Question about fat content in red meat

OK so I have a question about the fat content in ground hamburger meat.  I usually buy (and pay more for) the leaner ground meat -- either the 92% or 96% lean meat, depending on what I am making.  I drain the fat off, yadda yadda..... Well tonight my parents are staying with us because their power's out, and she brought hamburger meat over to make spaghetti.  I asked her if it was lean meat and she said, "no, but I will make sure to drain all the fat off -- it won't make that much of a difference." I got to thinking.....  if you are draining the fat off really well....DOES it make that much of a difference?  Is it really worth it to pay so much more for the leaner meat, or does draining fat off of the less lean version accomplish the same thing?  I was trying to think of this logically and didn't come to any conclusions so far..... what do you all think?

The thing is, as i understand it, one CAN mechanically wick off the fat, I actually squeeze mine, after cooking with a paper towel.  Buying a higher grade is more cost effective because you are not paying for the water/fat that you drain off. We usually do buy the lean stuff, but once in a while, we buy the other if on sale.

I always buy the lean stuff too. I've read that even tho you drain the fat, there is still some fat bound into the hamburger, which makes the leaner choice more healthier for you. The other also shrinks so much that I just choose leaner cuts. I hate the fact that it sits in all the fat, sort of gross's me out. Others will say that the leaner cuts have no flavor to them, and that is why they choose fattier cuts. I've even heard of people spraying a little bit of oil on thier LEAN hamburger just to make the taste of it better and juicer. That to me just doesn't make any sense, your defeating the purpose right??!!?

Just fyi, I just got done reading that if you buy the organic grass fed cows it is actually healthier for you that the chicken every one thinks is so healthy for you. I haven't read much into it, but I for one think that is very interesting! They said it's because grass produces more omega 3 in your meat. They said more but I forgot. :( Something to research anyways, I thought it was an interesting read.

well, back in the day, my dad used to put a pat of real butter on our burgers...talk about heart attack city.   Poor ole dad..he did die from heart trouble at age 65.  Yup on the grass fed cows! I knew about that from working on a racnh that UC Davis studied back in the early 80's. I did not recall exactly omega rich part, but fer shur, lower in sat fat. I have a prejudice about chikcens.  After raising them, they are the filthiest, dirtiest animals ever. Cows and pigs - extremely clean!  I could not eat chickens for about 5 years after raising them. Filthy things eat their own poop.

LOL, your funny. You know my mom says the same things about chicken and she rarely eats them. Yep, the omega 3 is what I remember the most. Think I might do some more research on it because my family is such meat eaters. But man, organic meat here is EXPENSIVE!!!! I don't know if I could afford feeding a family of six on the stuff. Now, my husband could live off of pork too! He'll be happy you vote for it.ha

Forgot to mention..my sister in law actually works for th fda, handling chickens. she is about ready to graduate with her masters in a chicken degree!!!haha I crack up whenever I think about a chicken degree!

OMG.. I've eaten so much chicken that I MUST be full of SH*T!!!  GGGGGGGGGGrrrosssss

And on that note.....I think I just lost my appetite for my CHICKEN lunch!  Ewwww......  I prefer to live in denial!   hehe

Amen to the chicken!  I went on a tour of a chicken farm in college and COULD NOT bring myself to eat chicken for months...GROSS!

I don't know about them not having flavor -- I am used to it -- I actually think the regular fat stuff upsets my stomach because I am not used to all the fat.  Now you do have to be careful with it being dryer sometimes -- I will never forget the time I tried to make meatloaf with the 96% lean stuff -- oh my god it was like a BRICK -- so dry I couldn't salvage it and manage to choke it down! I know turkey can be the same way -- it really depends on how you are preparing it.  I was watching an ep. of Rachel Ray on t.v. a few weeks ago and she gave a tip to moisten up turkey burgers -- she grinds up a little bit of lean ham in with the turkey (maybe 1 part ham to 4 parts turkey) to give it a little more juiciness.  It may add a little fat, but if you choose a leaner variety I am sure it would be negligible. I didn't know that about the organic cows -- pretty crazy!  Very interesting!

As an aside ; Be wary of the term organic! It is pretty crazy right now.  The standards for being able to use the term "organic" is fairly broad. In things like dairy, the standards are so broad that things like the added chemicals (hormones, pesticides, etc) are not as far apart as you may htink.  Critics say that that for the most part, organic does not protect one from too much of the unholy out there!

Grass fed and range animals are not necessarily better choices nutritionally, it has more to do with the environment, really.