up lumps with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes with their juice, cranberries, vinegar, and brown sugar and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally and breaking up tomatoes with spoon, until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Season with salt. Sear cabbage pieces lightly in bacon grease then place in a deep 12-inch heavy skillet with broth, 1 garlic clove (sliced), and a rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then cook, covered, turning cabbage occasionally, until very tender, about 45 minutes. (Add more broth or water if necessary.) Pour sauce into skillet with cabbage and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Serve sprinkled with parsley. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/unstuffed-sweet-and-sour-cabbage-350572 Unstuffed cabbage

I never need to drain my own beef, and I do have to be careful not to overcook it, it's extremely lean When using commercial beef, though, I let the liquid evaporate. If I used it for taco salad, I think I'd add seasonings, cook until still moist but not sloppy and then use it. When I was still fussing about cholesterol and saturated fat, I drained it off, but eventually realized that it was mostly liquid and not so much fat, and that the beef was far more flavorful if I didn't drain it. I even had a nutritionist once tell me to boil ground beef, then drain in a colander before using. Ugh. She wasn't a very nice lady, either, so I think she loved telling people awful things like that! Annie