Want to make great burgers at home? Follow these tips for a great burger every time!

Selection Always check the expiration date and choose meat without any tears in the packaging. The meat should be red, with the fat marbling through out it. Sometimes you see hamburger that’s a dark purple-gray color. That comes from a pigment called myoglobin. It’s normally a dark grayish-purple but when it comes in contact with air, it reacts by turning a deep red color. Meats that are vacuum-packed have not been exposed to enough oxygen to turn red. Since we consumers like the bright red color better than the purple gray, groceries sell meat wrapped in a plastic film that’s oxygen permeable. The air comes through and turns the meat that pretty red color.

Storage: Remember, the grocery stores the meat in packaging that allows the oxygen to come through. That’s precisely why, when you store it, you should always remove meat from it’s original packaging and put it into something that is NOT oxygen permeable, like vacuum-sealed bags, freezer bags or even foil. Fresh ground beef should be stored in the coldest part of your refrigerator and used or frozen within 2 days. To freeze ground beef, remove it from the original packaging. Wrap in plastic wrap or foil and place in airtight plastic sealable bags. Freeze up to three months. Thaw frozen ground beef in the refrigerator.

The best grade of beef is USDA Prime. Less than 2% of all beef is rated Prime. It has excellent marbling, texture and flavor. All this great quality is reflected in its price! Choice is next best. A little less marbled and a notch-down in texture from Prime, Choice is usually the highest grade found at the grocery. Select follows Choice. It’s the most common grade purchased by consumers and has less marbling and flavor than Choice.

For most recipes, ground chuck is the best choice. It has enough fat to make it juicy, but not so much that it shrinks down to nothing when cooked. Keep in mind that fat is flavor so if you go too lean you’ll have a dry tasteless burger. Ground sirloin and ground round are leaner and make good burgers if they’re cooked to rare or medium rare. Cook them longer and you’ll end up with a dry and flavorless burger. Since the USDA now recommends all beef be cooked to at least medium doneness, sirloin and round just don’t work as well any more.

Be safe! Beef products are at risk for E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria. Ground beef is most vulnerable since it begins with so many exposed surface areas that are then ground into the meat and could be left in the center of an underdone burger. Thorough cooking destroys bacteria. According to USDA guidelines, ground beef should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. Use a meat thermometer to be sure. To prevent cross contamination wash your hands, utensils and work surfaces. Don’t use the same utensils or containers for meat and vegetables. Using the same knife to cut vegetables can contaminate your previously safe beef and vice versa. Cross-contamination is the most common culprit responsible for food borne illness.