Costco Organic Beef - ugh..

DonWW

A new Costco opened up in my neighborhood recently and, as you would expect, I am truly exited.  I was having friends over for burgers and on a whim I bought their organic ground beef.  It's a three pack, each 1 1/3 lbs totalling 4 pounds. 

A little salt, pepper, garlic, Worcestershire and finished with about 12 patties.  I take care not to handle the beef too much, no compressing the patties before cooking. 

I cooked them to a medium well and served within 30 minutes.  The meat was hard.  Truly hard.  I asked my wife, and she instantly agreed. I don't know if it was the organic nature.  The ratio is 85% - 15%, so it has a decent fat content. 

Has anyone else had experience with this meat? 

Just as a point of reference, I am a huge fan of Costco - I typically love their meats, seafood, etc.  This is a first disappointment. 

OhioEgger

No experience with that stuff, but in my experience the best hamburgers are 20% fat (typical chuck). So the 15% fat content might be the culprit.

Also, I find a noticeable difference with Angus beef, so all my burgers are Angus chuck.

The other comment (and please don't take offense) is that medium well (meaning around 155°F) is way overdone in my book.

Lit

I don't like it either I even think the taste is off.

volfan1

We like their organic beef for burgers, but it's not as good as what we can get at the local farmers market.  I also cook to medium-medium rare, so that's probably a factor as well.

TN_Sister_State

That's all the ground beef we use for burgers and they always come out juicy and delicious. I usually make 4 burgers from one pack. I also never cook over medium or let them rest for more than 5-10 minutes before we eat.

Wolfpack

I've bought it twice and not a fan. Actually not a fan of any of their ground beef or premade burgers. 

I agree- it's about the only thing I don't care for there. 

TN_Sister_State

Sounds like I need to do a side by side comparison now after this post. I'll tell the wife it's science.

Eggcelsior

Sounds like the culprit is the cooking temp. I use it often and never have this issue. 

bigbadben

I have used that stuff it is ok. If I can't grind myself or get freshly ground, that Costco stuff is next up on the list. 

Teefus

Sounds like you cooked them to death. We use 85/15 beef but I never cook to medium well. For burgers I do a two zone fire in my Weber. I always start over the hot side to give a good sear, but after a flip I move them off the heat at rare. They sit on the indirect side until medium rare to medium. It makes for a good time to melt cheese. When they come inside they rest a minute or two just like steaks so the juice doesn't run all over when you take a bite. Those that want medium well can let them rest a little longer. Never not tender and juicy.

GoooDawgs

Did you check the temp when you pulled them off? Could you have just overcooked them?

gdenby

I agree with the above that an 85 - 15 mix is generally too lean for burgers.

Reading around, it appears that Kirkland organic beef can bee from any number of different sources. Some may be all grass fed, some grain finished. As off a couple of years ago, most was from So. Dakota, where, from what I know, the animals get to do lots of walking around, which will both improve the taste and make it tougher. Some has come from as far away as Australia.

Photo Egg

"...and served within 30 minutes" maybe it rested a little to long, cold.
Also agree with others on the medium well thing, but that is how many people like their burgers. I just think the more you cook the burger the less room for error and resting time as their will be less meat juice. Will toughen up very fast.

DonWW

Thanks for feedback.  Consensus is more time in the Egg than needed (agreed, had planned on just medium) and some sporadic incidents of lack of preference for this product. 

Conway_Twitty

I prefer the "inorganic beef".  It's made from wholesome man-made beef-like particles.  That said, the more you cook it, the less fat, the drier it seems.  This here's a general trend, although that there Costco cow could be fed with OSB and maybe that toughened up the meat thar.