Ground Beef: A Butcher's Guide to Ratios, Blends, and What to Buy

Ground beef is the most purchased beef product in America — roughly 45% of all beef consumed in the US is in ground form. And yet most people put less thought into buying ground beef than they do into buying a steak. That's a mistake, because the quality variation in ground beef is enormous.

After 40 years of grinding meat — literally tons of it — I can tell you that the difference between good ground beef and mediocre ground beef is dramatic. It affects your burgers, your meatballs, your bolognese, your tacos — everything.

Understanding Fat Ratios

The numbers on the label (80/20, 85/15, 90/10, etc.) represent the lean-to-fat ratio by weight. This is the single most important number on the package.

Ratio	Fat %	Best For	Flavor/Juiciness
73/27	27%	Some burger operations	Very juicy, very fatty, can be greasy
80/20	20%	Burgers, meatloaf, meatballs	The gold standard — juicy, flavorful, holds together
85/15	15%	Burgers (if you prefer leaner), meat sauce, tacos	Good flavor, slightly less juicy than 80/20
90/10	10%	Tacos, meat sauce, health-conscious	Lean — less flavor and moisture, more "meaty"
93/7 or 96/4	7% or 4%	Diet-specific cooking	Very lean — dry unless mixed with other ingredients

The 80/20 Rule

For burgers, 80/20 is king. I've served millions of burgers in my career (through customers, at least), and every single time someone complains their burger is dry, it's because they used lean ground beef. Fat is flavor. Fat is juiciness. Fat is what makes a burger a burger instead of a meat puck.

At 80/20, you get enough fat to keep things moist and flavorful through cooking, but not so much that the burger falls apart or swims in grease. It's the universally recommended ratio for good reason.

What Goes Into the Grind

Grocery Store Ground Beef

When the label just says "ground beef," it can legally contain any combination of beef trimmings from any primal. In practice, commercial ground beef is a mix of:

• Trim from higher-value cuts (fat and scraps from steaks and roasts)
• Chuck trimmings (the most common base)
• Round trimmings (for lean component)
• Plate and flank trimmings

The USDA grade of the source doesn't carry through to ground beef — a package of "ground beef" could contain trim from Prime, Choice, Select, or ungraded cattle, or any combination.

"Ground Chuck" / "Ground Round" / "Ground Sirloin"

When a specific primal is named, it must come from that primal:

• Ground chuck: From the chuck primal. Naturally falls around 80/20 to 85/15. Rich, beefy flavor. The best single-source grind for burgers.
• Ground round: From the round primal. Leaner, typically 85/15 to 90/10. Less flavor than chuck but lower fat.
• Ground sirloin: From the sirloin. Usually 85/15 to 90/10. Good beef flavor but leaner.

Ground chuck is my recommendation for burgers, meatballs, and meatloaf. The chuck's natural fat content and deep flavor make it the best all-purpose grind.

Butcher Shop Custom Grinds

This is where things get interesting. A good butcher shop grinds their own beef from specific cuts, and many offer custom blends:

• Classic burger blend: Chuck + brisket (70/30 mix) — deep flavor, perfect fat content
• Premium blend: Short rib + chuck + brisket — extraordinary richness, almost wagyu-like
• Steak burger: Trim from ribeyes and strips — tastes like a ground-up steak

The difference between a custom-blend burger from a good butcher and a tube of grocery store ground beef is the difference between fresh-squeezed orange juice and concentrate. Both are technically the same product. The experience is worlds apart.

Freshness Indicators

Color

Fresh ground beef is bright cherry red on the surface (where it's exposed to oxygen) and can be darker — even grayish-purple — in the center. This interior color is not a sign of spoilage. It's simply a lack of oxygen exposure (deoxymyoglobin).

However, if the entire surface is gray or brown and the meat smells sour or ammonia-like, it's past its prime.

Smell

Fresh ground beef should smell like... not much. Maybe a faint, clean, metallic scent. If it smells sour, sweet, or pungent — don't buy it.

Texture

It should feel moist but not slimy. Sliminess is a sign of bacterial growth. If you press a finger in and it feels tacky or slippery, pass.

Pack Date

Look for the most recent pack date, not just the sell-by date. Ground beef has more surface area than whole cuts, which means more exposure to bacteria. Fresh is better — use within 1-2 days of purchase, or freeze immediately.

Store Ground vs Tube Ground

Ground beef sold in the case at a butcher counter is typically ground in-house — from trim generated that day or the day before. It's fresher, coarser-ground (better texture), and the source is more traceable.

Tube ground beef (the plastic-wrapped "chubs" or foam trays from major packers) is ground at a central facility, sometimes from hundreds of different cattle, and can be days to weeks old when you buy it. It's perfectly safe, but the flavor and texture are noticeably different.

If you're making a burger that matters — a special weekend burger, for guests, or just because you care — buy from the butcher counter. If it's going into a heavily seasoned chili or meat sauce, tube ground is fine.

Cooking Tips

For Burgers

• Don't overwork the meat. Form patties gently — compressed meat makes dense, tough burgers. Handle it like it's fragile.
• Season generously. Salt and pepper the outside of the formed patties, not mixed in. Salt mixed into the grind creates a sausage-like texture.
• Make a dimple. Press a shallow indent into the center. Burgers puff up during cooking — the dimple keeps them flat.
• High heat. Screaming hot grill or cast iron. You want a hard Maillard crust.
• Don't press. Never press the patty with a spatula. You're squeezing out the juice — the exact opposite of what you want. The exception is smash burgers, which are pressed once at the start for maximum surface contact.

For Meat Sauces and Chili

• Brown in batches — don't crowd the pan. Crowding creates steam, which turns "browning" into "boiling."
• Use 85/15 or 80/20. The fat renders into the sauce and adds body.
• Drain excess fat if needed, but don't remove all of it — some fat carries flavor.

The Bottom Line

Ground beef is simple, but "simple" doesn't mean "all the same." The fat ratio, the source cuts, the freshness, and the grind texture all matter. For everyday cooking, 80/20 ground chuck from the butcher counter is the sweet spot — good flavor, good fat content, fresh, and reasonably priced.

For a special burger — the kind you think about the next day — ask your butcher about their house blend or try American wagyu ground beef from The Meatery. It's one of the best upgrades in cooking, and it usually costs less than $2/lb more than the tube stuff.