Fat contents from different types of ground beef when drained

Question

At the grocery store, they've got different types of ground beef: ground round, ground chuck, ground sirloin, etc. They each have different fat percentages. Anything from 70/30 (30% fat content) to the extra lean 90/10. The less fat content, the more expensive per pound.

I have heard that you can get the fattiest type, drain the grease as normal, and then rinse the meat with water in a colander to make it equivalent to the extra lean fat content. I'm not sure I buy that, and it seems this would rinse off any seasonings used also.

From a health perspective, the extra lean would be best, however, it can be double the price per pound compared to the cheapest / most fat content. If I am going to be using the meat crumbled in a casserole or for tacos, and drain the grease after browning the meat in a skillet, how much does the fat content matter? Is getting the cheapest and then rinsing it with water truly equivalent? Is there a better method that would enable me to save money with the cheapest or perhaps 80/20 but still get the low fat content of the meat I actually eat?

Answer 1

I have heard that you can get the fattiest type, drain the grease as normal, and then rinse the meat with water in a colander to make it equivalent to the extra lean fat content. I'm not sure I buy that, and it seems this would rinse off any seasonings used also.

That sounds terrible. Cooked ground beef should be drained if necessary, but not rinsed. It will rinse away a lot of flavor, and I doubt it makes it the equivalent of having bought lean meat in the first place. There is still plenty of fat present in the meat itself.

If you want low fat get extra lean. If you want flavor get 80/20 or 70/30 and drain thoroughly for as little fat as possible. Do yourself a favor though and don't rinse it with water.

Answer 2

Regarding rinsing, using water will remove water soluble flavors (as hobodave mentions) so this is not advised. Use good beef for recipes where the flavor of the meat comes through more and use more fatty, lower quality meat when the meat is less to the forefront in the dish.

For example, a casserole with lots of other flavors could use a lower quality, higher fat meat (with draining), but for burgers, I would use a lower fat meat of the highest quality.

Answer 3

Draining fat from browned hamburger is good, but rinsing it under hot running water removes an incredible amount of fat you would not expect to be in it after just draining it. If you don't believe that, drain the meat as usual, then, fill the pan with hot water to cover the meat and see what floats to the surface. It does not take away flavor unless you've seasoned it while cooking it. Draining the fat also removes some of that same flavor if it's seasoned before cooking or while cooking. You can brown the meat, drain and rinse it, then add your seasonings, even if it's sauteing onion, peppers or other vegetables in the meat. Rinse the meat, put in your vegetables to saute, and add a little beef broth (canned) to saute the vegetables in the meat. The flavor is still there. You'll soon know how much broth you need to adequately saute the vegetables. Add your seasonings and spices to the drained, rinsed meat as well.

Answer 4

Compare 93% to 80% lean beef. My experience is anything under 93% does not have enough fat to cook nicely. If you need to add oil to cook it then why buy low fat in the first place.

A hamburger patty will retain more fat than compared to minced up beef for a spaghetti sauce. The finer you mince while cooking the more fat you can drain.

I usually buy 93% lean but 80% was on sale for 1/2 the price of 93%. When I fry and mince the 93% for spaghetti sauce some fat still drains so my though was 80% will drain off so it come out the same. I do not rinse with water.

If the 93% is $5/lb then the cost of the meat is $5.38/lb. If 80% is $4.30 the cost of the meat is the same.

The 80% clearly drains a lot more fat after cooking. By touch the 80% drained still has more fat than the 93% drained. My gut feel is the drained 80% is like 90% lean and the drained 93% is like 95% lean. The 93% has more flavor (for my taste). I suspect some of the flavor leaves with the fat or maybe the the 93% meat is just more favorable.

Cannot not just weigh the drained meat as water content is part of the weight. I guess you could weigh the drained fat but I am not that curious.

Drain hot out of the pan. If you let it cool even 5 minutes not as much fat will drain. Have a large drain surface so the meat is not more than 1" high. Cover while draining so it can hold some heat. After 20 minutes you have pretty much drained all the fat that is going to drain.

Short of rinse with water you could steam but I suspect that would reduce some flavor.