05. Ground Meat

Ground meat is another story. Grinding pulverizes collagen, nullifying any toughness it once imparted. When a tough cut of meat is ground, you get the flavor of a well-exercised muscle with none of its toughness. The cuts of meat that are most often ground are chuck (shoulder), sirloin (where the back meets the hips), and round (leg). Each brings different amounts of flavor and slight variations in texture to the table. A shoulder that moved every time a steer took a step is going to develop more flavor and toughness than a back muscle that lay farther away from a joint.