Organic vs. "Deadly" Ground Beef

Yesterday was a perfect California Memorial Day: 80 degrees, blue sky, cool pool. I spent the afternoon reading and helping the Bug with a school project, and then I eased myself into the water when the sun got too hot. After that, the only thing that could top the day was a cold Sierra Nevada and burgers on the grill.

I bought two types of ground beef: Safeway's 93% lean at $4.69 a pound, and Organic Prairie's 85% lean at $5.59 a pound. I wanted to see what the difference was, other than the manufacturer's claims of the organic beef being "The most delicious and safe meat."

The organic meat seemed to be ground finer, with more consistent coloring, while the regular ground beef was a thicker grind, with lots of marbling. This surprised me, as it was supposed to be the leaner meat. Is the organic beef ground twice for a better mix?

When it came down to taste, I have to admit--I flubbed it. I forgot which ones were the organic ones when I laid them on the grill. And, I cooked them to well-done, instead of medium. I love a rare burger, but in these days of salmonella poisoning, I just didn't want to chance it.

The long and short of it was, we couldn't tell a difference from taste or texture. Since we rarely eat ground beef at home, I'm going to go the organic route from here on out. Yes, it's more expensive, but the Safeway brand was only cheaper because it was on sale.

Here's some good recipes from Organic Prarie: http://www.organicprairie.com/recipes.html