Has anyone used ground beef from Trader Joe's?

[Grasswire2]

We eat very little ground beef (or other beef) but once in a while a meat loaf sounds homey and nice.

The market chain where I would purchase that meat and know that it is local and humanely raised is not selling it currently. They have wagyu instead, for twelve bucks a pound!!

So I was disappointed today to find that. No meat loaf.

I refuse to buy it from a big chain that grinds and packs it god knows where.

But I trust Trader Joe's for other things. What about their ground beef? I want 80-20 chuck.

Any experiences?

[Major Nikon]

1. Pretty much any grocer that has a butcher shop in the store will grind beef

Just pick out a chuck roast and ask them to grind it for you.

[Grasswire2]

3. yeah but I would only want a pound. :-) nt

[Grasswire2]

4. ...and I'm not sure I would even buy a roast at a chain supermarket. I don't even know of a butcher.

A stand alone butcher shop? None here that I know of.

[comradebillyboy]

2. Trader Joe's is not the place to go for beef...

[BigmanPigman]

5. I buy it when I crave protein.

I get the 96% lean/4% fat type. Usually that little fat sucks but this tastes good to me if I don't overcook it.. It is $ 5.49 lb.

[safeinOhio]

6. I use ground lamb.

Grass fed local. Find a local farmers and buy local. I like to whole lambs, not all that large and have chops, a few steaks and the rest ground. For me it works out to about 5 or 6 bucks a pound. That includes the chops. Taste much better than factory beef.

[Grasswire2]

9. I can't.

I saw a girl wearing a shirt that said "What kind of asshole would eat a baby lamb?" Haven't eaten lamb since. Haven't eaten veal for decades either.

[Kali]

7. this market is only selling $12/lb "waygu"??

talk to a manager. even the snootiest upscale market should have a more economical ground beef option. or do as Major Nikon says and have a roast ground. you can freeze the extra in 1 lb pkgs to have next time. it will be fine for 6 months to a year.

[Grasswire2]

10. the back story is that this market local chain, which emphasizes natural, healthy foods...

...had an e-coli scare about its locally sourced, humanely raised ground beef about six months ago. They stopped production then (it is ground IN-store, not outsourced; I don't know what the cause of it was, really, but the company was spooked by it.) and haven't restarted production, I found out yesterday. They are being really, really cautious of the public image. I am going to speak to the mgr at my closest store. Maybe they found they could make more $$ selling wagyu beef haha.

[spinbaby]

8. I get mine from Whole Foods

They have humanely raised, grass-fed ground beef in those vacuum packs, which can go right into the freezer for future reference. Costco has grass-fed ground beef in vacuum packs, too, but theirs is from overseas somewhere (I think Argentina, but can’t really remember). The Whole Foods version is entirely raised and packed in the USA.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

11. The prepackaged stuff is obviously that.

Your local grocer should have a butcher section where they put out things like ground beef that they have ground themselves. That's the only kind I ever buy.