calirose, I take partially frozen beef or pork and mince it with the metal blade on the food processor. It just works better a bit firm, but you can do it with thawed round too. I don't add fat until I'm ready to use the meat, then I usually add olive oil or canola. Ashley likes me to add a pat of butter to burgers, not heart healthy, but good.

With round, I go one way or the other. I either cook it extremely rare, slice it very thinly and eat it that way, or I cook it low and slow to tenderize.

It will make a nice stew, if you're inclined, or a pot roast, or you could cut it into individual portions and make something like swiss steak.

Annie

In terms of adding fat to home ground beef, I sometimes buy a package of the cheap ground beef from the grocery store, which is way too high in fat to add to my home ground roasts That way, I end up with nicely lean (but not so lean it's dry) ground beef for a much lower cost than I could buy ready-ground.

I also buy tri tip roasts, untrimmed, by the bag when they are on sale for under $3 lb (they can get up to $8 lb, trimmed, during the Summer bbq season)and trim them to freeze. I save the usable fat in the freezer to mix in with my ground beef I make from chuck or round roasts when they go on sale for around $1.75 lb.

Very lean ground beef is fine for things like spaghetti sauce and some casseroles, but for burgers you've just gotta have some fat.

rachelellen, that would work very well, as long as you are buying commercial beef anyway.

I just use olive oil (or in Ashley's case butter) because I grow all my beef and I'm not going to bother to buy commercial burger to mix with my homeground stuff. And, since you mentioned it, I've even seen slabs of beef suet on sale at my grocery store, you could probably add that if you were inclined, just grind it with the round, I'm assuming ground was either purchased specifically because it was low in fat or because it was on sale, so if it was purchased because it's low in fat I'd probably not add suet...

I do remember that when we ground venison, Grandpa and Dad always added pork fat because the venison was so lean. I'm thinking adding grated cheese to the burger might up the fat level too, although I've never tried it so I don't know how it would work.

Annie

I like bottom round for stew and make it in the crock pot or dutch oven. I also use them to make a bbq. Cook low and slow with a watered down bbq sauce then shred and cook a while longer with straight bbq sauce. Besides regular stew we like it crocked with lots of garlic and mushrooms, leaving it whole or cube it. Sometimes make it into a bourguignon by using wine as the cooking liquid and adding onions and mushrooms. Recently I turned 3 into stew without the potatoes and froze several quarts of it and took one and make bbq out of it.

I really appreciate the cooking tips and recipes.
Exactly what I was looking for.

I hadn't thought about adding fat when I am ready to cook ground meat, that is a terrific idea, especially adding olive oil or butter.

No tri-tips here. Unless they go by another name?

Well, I add grated cheese to lean ground beef all the time, with a little mustard, ketchup and slow cooked onions. It works out great when the beef doesn't have any fat.

I think a tri tip is what is known in certain parts of the midwest as a "pie roast"...and if that's so...it's rump.
I buy lean beef and pork because I want to cut down on the saturated "suet-ey" fats. So to me it makes no sense to replace that fat with suet. Olive oil works and is somewhat healthy.
Linda c

Bottom round = Swiss Steak at our house. I can quarts of tomatoes/peppers/celery/onion/carrots for this one...

* Exported from MasterCook *

Swiss Steak

Recipe By :Katie, adapted from 70's Joy of Cooking
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Beef

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 pounds round steak -- trimmed of fat
seasoned flour*
1/2 cup onion -- chopped
1/2 cup carrots -- chopped
1/2 cup celery -- chopped
1/2 cup green pepper -- chopped
1 pint tomatoes, canned -- (or a 15 oz. can)
1 cup beef broth

Cut round steak into serving size pieces and pound in seasoned flour. Brown in a little oil. Place in a casserole dish.

Saute onion, carrots, celery and peppers until limp. Stir in tomatoes and broth. Pour over steak and bake 1 1/2-2 hours at 325F.

Thicken the gravy if necessary, and serve over mashed potatoes.

*Season flour with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

* Exported from MasterCook *

Swiss Steak With Mushrooms

Recipe By :Katie, adapted from Betty Groff's Country Goodness Cookbook
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 pounds round steak -- trimmed of fat
3 tablespoons butter
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onions
flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups beef broth

Saute the onions and mushrooms for about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Pound flour into beef, cut into serving size pieces and brown in remaining butter. Add broth and vegetables. Cover and simmer on low until very tender, about 45 minutes.

Good over noodles.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I would partially freeze it & then whack it into 'steaks' about 1" thick. Then, I'd slice the steaks into thin pieces for Korean Beef (Bulgogi), one of DS2's favorites. Or make Beef & Broccoli, Orange Beef, Beef Stroganoff, Beef Tips (smothered beef)... It's usually a pretty tough cut so anything where it's either thinly sliced or cooked long & slow w/ a lot of liquid.

Oh, Annie, I forgot about pork fat. Because we have a fairly large Hispanic community 'round here, the stores sporadically offer pork fat for sale...one assumes for making lard. I have used it when I didn't have extra beef fat on hand, and like the flavor it imparts to the ground beef. For whatever reason, I haven't seen it offered for sale lately, but when it is available I buy it for when I make sausage.

The Tri Tip is actually a cut from the bottom sirloin, not the bottom round, where rump roast comes from. It is a fairly lean cut of muscle, but with a thick layer of fat on one side (if untrimmed) that can be left on to baste the meat as it cooks. It must be sliced across the grain, like a London broil, and it has an incredibly rich, beefy flavor. Also, though it is a "roast," it can be tossed onto the barbecue at a fairly high temp to sear nicely on the outside and then cooked at a lower temp to your desire in a "thick steak" amount of time. It needn't be long cooked or smoked as with some other of the cheaper beef cuts like brisket.

I remember my mom making cheeseburgers with the cheese in the middle of the meat. Never thought of that as a fat replacement! .
annie and rachellen, I am only wanting fat/moisture to make good burgers, not to increase fat intake but both oil and the inexpensive ground beef are good suggestions.

linda c - i will see if local markets will identify what is known as tri tip; as pie roast isnt familiar either! We eat little pork so olive oil works for me!

coconut-nj my daughter sears meat on the grill and then cooks long and slow in the oven for things like brisket. Sounds like your suggestions would be similar. Like the bourguignon and freezing stew without potatoes.
katie Yum, swiss steak. Thanks for the 2 recipes. I make a similar swiss w/mushrooms but call it stroganoff, by adding a little garlic, ketchup, worchestershire sauce, and yogurt(sour cream)

ci- more good cooking ideas. Cut into meal portions, then when partially thawed slice, or grind for whatever cooking method seems to be a good idea.

thanks rachelellen on the tri tip info. I have seen bottom sirloin listed in ads, but didn't know how to cook it. We have a cheap charcoal grill, low temp cooking would be hard to achieve, but moving it so it gets indirect heat would work. I like that it doesn't need to be cooked as long as say a brisket.

If I left anyone's name out, I apologize. I really thank each and every one of you for your info!

I definitely am going to read this forum more often. A friendly group of good cooks!!!

Oh, and calirose, welcome to the Cooking Forum, I hope you like it and stick around!

Annie