Components Of Hamburger Meat

Hamburgers have been in existence some say for over 150 years having been sold in American restaurants as early as 1885 but what exactly are the components of hamburger meat?

This is a difficult question to answer given there are so many types of hamburgers in the modern society ranging from the most common beef burger to ostrich and bison burgers. Each manufacturer will use different products in the making of hamburger meat very much depending upon the base meat which is used for the burger patty. However, the most common of hamburgers, the beef burger is made of two distinct categories of ingredients.

1. All Meat (100% ground beef) burger

This hamburger meat is made of nothing but 100% ground beef which usually originates from the flank area of the cow. Off cuts of beef taken from various other parts of the animal are also used with the primary objective to ensure that nothing other than beef is used. Seasonings will accompany these types of hamburgers but they should not contain any other filling ingredients other than simply ground beef and seasoning.

2. Hamburgers/Beef Burgers

As the title lacks any coherent objectives in terms of ingredients these burgers will contain a certain amount of fillings (breadcrumbs, rusk etc) to bulk out the meat and will commonly contain a higher degree of fat content and more seasonings to add additional flavourings. Preservatives are also usually added to prolong shelf life and generally are significantly more expensive than All Meat burgers for obvious cost reasons.

Thankfully, in today’s observant society most manufactures of food products around the world are obliged to clearly display the ingredients used in either of these two burgers. Hamburgers do not require preservatives or indeed any additional ingredients other than 100% pure beef and some seasoning and good value hamburgers will display only these ingredients. These can also be frozen on the day of purchase (removing the need for preservatives) and bought out and defrosted when required.

The only consideration in terms of components of hamburger meat really comes down to price. If you are on a budget and cannot justify the small increase in purchasing all beef burgers then simply buy yourself some ground beef and follow our How Do You Season A Hamburger page for ideas to spice up your burger meat. This will make several hamburgers some of which you can package up and put in the freezer for another day all the while saving you some money.