Cut · Trimmings, by fat ratio

Ground beef

Ground beef, called mince in Britain and Australia, is beef and beef fat passed through a grinder: not a cut but a product, sold by its ratio of lean to fat, from 70/30 to 95/5. Grinding carries surface bacteria into the meat, so unlike a steak it is cooked through, to 71 °C / 160 °F.

Also known as: mince · Carne picada · carne molida · Thịt bò xay · Carne moídaLast reviewed 25 Oct 20267 sources

Defined by its fat, not its cut

Ground beef is meat that has been cut into small particles by forcing it through a perforated plate in a grinder, where a rotating knife shears it as it passes. It is the most widely sold form of beef in many countries, and the base of the hamburger, meatballs, meat sauces, chili con carne, empanada fillings and countless dumplings and stir-fries.

It is defined less by where it comes from than by how much fat it contains. In the United States it is labelled by the percentage of lean and fat: 70/30, 80/20, 85/15, 90/10 and 93/7 are the usual grades, with leaner mixtures sold as 95/5. Fat carries flavour and keeps the cooked meat moist; 80/20 is the common choice for burgers, while leaner mixtures are used in sauces and dishes where the fat would otherwise have to be poured off.

Under US federal rules (9 CFR 319.15), a product labelled ground beef may contain no more than 30 % fat and may not include added water, phosphates, binders or extenders. Hamburger has the same 30 % cap but may have loose beef fat added to the lean, which ground beef may not. The words lean and extra lean are nutrient claims with fixed limits (less than 10 g and less than 5 g of fat per 100 g); most ground beef instead carries a percentage statement such as "85 % lean, 15 % fat".

Trimmings, or a single named cut

Ground beef can be made from any skeletal muscle on the carcass. Most of it comes from trimmings: the meat and fat cut away when primals are shaped into steaks and roasts, plus whole muscles from cows and bulls whose meat is lean and best used ground. Plants test the trim for fat and blend lean and fatty lots to hit the declared ratio.

Retail labels sometimes name a single source. Ground chuck (from the shoulder, typically around 80/20) is valued for burgers; ground round (from the hind leg) and ground sirloin are leaner, often about 85/15 to 90/10. Some butchers grind a single muscle or a single animal to order, while industrial ground beef usually mixes meat from many animals and sometimes from several countries. The difference matters for traceability: in a recall, a mixed lot can be linked to many carcasses.

Grinding plates set the texture. A first, coarse grind uses holes of about 8–10 mm; a second pass through a fine plate of about 3–5 mm gives the smooth mince used for sausages and many burgers. Meat and equipment are kept close to 0 °C / 32 °F, because warm fat smears instead of being cut cleanly, which makes the cooked meat greasy and dense.

Cooking it: brown in batches, cook through

Ground beef is browned in a pan for sauces and fillings, shaped into patties and meatballs, or simmered in stews and chilis. Browning works best in batches over high heat: crowded in the pan, the meat releases water and boils grey instead of developing a crust. Patties should be handled as little as possible; overworking the meat dissolves proteins that bind it into a dense, springy texture.

Unlike a whole steak, ground beef is cooked through. The interior of an intact muscle is essentially free of bacteria, so searing the surface of a steak is enough. Grinding takes whatever is on the surface (bacteria picked up during slaughter and cutting) and spreads it through the whole mass, so the centre of a burger can be as contaminated as its outside.

The US Food Safety and Inspection Service sets the safe minimum internal temperature for ground beef at 71 °C / 160 °F, measured with a thermometer in the thickest part, since colour is not a reliable guide: a patty can turn brown before it is safe or stay pink after it is. Restaurants that serve rare burgers usually rely on whole cuts ground in house just before cooking, and many jurisdictions require a consumer advisory on the menu.

E. coli O157:H7, an adulterant since 1994

The main concern is Escherichia coli O157:H7, a strain that produces Shiga toxin and can cause bloody diarrhoea and, especially in children and older people, haemolytic uraemic syndrome, a form of kidney failure; Argentina, which records the highest incidence of the syndrome in the world, calls it the "hamburger disease". A very small number of cells can cause illness. After a large outbreak traced to undercooked hamburgers in the western United States in 1993, the USDA declared O157:H7 an adulterant in raw ground beef in 1994; six more Shiga toxin-producing serogroups were added in 2012. Salmonella is the other recurring hazard.

Raw ground beef should be refrigerated at or below 4 °C / 40 °F and used within 1–2 days, or frozen; at −18 °C / 0 °F it stays safe indefinitely, though quality is best within 3–4 months. It should be thawed in the refrigerator, kept apart from ready-to-eat food, and hands, boards and knives washed after handling it.

Purple inside is not spoiled

Fresh ground beef is red on the surface, where it meets oxygen, and often purple-brown inside the pack; that inner colour comes from myoglobin without oxygen and is not a sign of spoilage. A sour smell, a sticky surface or grey colour throughout are. Packs should be cold, intact and bought last on a shopping trip.

Choose the ratio for the dish: 80/20 or 85/15 for burgers, 90/10 or leaner where the fat would be drained. Grinding a known cut at home or asking a butcher to grind one to order gives control over the fat, the coarseness and the number of animals in the mix.

Names around the world

17

The same muscle, named by language and by trade system.

English	Ground beef · mince
Español	Carne picada · carne molida
Tiếng Việt	Thịt bò xay
Português	Carne moída
Français	Viande hachée
Italiano	Carne macinata
Deutsch	Rinderhackfleisch
日本語	牛ひき肉
한국어	다진 소고기

All the cuts' names, country by country →

Trade and national systems

System	Name	Reference
United States	Ground beef · hamburger · ground chuck / round / sirloin	9 CFR 319.15 · IMPS 136
United Kingdom	Beef mince · steak mince · lean mince	AHDB
Australia / NZ	Beef mince · premium mince	HAM
Argentina	Carne picada (común, especial)	IPCVA
Mexico	Carne molida (de res)	—
France	Viande hachée · steak haché	Larousse
Japan	牛ひき肉 (gyū hikiniku)	JMGA
Korea	다진 소고기 (dajin sogogi)	KAPE

Frequently asked questions

Sources

7

1. USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart. 2023. www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/safe-temperature-chart
2. USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications: Fresh Beef Series 100. Washington, DC, 2014. www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/IMPS_100_Fresh_Beef%5B1%5D.pdf
3. McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, rev. ed. New York: Scribner, 2004.
4. Toldrá, Fidel (ed.). Lawrie's Meat Science, 8th ed. Duxford: Woodhead, 2017.
5. United States. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 9, §319.15, "Miscellaneous beef products" (ground beef, hamburger). www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/9/319.15
6. USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Ground Beef and Food Safety (fact sheet). Washington, DC.
7. United States. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 9, §317.362, "Nutrient content claims for fat, fatty acids, and cholesterol content" (lean, extra lean).

Related