Is it regional? Hamburger packages come in 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 lbs, etc

[teller80]

Me getting old and crabby some more.

Why can't the butcher put them in packages that are at least close to pound measurements? What recipe wants 1.5 pounds of hamburger? Well, there could be a few I guess, but I'm willing to bet most call for pounds. Is it just Ohio?

 

[Mizzoufan]

I have never seen that. We don't have the half pounds

 

[Disneylover99]

It's prepackaged pretty randomly around me (in kilograms) but I always buy club pack sizes because it's much cheaper. Then I divide it up when I get home. So it doesn't bother me.

 

[Micca]

Around here they get pretty close to the pound increments--you might get a little over a pound but just a smidge. Also, some stores have a butcher counter where you can specify exactly how much you want. I guess if I were limited to 1.5 pound packs, I'd buy two and freeze a pound for future use.

 

[morgan98]

At my Publix, the lean hamburger I buy comes in crazy increments as well. I just bought a packages yesterday and they ranged from 1.22 to 1.38 pounds. Very random.

 

[dotfurio]

Ours are closer to the half lb weight. I figure it's a marketing strategy - you use 1 lb, have 1/2 lb left over, then have to come buy more for the next 1 lb recipe

 

[Dizlvr]

One of my grocery stores packages like that, I just break it up into 2 meals if its being mixed with something (like chili, dirty rice, etc).

 

[mnrose]

We buy from a local farmer, and a local butcher processes the meat. Burger comes in 1.33 pound sizes unless otherwise specified. To me, that makes perfect sense as I like my burgers to be about 1/3 of a pound, and one package makes 4 perfect size burgers...a family of four here.

 

[Tiffylv]

.

 

[Belle0101]

At my Publix, the lean hamburger I buy comes in crazy increments as well. I just bought a packages yesterday and they ranged from 1.22 to 1.38 pounds. Very random.

That's how it is at a local grocery store here too. I can't understand it.

 

[tvguy]

Today's pre-packaed ground beef we bought was .75. Last week .80. DW says she has a hard time finding anything that is a full pound Then they have those 5, 10 and 15 pound chubs of ground beef. Those are the big sellers.
They used to have ground beef packaged to order in the butcher case, but they no longer do. Probably too many people wanted small sizes.

 

[DeaverTex]

Where we shop, you can get 1, 2, or 3 pound chubs of ground meat in opaque plastic tubes. You can also get the older style (to us) packages with the meat on a styrofoam tray, covered in clear plastic wrap. Those are anywhere from about .6 to 1.2 pound each. Mrs. Tex has always preferred packages with a little over a pound, which are getting hard to find many places.

 

[Lilliputian]

I get mine from a farmer. The processing plant calls me and asks if I want 1 pound packages or 1.5 pound packages. I thought that having the ability to get 1.5 pound packages was nice. I seem to remember always having to settle for 1 pound when I bought my meat at a store. I would have loved 1.5 pound packs a few children ago, but now we're a family of 8, so I get it in 1 pound packs and cook two at a time.

 

[Rhombus]

I've noticed this too over the past few years. The supermarkets all used to package their own ground beef in weights of about 1/2 pound, 1 lb., 2 lbs, and then 3 or more lbs. The weights were about .47-.53 for a half pound, .97 to 1.05 for a pound, etc.

Now it seems even the markets that package their own are following the policy of the pre-packaged brands. 1.45-1.56 for 1.5 lbs.

Or they're totally off the wall, like 1.84 lbs.

The cheapest 93% lean ground beef is at BJ's wholesale club around here. Comes to $4.12 lb for a 4 pound package. Ooops, excuse me, a package of three 1.33 lb containers. We take them apart and separate the beef into 4 equal freezer bags. Or rather, I do it. Lady Rhombus is liable to come up with baggies of .71, .98, .85, and 1.46.

(Sometimes one or two of the baggies is further divided into half pound packages).

 

[pryncess527]

This is exactly why I have started shopping at a grocery store that packages-to-serve instead of pre-packaging meats. The pre-packaged amounts are always more than I need, but almost never enough to be worth freezing.

 

[Minnesota!]

I don't look at the weights. I just grab what looks right, cook it all up. Leftovers are not a bad thing.

An extra .24# is not going to make a difference in a recipe..

 

[design_mom]

I find that frustrating as well. I've started getting my meat at the meat counter because it seems like all of the prepackaged amounts are 1.47lb, 1.52 lbs. I don't need that extra half pound and don't really want to buy it. I'm also in Ohio.

 

[aprilchem]

I buy from a farmer as well - mine are all around a lb, but not exactly. I pulled two out just now and they're 1.15 and 1.23 lbs.

 

[HM]

I don't find that.
What we mostly find is prepackaged 1 lb, 2 lb, 3 lb packages and then the store packed packages that are closer to 1 lb.

 

[Christine]

I only buy the stuff with the Styrofoam tray with the plastic over it--for us those are the packs that are done that day in the store. The opaque "chubs" come from those processing plants which kind of skeeve me out a bit, but I assumed those were pretty standard.

The trays that I buy range anywhere from 1.00 to 1.8 or something like that. Rarely can I just get 1 lb, but I have on occasion. Mostly they seem to be in the 1.2 to 1.3 lb range.