To Lean or Not Too Lean
A Canadian Cooking Conundrum Solved
Being Canadian means year-round outdoor grilling. And with burgers as the most popular grill item, Canadians are now faced with a cooking conundrum - how to make the best lean burgers. But for every problem there is a solution; a great Canadian guilt-free burger recipe thanks to the folks in the Beef Information Centre (BIC) test kitchen.
The rise in interest in nutrition over the years has seen a dramatic switch in some standard product purchases. The switch to lower fat, more healthful products as standard choices can be seen in products such as milk, yogurt, salad dressings, dips and ground beef.
Lean and extra lean ground beef account for 63 per cent of all ground beef purchases and 31 per cent of overall beef purchases in Canada. With lean ground beef as the most common ‘on hand’ ground and burgers traditionally made with medium ground beef, the conundrum is how to make the best burgers using lean ground beef?
The solution: The Lean Ground Beef – Get Grilling guide and its lean beef burger recipe developed in BIC test kitchens. The Best Ever Lean Burger recipe means finally a great tasting lean burger made with nutrient rich lean ground Canadian beef. “Making burgers with lean ground beef is a healthier choice for my entire family,” says Joyce Parslow, a home economist with the BIC, “and since we usually have a package of lean ground in the fridge or freezer, it is a much more convenient choice.”
In consumer reviews, the Best Ever Lean Burger caused quite a stir with testers who said they “loved them”, and the burgers were “deliciously moist and tasty” and “just so juicy”. Delicious lean burgers start with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada’s Health CheckTM program qualified lean or extra lean ground beef. Another advantage to using guilt free lean ground beef for burgers is that it provides consumers with 14 essential nutrients and is a good source of iron, and an excellent source of protein, zinc and vitamin B12.