Five Ground Beef Choices for Everyday Meals

If you're looking at the ground beef choices in our store, I'd start with the meals you already make. Burgers, taco filling, meatballs or a pot of chili are all familiar places to begin. Then you can decide which of our grinds fits what you want to put on the table.

We have five choices worth getting to know: our everyday ground beef, ground chuck, ground sirloin, ground round and Ancestral Blend. The differences include the cut of beef, the listed lean-to-fat blend and, in Ancestral's case, the ingredients. Here's how I'd think about them.

Everyday ground beef

Our 100% grassfed ground beef is a straightforward place to start for a familiar dinner. Its listed blend is 90/10. That means 90 percent lean meat and 10 percent fat; it isn't a statement that the package is 90 percent protein.

The one-pound option makes it easy to buy around the amount your household normally uses. Start with a meal you know and choose the number of packages that fits. Servings will depend on the dish, the other ingredients and the appetites at your table.

Ground chuck

Ground chuck comes from the shoulder section of the animal. It's another option for the burgers, meatballs and other ground-beef meals you already enjoy. If chuck is the grind you usually buy, you'll find it in our store in a one-pound package.

The cut name tells you where the beef comes from. Your recipe, how you handle the meat and how you cook it will also matter to the finished meal. I wouldn't choose a grind on its name alone.

Ground sirloin and ground round

Ground sirloin comes from the sirloin section. Ours is listed as 90/10, the same lean-to-fat blend as our everyday ground beef. Choose it when you want that particular cut in your grind.

Ground round comes from the round, or rear-leg section. Its listed blend is 93/7, so it has a smaller proportion of fat than our 90/10 choices. If that is the balance you prefer, round gives you that option in a one-pound package.

Get to know Ancestral Blend

Ancestral Blend brings something different to the choice: organ meats. It combines our grassfed ground beef with 10 percent beef heart and liver. That 10 percent refers to the organ ingredients together, not a lean-to-fat ratio.

If you've been interested in including organ meats in your meals, this is a practical way to try them as part of a ground-beef blend. You can start with one pound and use it in a familiar ground-beef dish. The heart and liver are already incorporated into the grind.

I think that ingredient difference deserves a clear introduction. Read the description, decide whether it's something you want to try, and choose the amount that works for your family. You can order one package alongside another grind and see which you prefer for different meals.

Build an ordinary grocery order

All five choices come from our 100% grassfed and grass-finished cattle and are offered frozen in approximately one-pound packages. Look at the meals you expect to make and what's already in your freezer before adding more.

You can place a one-time order. We offer free home delivery on orders of $63 or more in eligible Central Indiana ZIP codes. Enter your ZIP to check the options for your address and the available delivery dates.

Plan time to thaw frozen ground beef safely in the refrigerator. Cook it to 160°F, checked with a food thermometer; color alone isn't a reliable doneness test. Then keep track of which grind you enjoy in which meal. That's a useful way to make your next farm order your own.