Does Costco Grind Its Ground Beef In-Store?

The meat at Costco can be hit or miss at times, but its ground beef has a lot of fans. It's often more affordable than what you can get at other stores, and the chain's meat processing rooms are painstakingly sanitized, so you can be assured it's safe, too. The latter point is particularly important considering ground beef is more prone to spoilage and contamination and — according to a Reddit user who said they were a Costco employee — the chain grinds its beef on-location.

The beef isn't necessarily ground from scratch, however. The Redditor said Costco's butchers use a pre-ground 95% lean mixture referred to internally as "bull meat" and freshly ground beef trim. The two are mixed together and ground once more, resulting in ground beef that contains roughly 10% to 12% fat. It's this resulting ground beef blend that gets packaged and sold to customers.

While the Redditor didn't provide any information on whether the bull meat contains any beef from actual bulls, you shouldn't be too worried about it tasting different. A study published by the British Society of Animal Science found that taste testers perceived no significant differences in flavor or juiciness between bull meat and the more conventional beef taken from steers. Some cuts of bull meat were found to be less tender than steer, but that isn't really an issue when it comes to ground beef.

The Redditor who explained how Costco grinds its beef in-store also shared a nice little hack for getting ground beef with higher-quality meat. The next time you're shopping at Costco, look for a little "R" sticker on the package — this means it's a regrind containing unused steaks from the previous day. Regrinds are only kept out until 4:00 p.m., so it's best to try your luck for them in the morning.

One major detail that limits Costco's ground beef by a smidge: its 10% fat content. Fat percentages in ground beef matter a lot when cooking, and certain recipes could turn out disappointing even if you use the steak regrinds. Costco butchers don't typically cut meat to order, so the chances of having a butcher at your location grind beef any fattier than its standard percentage are pretty low. Unless you have a grinder at home and can add more fat yourself, you'll have to work with Costco's grind as-is.

Instead of fat-reliant recipes like burgers and meatloaf, stick with dishes that get extra moisture from other ingredients and cooking methods. Bolognese sauce, for instance, is a good match for Costco's lean ground beef because the tomatoes provide a lot of moisture and the whole milk adds fat. This classic shepherd's pie recipe also works well with leaner beef. The mashed potato layer seals moisture in as the dish bakes, keeping the beef from drying out.