Sometimes you discover new things in the kitchen. Last weekend, I learned why I was struggling with my meat grinder and turning my pork and beef into mush. It was bothering me so much that I resolved myself to only grinding steaks or spending $500 on a commercial grade grinder or using a food processor.

Determined to win (having a DJ Khaled moment), I decided to grind pork shoulder for sausage and realized that I was not putting the grinder blade all the way on the auger. This led to uncut mushy meat and copious amounts of foul language.

By solving that problem, I was able to revisit grinding cheaper cuts of meat. So, I ground five pounds of boneless chuck short ribs with about a pound of pork fat. This produced a grind that was similar in taste to the ribeye grind I did in a earlier Weekend Food Project, at about half the price. What I loved about using the pork fat was that it was cheap to buy at my local Asian market and the smooth mouth feel it provided.

To test the grind, I used a half a pound of meat, a half teaspoon of minced garlic and salt and pepper to taste. I also cooked the burger to medium.

I loved the burger and the only change I would make to this version is adding a little less pork fat, maybe only 3/4 of pound. Not quite perfect, but I am getting closer and cheaper.