From the Ground Up: Ground Beef Demand Surges During Pandemic

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) -It’s safe to say that most of us have eaten more at home than normal during the outbreak of the coronavirus and that has been challenging for some folks that just don’t cook a lot. But, apparently ground meat doesn’t intimidate inexperienced cooks like some meat cuts do.

“We have turned into more, during this time that we’ve been isolated into more of a ground beef nation than we have ever been before,” said Davey Griffin, Texas A&M AgriLife professor and meat specialist. “Ground beef sales have gone absolutely through the roof, and I think part of that is that people have been real comfortable cooking ground beef.”

Griffin says ground beef is the go-to product for a variety of quick and easy recipes.

“They may have questions on whether I can do something with a roast, whether I can do something efficiently with a steak, or a chop, or something like that, but I know how to cook ground beef. And one of the concerns that I’ve had and one of the things that we’d surely like to be sure that people understand is, they understand that if that is a ground beef product or ground product of any kind, it needs to be cooked to at least one hundred sixty degrees Fahrenheit just to be sure that it’s safe and wholesome to eat at that point in time.”

Griffin emphasizes that even though you may prefer to eat your steak or roast beef a bit on the rare side, that shouldn’t be an option when you’re eating ground meat.

“We do have more concerns with ground than we do with other products in terms of food safety, and being sure that it’s cooked to the correct degree of done-ness and after that, it can be used in so many different products and really has the versatility I think that a lot of people are looking for, instead of, and being able to do something that they can do at home.”

And as you enjoy the fruits of your labor from your grill, oven, or cooktop, keep in mind that whatever you’re cooking originated on someone’s farm or ranch.

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Via sourceKBTX | From the Ground Up: Ground Beef Demand Surges During Pandemic