Skip Ground Beef: This Meat Gives Burgers Superior Texture

From Gordon Ramsay's trio of ground meats to even alternative options like black beans, everyone has an opinion on the best protein for a burger. But in an interview with Evan Smith, Marcus Samuelsson, the founder of Food Republic, steers away from different meats and instead says you should focus on texture by using chopped, rather than ground, beef (via YouTube). "If you can," he explained, "if you have the time, chop the meat; don't grind it. Chop it because you need air."

Ground beef is reliable because it has a uniform distribution of fat and meat, giving you an easy to predict texture to work with. However, it's also quite easy to overwork and, even when done by an expert, tends to be a bit dense. Chopped beef, on the other hand, has more air, giving it a lighter, more fluffed-up texture that isn't quite crumbly and is not as packed as ground beef. All that air prevents the bits of beef from squeezing together quite so hard when it cooks, and it's far more difficult to overwork if you're a bit of a burger-making novice.

Grinding beef through a machine absolutely shreds muscle fibers, rendering the protein into a paste-like consistency. Chopping, however, retains a bit of a meaty chew while still slicing the meat into quite tender little bits, giving it a more satisfying bite. When it hits the heat, it reacts more like a thousand little steaks cooking together rather than one cohesive whole, developing a beautifully seared crust that also tends to have more flavor.

Chopping your own beef rather than buying pre-ground blends gives you a ton of control over flavor. Not only can you purchase great cuts that may be superior to the cast-off pieces used in ground beef, but you may find it easier to improve the flavor of meats before your knife ever touches them.

You don't need fancy knife skills to chop beef and, in fact, a food processor makes the job much easier. Briefly freezing your meat for 15 or 30 minutes first keeps it firm enough that the muscles won't squish, no matter what tool you use. Your goal is to create tiny flecks rather than a paste or chunks — ones just small enough to adhere together. Much like marinating your burgers, marinating the meat before you freeze it means you won't have to work seasonings into the beef quite so much, keeping things easy, so you can focus on the perfect texture and flavor.

Since you'll have far less worry about overworking your protein, this is a great opportunity to tweak your beef. If you choose a lean, meaty cut without much moisture, incorporating some mushrooms creates extra juicy burgers with minimal changes in texture and great flavor. On the other hand, a bit of egg helps bind the steak together while also adding some hearty umami to the whole thing. Removing marbling and fat caps keeps your blend at the right ratio and you can always render them into tallow for frying patties in a pan.