How To Make Ground Beef Without A Meat Grinder

Sometimes you reach into the fridge thinking you had a package of ground beef at the ready, but you come up short. Luckily, you can transform any old cut of raw beef into a mince without the use of a specific machine or attachment. All you need is a sharp knife — such as a cleaver or heavy chef's knife — and a cutting board.

Any cut of beef will work, but it helps if you can lay the piece flat. For example, irregularly-shaped steak tips might be a little bit unruly here. If you have a large cut — like a chunk of roast — cut it into about one inch-thick steaks first. There are a couple of different ways you can go about mincing. One option is to deeply score the meat, but do not cut all the way through. Flip the piece over, and do the same thing on the other side. Repeat this a couple times, and you will start to create some irregular pieces. Then, run your knife several times across the entire mound to mince it. You just created ground beef! 

You can stop here for a coarse texture, or keep chopping if you want a finer consistency. You can also partially freeze your steak for easier cutting with less slipping and sliding, and then very thinly slice it. Then, cut all those slices crosswise to create small pieces. After that, you can easily mince the whole pile. For very thin steaks or small beef trimmings, you can just hack at them with abandon until the texture is fine enough.

Cutting your meat with a knife saves you from the tedious work of cleaning a meat grinder, and it gives you excellent control over the consistency. However, if you prefer a less time-consuming option, a food processor is a good in-between. Just cut the beef into cubes, and pulse until it reaches your desired texture. No matter what method you decide to use, it helps if the meat is very cold or lightly frozen, so that it is easier to slice up and the fat does not start to melt out.

Another plus is that grinding your own beef lets you decide how lean or fatty you want it to be. To up the fat content, combine something like rich brisket with leaner round cuts, or add a spoonful of mayo to lean ground beef. In addition to beef, you can also hand-cut chicken, pork, turkey, shrimp, or fish to grind it down.

Knife-cut ground beef is superior for dishes where you want plenty of texture. The downside of store-bought ground beef or beef mince is that it can be much too fine. Ground beef especially is often paste-like, so it can turn into complete mush once you cook it. A hearty ragu, savory chili, spicy and acidic larb, or even a deconstructed egg roll in a bowl all benefit from meat that is a little more toothsome. Dumplings, filled pastas, lasagna, and even hamburgers are also great uses for hearty hand-chopped beef.