Dani Spies

Ground Beef vs. Hamburger Meat
Meat labeled “hamburger meat” is allowed to have fat that has been added to the meat – what kind of fat I don’t know, but this is certainly not a good thing.

Meat labeled “ground beef” has only the fat that is occurring naturally - the amount varies.

Ground Beef Cuts
Ground Chuck has the highest fat content followed by ground round.  Ground sirloin has the least fat BUT DO NOT DEPEND on the cut to determine fat content.  The fat content depends on how much of the fat is trimmed before it is ground.

% Lean and % Fat – These are the numbers you want to look for!
No ground beef is allowed to contain more than 30% fat.  Now that means the meat is 70% lean…this may sound lean but in reality 4oz. contains 35 grams of fat…yikes!

“Lean” – contains no more than 10% fat (90% lean).  This is still not so good.  A 4oz. portion has still contains 11 grams of fat.

“Extra Lean” – contains no more than 5% fat (95% Lean).  Extra lean starts with about 6grams of fat per 4 oz. serving and only 3 grams of fat if you’re meat is 97% lean.

Now when it comes to beef I always try to buy organic and if you can afford the increase in cost I recommend you do the same.  But realize that buying something labeled “organic”, “natural”, or “grass fed” does not automatically mean it is leaner.  
No matter what type of ground beef you are buying, you always want to keep in mind the %fat and % lean.

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DANI"S  SIMPLE BUT TO THE POINT CONCLUSION:
1.  If you want to cook with ground beef, do you’re best to buy meat labeled 95% lean or more.

2.  If you can afford organic…buy it!

3.  By all means, don't touch anything that is labeled "hamburger meat".