What’s your choice- 80% or 90% ground chuck

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I usually try to go as little fat as possible, so I try to get the 90/10.

Every now and then I buy turkey to make meatloaf or something, I never really thought it was bad.

 

[Planogirl]

Just being labeled ground turkey doesn't seem to be much better for you than ground beef. From www.thatsfit.com:

How can ground turkey possibly contain more fat than ground beef, asks one Good Housekeeping reader. Hey, I'd like to know the answer to that question too. How about you?

GH Food Director Susan Westmoreland says in the January 2009 issue that both kinds of ground meat have varying amounts of fat. It all depends on what goes in the grinder.

OK, so here's the skinny: "Ground turkey breast" is the leanest, with one percent fat. "Lean ground turkey" mixes white and dark meat with some skin and totals about seven percent fat. This is comparable to "lean ground beef." Then there's "ground turkey," made from white, dark and skin, with 15 percent fat -- similar to "ground beef."

You've got to read labels, says Susan -- yes, that's what we're always saying -- in order to figure out exactly what you're buying. It can be tricky. Reading the word "lean" on a package of ground turkey can be misleading, because "lean" in this case is not the lowest-fat option.

I admit that I'm biased though because I can't stand ground turkey. I usually use 93% ground beef.

 

[luvmy3]

Just being labeled ground turkey doesn't seem to be much better for you than ground beef. From www.thatsfit.com:



I admit that I'm biased though because I can't stand ground turkey. I usually use 93% ground beef.

If you are looking for less fat then you should look for ground turkey breast not just plain ground turkey. I buy Shady Brook Farms and they have a few options for ground turkey. So people who think all ground turkey is created equal (in terms of fat) are mistaken.

85/15 Ground Turkey

93/7 Lean Ground Turkey

93/7 Lean Ground Turkey Roll

97% Fat Free Ground White Turkey

99% Fat Free Ground Breast of Turkey

99% Fat Free Ground Breast of Turkey Roll

Seasoned Ground Turkey

93/7 Lean Italian Style Seasoned Ground Turkey

 

[mrodgers]

Have no idea. My father-in-law raises the beef and has it butchered. The only part of the process I am involved with is picking up a couple of boxes already pre-frozen and getting it to my freezer.

He didn't butcher this year so I started to stop at a butcher on the way home from work. $3.49 for ground chuck and $3.89 for ground sirloin. We get the ground chuck. So much better than Walmart (and cheaper) where we do all our grocery shopping as there are no grocery stores near Walmart for us (grocery store would be $100 more a week shopping 100% there.)

 

[IUTBAM]

I use 93/7 whenever possible, or lean ground turkey breast. For those of you using the high fat content ground beef, my dietician sister-in-law said you can lower the fat content by draining AND then placing the meat in a colander, and rinsing it liberally with VERY hot water.

 

[eliza61]

Which do you use in dishes like spaghetti or chili and (dare I say) Hamburger Helper
80% is 2.19 and 90% is 2.99 in our area . I like the taste of the 80% but end up draining off about 1/3 cup grease form each lb.
Which do you think is the better buy?

Actually most of the time I go for the 80%. In spaghetti where most of the flavor comes from the sauce I go for the more economical price and when I make my own burgers I think the extra "fat" gives it a fuller flavor.

 

[girli565]

If 80/20 ground beef is on sale I'll stock up but usually we use 93/7 ground turkey I get from costco. It's about $15 for 4 packs, and they are usually over a pound each. I don't find that it smells at all, lol. But i also don't taste the "gaminess" in lamb so maybe I'm just strange.

 

[pixiewings71]

Well I prefer 90/10 but can afford 80/20 so 80/20 it is. I buy ground turkey when I find it for $3 a lb or less, otherwise it's cheaper to buy ground beef. My family likes both, we don't find turkey to taste too much different or to smell bad at all. If turkey was a bit more affordable I'd use it more regularly.

 

[dgthree]

I don't ever notice an unpleasant odor when using ground turkey! Yes, I prefer beef, but like the previous poster who commented that it's like choosing brown rice over white for health reasons, I feel the same about ground turkey. Well, that & the fact that 93% lean ground beef is so expensive! I feel I get better value for my dollar when buying turkey.

 

[timmac]

Two main thoughts:

1) It depends what you're using it for. Though it's tempting to go for "less fat" (not sure if that's a nutritional argument or otherwise), sometimes that just doesn't work... burgers are a great example.

2) If you're going to be draining off the fat anyway, then at the prices OP suggested, 80/20 is still a better deal. Assuming that one perfectly drained off all the fat (not realistic, but for illustrative purposes), then you'd be comparing $2.19 for 0.8 pounds of lean, vs $2.99 for 0.9 pounds. Pound for pound, you're looking at equivalent costs of $2.73/lb vs $3.32/lb for just the lean portion of the meat; the former is a better deal by a margin of over 17%.

 

[momof1princess]

i use 90% lean ground beef from sam's club. anything less than that has too much grease. i don't rinse the meat, but i do drain it, so to speak. i push the meat to the right of the skillet with my spatula, tilt the skillet up and to the left, then use paper towels to soak up the grease that drains to the left side. if i didn't drain the grease, it would likely make me sick.