Any problems with ground beef?

[RawZi]

... supermarket it's called 'Pork rind for crackling'... but they won't sell the lamb/beef MUSCLE FAT 'scraps', I mean COME ON!

If it's just rind from 'normal' farmed pigs, what do people think of that raw for fat..?

    No Vitamin D, and deplorable living conditions.

    Did you try asking them to give it to you instead of sell it?  There's a group called Sustainable Selections that's picking up most of it now.

[letifer]

Ground beef is pretty much my staple. Mostly for the convenience of eating it - just grab a chunk, chew, swallow. No utensils needed or lengthy time ripping meat off with your teeth which requires two hands and can be messy. Plus it's inexpensive and has  good fat content. I Usually get the grass fed stuff from whole foods as I don't really like the vacuumed sealed stuff that local farmers and places that ship use. Maybe it's my imagination but I think the vacuumed sealed is not as good.. especially if left in the bag for a few days or a week. I usually feel a bit 'off'  when I eat meat that's been in those bags, while the meat from the counter wrapped in wax paper doesn't give me issues.

[PaleoPhil]

Does anyone eat pork fat? I have access to unrendered lard and fat under the rind but both taste pretty bad.

Yeah, I've tried unrendered and rendered pork suet (lard) and raw bacon. Not a big fan of any of that, but I could probably get used to lard. I prefer aged suet. I do like cooked pork belly. Haven't seen it on sale raw yet.

Ground beef is my staple too (with suet). When I air-dry the ground beef it makes no mess when I eat it with my hands and it gives a bit more of a chew-workout to my jaw muscles. I try to drink even more water with it.

[Taste Sense]

I Usually get the grass fed stuff from whole foods as I don't really like the vacuumed sealed stuff that local farmers and places that ship use.

Do you know if they freeze it? Cause I got slankers but it's frozen. However, the chances are that slankers is truly 100% grass fed with no additives.

[kurite]

Do you think that whole foods isn't 100% grass fed?

[Taste Sense]

How would I know? I don't trust labels nor chain health food stores. I've heard that they add additives to it so that it won't spoil too quick. I still think it's miles ahead of you regular supermarkets meat though.

[kurite]

Im going to go to my local whole foods soon and ill ask.

[Taste Sense]

I am presently stacked up on grass fed meat, so it is going to be a while before I'll go down there as it is kind of a drive for me. It would be nice if you also asked if they get their meat frozen and if they add any additives to it. Also try different butchers at different stores if you can. That way the probability of what they're saying is true would increase.

[PrimalLadyRosy]

It would be nice if you also asked if they get their meat frozen and if they add any additives to it.

    Most of the meats at the meat counter at the whole foods' arrive there not having been frozen.  There are a couple of exceptions for things that don't sell quickly.

[KD]

The grass fed ground beef at WF is ground on site and not prefrozen. The one by me seems to pride itself on its 90% lean, which according to nutritiondata.com, is only 50% fat in total (and might be even lower due to it being GF), making it only 10% higher than salmon. 80/20 being more like 70% fat. I don't seem to have problems with it, but thankfully they have whole other cuts which taste better and are healthier for around the same price, although perhaps these are just as lean or more so.

[miles]

What? Why are you saying that 90/10 is 50% fat and 80:20 is 70% fat? Isn't 90:10 10% fat and 80:20 20% fat? I don't understand what you mean...

80:20 Meat:Fat is 50:50 Protein:Fat and 33:67 Cal from protein:Cal from fat. Is this what you're talking about?

[KD]

right, calories from fat. both the lean and the 10% quantity of 'fat' actually contributing to the calories from fat

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/beef-products/6193/2

basically what I was saying is that for the WF ground beef that I have avalaible anyway, it makes little sense to buy it for its fat content, as I was under the impression that some were saying, but perhaps they get ground with much higher % of solid fat.

[letifer]

The whole foods stores near me carry a 16% fat version of 100% grass fed which is cheaper than their 9% variety. Some stores carry grass fed + finished on some sort of grain. I'll have to ask next time if the meat is pre-frozen, but I am under the impression it is not. I'd be very surprised if there are fillers or additives

[klowcarb]

Whole Foods regular ground beef is organic, but not grassfed. They do carry grassfed for a higher price. I am eating entirely Trader Joe's ground beef. I contacted them about their standards. They do not source from feed lots. The cows are fed grains, corn and grass. It is the freshest 80/20 I've ever eaten.

[kurite]

klowcarb is there a taste difference between trader joes and whole foods??

[kurite]

On one of my other threads someone posted a video of a raw vegan expert explaining that when you blend vegetables it surrounds lots of the surface area of the vegetable with oxyegn witch kills 90% of the living nutrients through oxidation. Doesn't this same process happen with ground beef? Lots of air surface? Lots of oxygen?

[Nation]

Kurite, can you link that video?

[PaleoPhil]

On one of my other threads someone posted a video of a raw vegan expert explaining that when you blend vegetables it surrounds lots of the surface area of the vegetable with oxyegn witch kills 90% of the living nutrients through oxidation. Doesn't this same process happen with ground beef? Lots of air surface? Lots of oxygen?

"raw vegan expert" is an oxymoron

Oygen is good for meat; lack of oxygen is bad with meats because it can lead to anaerobic bacteria, which are the deadly ones (like clostridium botulinum). For example, I learned from Tyler that one should make sure to regularly oxygenate high meats. I also learned from him that good bacteria good for meat and for you, and oxygen promotes good bacteria.

[sanborn]

Hello, Kurite Warrior;
I have been present when Aajonus has been asked this question.  His answer is that ground beef (and other ground meat) is put through the grinder three times which breaks down gristle and cartilage.  That is how they get the hamburger meat to look so uniform.  Apparently the gristle and cartilage has value to us in its natural form bit this value is lost during three grindings.
I have asked at several meat counters around town; sure enough, they all grind it three times and will not generally give it to you any other way.
If you have further questions along this line, note that Aajonus may be on a radio show April 9th or 23rd.  This interview will accept questions from listeners and will apparently be geared toward the more sophisticated paleo and primal eaters.  The details will be posted on the www.WeWant2Live.com site on the page about Aajonus' radio shows, lectures and so on, http://www.wewant2live.com/site/811618/page/937343 once it has been finalized.
This upcoming interview by the way is intended for the more experienced paleo and primal dieters.

[kurite]

Thank you very much Sanborn

[klowcarb]

Eating ground beef 99.9% of the time (with raw egg yolks or ghee or lard, all grassfed) and feeling and looking fantastic!

Ground beef is so delicious and I don't want anything else. I'd choose it over ribeye.

[TylerDurden]

Eating ground beef 99.9% of the time (with raw egg yolks or ghee or lard, all grassfed) and feeling and looking fantastic!

Ground beef is so delicious and I don't want anything else. I'd choose it over ribeye.

Lard is cooked and should be avoided like the plague. At least yours is apparently pastured. What concerns me is that lard is often hydrogenated which is even worse than standard lard.

[KD]

When people use the term lard here are they always using it to speak of processed lard? the term basically just means pig fat no? I thought that was what people were using.

from wiki:

Lard is pig fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms.
...
Lard can be obtained from any part of the pig as long as there is a high concentration of fatty tissue. The highest grade of lard, known as leaf lard, is obtained from the "flare" visceral fat deposit surrounding the kidneys and inside the loin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lard

I've been eating unprocesed leaf lard/pig suet whatever you want to call it. great texture, kinda absent-but-strange taste.

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limiting oneself to ground beef or even just beef muscle meat from the same source doesn't seem sound to me as a long term strategy, especially if it isn't out of some kind of necessity. Folks can have very positive results (espcially regarding energy at least) on very limited veg raw diets, for many years, and may continue feeling well for longer even in the presence of other symptoms. These are my personal opinions/observations.

[TylerDurden]

When people use the term lard here are they always using it to speak of processed lard? the term basically just means pig fat no? I thought that was what people were using.

from wiki:

I've been eating unprocesed leaf lard/pig suet whatever you want to call it. great texture, kinda absent-but-strange taste.

Lard was commonly used for cooking and most of the various definitions for lard involve references to rendered/processed pig fat, which is why it's  not a favoured term on this forum. Sure, technically, a loose overall meaning can be used to refer to non processed, raw pig fat as lard, but it's best to just call it "raw pig fat" so as not to confuse people.

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limiting oneself to ground beef or even just beef muscle meat from the same source doesn't seem sound to me as a long term strategy, especially if it isn't out of some kind of necessity. Folks can have very positive results (espcially regarding energy at least) on very limited veg raw diets, for many years, and may continue feeling well for longer even in the presence of other symptoms. These are my personal opinions/observations.

 I absolutely agree. One of the key things I noticed, years ago, when I read past reports of RVAFers on other raw forums was that consumption of raw organ-meats helped speed up recovery from ill-health at a faster rate, than otherwise.  I myself did less well on just raw muscle-meats in the early stages of RPD. So, I keep on recommending a wide variety of raw foods such as raw shellfish, raw wild game, raw  berries etc. etc.

[klowcarb]

Lard is cooked and should be avoided like the plague. At least yours is apparently pastured. What concerns me is that lard is often hydrogenated which is even worse than standard lard.

Yes, it is pastured, and the ghee I use is grassfed. I do eat both of them cold though, and do not cook any of the beef or egg yolks. I've actually felt more energetic since upping my fat by adding the ghee and lard. It is too hard for me to do otherwise.