Why don't supermarkets sell ground meat in whole pounds?

[Guillermo]

something i've been wondering about for years...

does anyone know why supermarkets don't sell ground meat in whole pounds (.453 kg)? Essentially every recipe and every pre-packaged mix/whatever calls for 1 lb of ground meat, and yet 99.99999% of the time you're buying ground meat, the packages are like 0.300 or 0.600 kg. :facepalm: Why the heck can't the butcher give you 0.453 kg, or even 0.500 kg if they want to round it? Is it because they are lazy?

A 0.300 kg package of about a quarter pound less meat that 0.453 kg... and 0.600 kg is over a quarter pound more!!!

:guns: :guns: :guns:

[Abeo]

walmart supercenters do, in a tube

[dirtsniffer]

where i shop it's usually 400-600 grams. can't go wrong with more beef.

[rob the knob]

-most people use recipes for only guideline and you need to adjust for # of people
-store puts how much they can put on size of plastic tray
-if you want certain amount ask butcher or meat worker guy for that exact amount and they will do it for you
-grind your own meat. control amount and what is put in it

[Weapon_R]

Any meat shop will put the exact amount for you if you ask.

[Guillermo]

I know I can buy the 500 g tubes and/or go to a butcher... i'm just wondering why they don't sell it in even pounds. what's the rationale behind that? where I grew up as a kid, the meats were always evenly divided into pounds. i just think it's silly to sell the packages in rather random weights.

[codetrap]

Originally posted by Guillermo
I know I can buy the 500 g tubes and/or go to a butcher... i'm just wondering why they don't sell it in even pounds. what's the rationale behind that? where I grew up as a kid, the meats were always evenly divided into pounds. i just think it's silly to sell the packages in rather random weights.

Because it's far faster for the meat guy (not always an actual butcher) to just slap an amount of ground beef into the try that approximately fits, rather than to weigh it out to as near to a pound as they can.

[flipstah]

Originally posted by codetrap


Because it's far faster for the meat guy (not always an actual butcher) to just slap an amount of ground beef into the try that approximately fits, rather than to weigh it out to as near to a pound as they can.

Yup. All they have to do is grab a random chuck, put it in the black styrofoam... Thing, shrinkwrap, weight, print & stick, put it in shelf, profit

[hampstor]

Among other things, you can buy ground beef and ground pork by the lb at T&T (harvest hills).

[yipb]

if u get 300g, buy 2 and split second in half, if u bought 600 then take out 1/4 of the meat

[dirtsniffer]

haha ya, i worked in the butchers at superstore during highscool. I was the groundbeef guy and the meat comes out the grinder fast. basically just rip a chunk off slap it on a tray and reach for the next chunk.

grinding half frozen bull meat is a disgusting smell btw.

[BlackRadon]

Originally posted by hampstor
Among other things, you can buy ground beef and ground pork by the lb at T&T (harvest hills).

I buy most of my meat from TNT, they have great deals on bulk meats. Plus they sell cuts you can't really find at supermarkets. Deep fried chicken gizzards are awesome!

But for the most part, I would just think it's for convince of the butcher. Just guesstamates and wraps it. Like most people were saying. Never hurt to have a but more meat..

[hampstor]

Originally posted by BlackRadon


I buy most of my meat from TNT, they have great deals on bulk meats. Plus they sell cuts you can't really find at supermarkets. Deep fried chicken gizzards are awesome!

But for the most part, I would just think it's for convince of the butcher. Just guesstamates and wraps it. Like most people were saying. Never hurt to have a but more meat..

I was a bit skeptical at first cause well, it's T&T. However, I went there and bought a fair amount of beef shortribs (was doing korean bbq) when they had them on sale and was impressed by the quality and choice.

[clem24]

Originally posted by hampstor


I was a bit skeptical at first cause well, it's T&T. However, I went there and bought a fair amount of beef shortribs (was doing korean bbq) when they had them on sale and was impressed by the quality and choice.

The only meat I'd never buy from T&T are steaks. For some reason, they are infinitely inferior to anything that you can get anywhere else, which is very strange. Like the New York Steak might LOOK like one, but even Superstore (same company) has better meat (though Costco reigns supreme). Maybe it's actually horse.

[flipstah]

Originally posted by clem24


The only meat I'd never buy from T&T are steaks. For some reason, they are infinitely inferior to anything that you can get anywhere else, which is very strange. Like the New York Steak might LOOK like one, but even Superstore (same company) has better meat (though Costco reigns supreme). Maybe it's actually horse.

Costco steaks rule all! :thumbsup: :drool:

[Rat Fink]

.

[Guillermo]

^^I don't get your point, you're saying that because I grew up in a city several times larger than Calgary, that they sell meat in even pounds?

[J-hop]

Originally posted by Guillermo
^^I don't get your point, you're saying that because I grew up in a city several times larger than Calgary, that they sell meat in even pounds?

Only thing I can think of is imperial vs metric, maybe that is what he is getting at

[89s1]

Originally posted by J-hop


Only thing I can think of is imperial vs metric, maybe that is what he is getting at

:werd:

It seemed fairly obvious to me thats what he was getting at.

[Guillermo]

the units don't matter. as I said in the first post, 1 lb = 0.453 kilograms. or, you could just round it up to 0.500 kilograms which isn't much more than a pound.

but a pack or 0.300 kg is only 2/3 of a pound. That's a substantial amount if you're trying to make burgers or whatever. so then you buy the bigger pack, which is 1/3 larger than a pound, so now you're throwing away food because the girls can't eat the whole thing cause it's too big.

trust me, i go through this all the time. :rofl:

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Guillermo
so then you buy the bigger pack, which is 1/3 larger than a pound, so now you're throwing away food because the girls can't eat the whole thing cause it's too big.

trust me, i go through this all the time. :rofl:

Put 1/3 of it away in the freezer... after 3 meals you now have another 1 lbs. of meat.

[Guillermo]

well i could, but IMO it's far more efficient to just package the meat in the universal standard size in the first place.

Can you imagine if you were trying to frame a house, but instead of selling 8' 2x4s, you could only buy 10'? and when you mentioned something about how silly it was to have to cut and discard 2' from every 2x4, people just said "well why don't you just keep the extra 2-footers and then use them to frame in the bulkheads?" :nut:

EDIT: and this is an admittedly stupid thread, but we can only argue about rape, spanking, and chiuld abuse for so long. :rofl:

[sputnik]

Do people really measure the ground beef that closely when making a recipe?

The majority of things I make using ground beef never need a recipe and I can easily make an adjustment to accommodate for the amount of ground beef.

At the end of the day, is it really that hard to just look for a package between 400-500 grams?

[Guillermo]

Originally posted by sputnik
Do people really measure the ground beef that closely when making a recipe?


what if you're trying to make burgers for say 4 people, well 300 grams isn't going to be enough and 600 grams is going to be too much. so then you divide the 600 grams evenly into 4 patties, and then you have the girls throwing half theirs out because it's too much. Or, you have to make yourself a half-pound burger, which isn't good for the waistline if you know what I mean.




Originally posted by sputnik
At the end of the day, is it really that hard to just look for a package between 400-500 grams?

that's what i'm saying though - they're never between 400-500 grams. It seems they are always like 300 grams, or 600 grams. 50 grams is only a 10% difference, but 300 or 600 grams is 33%! which is a big difference.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by sputnik
Do people really measure the ground beef that closely when making a recipe?

The majority of things I make using ground beef never need a recipe and I can easily make an adjustment to accommodate for the amount of ground beef.

At the end of the day, is it really that hard to just look for a package between 400-500 grams?

Yeah, I do the same, but admittedly I always look for 454g, and never find anything less than 550.

[sputnik]

My Sobeys always seems to be in the 400-500g range.

[flipstah]

Originally posted by Guillermo
the units don't matter. as I said in the first post, 1 lb = 0.453 kilograms. or, you could just round it up to 0.500 kilograms which isn't much more than a pound.

but a pack or 0.300 kg is only 2/3 of a pound. That's a substantial amount if you're trying to make burgers or whatever. so then you buy the bigger pack, which is 1/3 larger than a pound, so now you're throwing away food because the girls can't eat the whole thing cause it's too big.

trust me, i go through this all the time. :rofl:

Are you f'real? Serious?

http://www.ziploc.com/Products/PublishingImages/Large%20Images/Ziploc_Dbl_Zipper_Freezer_Gallon.jpg

[dsbooyah]

Or you can go to safeway and ask the meatcutter to take a package and only weigh out 454 gm or 1lb , or even slice all my meat for fondue. Superstore , Walmarts ect....... Don't cut meat on site. It's all shipped in. You do pay a bit more at places like safeway but, the customer service and line ups are the best.

[BlackRadon]

Originally posted by sputnik
My Sobeys always seems to be in the 400-500g range.

That's because Sobeys is the bomb supermarket. Not sure what they are like in Calgary but the one is Canmore is awesome!

[Guillermo]

Originally posted by flipstah


Are you f'real? Serious?

http://www.ziploc.com/Products/PublishingImages/Large%20Images/Ziploc_Dbl_Zipper_Freezer_Gallon.jpg

you're telling me to just cut off 1' from my 10' 2x4s, and use that for the bulkheads. :rofl:

sure it works, but isn't it way more efficient for the butcher (or high school kid, as posted above) to do a better job? also as mentioned above, it seems possible at Sobey's. :dunno:

[dirtsniffer]

Originally posted by dsbooyah
Or you can go to safeway and ask the meatcutter to take a package and only weigh out 454 gm or 1lb , or even slice all my meat for fondue. Superstore , Walmarts ect....... Don't cut meat on site. It's all shipped in. You do pay a bit more at places like safeway but, the customer service and line ups are the best.

the superstore on macleod and anderson cuts all, if not most of the meat for superstores in calgary. i did custom weighings for people there, fyi.

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by Guillermo


you're telling me to just cut off 1' from my 10' 2x4s, and use that for the bulkheads. :rofl:

sure it works, but isn't it way more efficient for the butcher (or high school kid, as posted above) to do a better job? also as mentioned above, it seems possible at Sobey's. :dunno:

Holy fuck. :facepalm:

If this gives you such a problem that you can't figure out how to make hamburgers or recipes without perfect one-pound batches of meat, might I suggest "assisted living".

I echo Flipstah's sentiments exactly.

[Strider]

Originally posted by Guillermo
what if you're trying to make burgers for say 4 people, well 300 grams isn't going to be enough and 600 grams is going to be too much. so then you divide the 600 grams evenly into 4 patties, and then you have the girls throwing half theirs out because it's too much. Or, you have to make yourself a half-pound burger, which isn't good for the waistline if you know what I mean.


Okay, I get it... 1 lb package of beef = 1/4 pound burger each for 4 ppl

What if you're making burgers for 2 people or 6 people with your 454g pack? Then what??
http://data.whicdn.com/images/8520355/1295931306-922593-450x268-1295930574mind-blown_thumb.jpg

:facepalm:

[Guillermo]

in that case I would go with 2 pounds and make the burgers 1/3 lb. :D

[Guillermo]

i still don't understand why 2x4s don't just come in random lengths. :confused:

[Strider]

Originally posted by Guillermo
what if you're trying to make burgers for say 4 people, well 300 grams isn't going to be enough and 600 grams is going to be too much. so then you divide the 600 grams evenly into 4 patties, and then you have the girls throwing half theirs out because it's too much. Or, you have to make yourself a half-pound burger, which isn't good for the waistline if you know what I mean.



Originally posted by Guillermo
in that case I would go with 2 pounds and make the burgers 1/3 lb. :D

But you just finished bitching that 1/3 lb is too much... Make up your mind :banghead:

[Guillermo]

^^that's not what I said. I said 1/3 lb. more, which unless you can get a friend to come over or something, is too much.

[Strider]

Originally posted by Guillermo
^^that's not what I said. I said 1/3 lb. more, which unless you can get a friend to come over or something, is too much.


Originally posted by Guillermo
so then you divide the 600 grams evenly into 4 patties, and then you have the girls throwing half theirs out because it's too much.

600g/4 = 150g = 1/3 lb:confused:

side note: how do you of all people have 103% user rating?

[Guillermo]

Originally posted by C_Dave45


Holy fuck. :facepalm:

If this gives you such a problem that you can't figure out how to make hamburgers or recipes without perfect one-pound batches of meat, might I suggest "assisted living".

I echo Flipstah's sentiments exactly.

fair enough. :dunno: