Ground beef in chub packaging?

**frugal.lass** · 03-28-2009, 06:33 PM

I know this is such a lame hangup of mine but I've always been a bit wierded out by chub packs of meat. They aren't very common where I live, many stores don't carry them at all, so they aren't the "average" way of buying ground beef here. I've changed a lot of my grocery shopping practices to improve my grocery bill but noticed the other day that I still chose to not buy the chub pack when picking up some ground beef (there was no sale on either so the price difference was negligible). Can someone who has experience buying them let me know if they've ever noticed a quality difference between the prepackaged chubs of ground beef and the ground beef that is packaged at the store on styro trays? When they do go on sale the price difference is just pretty big but I don't know anyone who buys chubs so I don't know if the meat quality is different.

Are there any other concerns with chub packs? Can I just freeze them in the chub or will it burst in the freezer? Any info would be appreciated (although mocking comments about my hangups will also be accepted...lol). TIA!!

**hotprincesscm** · 03-28-2009, 06:36 PM

I have bought them before...I find no difference in the quality, and they freeze fine...Depending on where I shop the chubs tend to be a little cheaper.

**fixer** · 03-28-2009, 06:41 PM

We buy ground beef in the chub packs for freezing. If I have a choice, I will buy it over styrofoam packs any day. The tray pack burger always has an oxidized taste the chubb pack doesn't. We always reapportion it so I have no experience with freezing it in the chubb pack.

**LastDragonfly** · 03-28-2009, 07:18 PM

My husband is an electrical maintenance electrician at a beef pkg plant so we get a terrific discount on our beef. He brought home 50 lbs of chubs this last week...they were pkgd for Kroger but the Kroger truck didn't show up or something like that.... you can freeze chubs. I personally like chubs due to the fact that those styrofoam trays with those plastic absorbers under the meat grosses me out.

Sometimes you can find chub pkgs cheaper. The trays just stack nicer in the freezer. I think its a marketing thing too...some people just wont buy what they cant see. Personally, I think chubs are more germ free...not one human hand touches anything...it's even wrapped and put in a box by a robot.... sides of beef ususally go to the butcher and then they cut and wrap their own and then stock it....that's a lot of human contact in my opinion.... (only my opinion)

**monkeywrangler71** · 03-28-2009, 07:26 PM

Sorry, I think they're disgusting. I've only bought them twice and they were gross, all filled with curly hard bits. Although I was just as disgusted by the stuff in stores, I believe they just regrind it out of the packages anyway.

I started grinding my own last year. Just buy roasts on sale (but not cross rib - it has the yuck bits) and it ends up being the same price and much leaner and better.

**CatholicRose** · 03-28-2009, 08:14 PM

I buy the chub packs because they tend to keep the meat fresher longer in my fridge than the styrofoam trays do (if I don't re-portion and freeze them like I usually do), and because the chubs are usually cheaper per pound here. I haven't noticed a quality difference either way, as long as I buy the stuff with the same fat content (for me, that's ground chuck, 80/20).

I have frozen the chubs many times without problems (in fact, most often I buy them already frozen); I don't freeze the trays "as-is" because they tend to get freezer burn easily, at least IME, because of the thin plastic wrap.

I also find that, partially frozen, the chubs fairly easily cut into perfect-sized patties for hamburgers without my having to hand-shape them. That's probably a very minor point for most people, but we eat hamburgers often enough that it is a nice plus for me.

My local grocery store had a pretty good sale a while back on 10-lb. chubs, and they were in a clear plastic package. They looked like huge, bloody sausages, lol, but they cooked up just fine!

As much as we eat ground beef, I'd have bought several more rolls if I'd had more freezer space at the time!

Does your store have the smaller chubs? (I can usually find them in 1 lb., 3 lb., and 5.5 lb. chubs here.) If so, you could always buy a small one to try it out and reassure yourself of the quality before spending money on the big roll.

**Missy** · 03-28-2009, 08:17 PM

It is how we buy all ours. Less hands in it, ya know? Like Misti said. As the granddaughter of a butcher...yeah, buy the chubs. they freeze fine. I get ground pork, ground turkey, ground beef, and ground sausage that way. I love that they are most often marked so you can repackage them into smaller portions yourself, no guessing...or you can buy them in one pound increments.

**frugal.lass** · 03-28-2009, 08:20 PM

Thanks for all the responses! I think I am going to give it a try. There is a sale next week on smaller chubs in one of my local stores (they don't usually carry them, they are a feature item) so I will pick up one to see how I feel about the meat in them (hopefully no hard curly bits!!) and if they seem okay, I'll go back and stock up.

**Michelle** · 03-28-2009, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by hotprincesscm

I have bought them before...I find no difference in the quality, and they freeze fine...Depending on where I shop the chubs tend to be a little cheaper.

:yes:

Though I do have a question...how are the chubs packaged where you live? (you being everyone answering the post, not just you princess LOL) Because I only bought a chub once, and it was in a styrofoam tray.

**ArmyOfFive4God** · 03-28-2009, 08:24 PM

I'm of the yuck group, too, LOL. I find they are very fatty & gristly as well.

**ArmyOfFive4God** · 03-28-2009, 08:25 PM

Originally Posted by Michelle

:agree:

Though I do have a question...how are the chubs packaged where you live? (you being everyone answering the post, not just you princess LOL) Because I only bought a chub once, and it was in a styrofoam tray.

Chubs to me are pkged the same way as a roll of bulk sausage- platic with those metal crimps at the ends.

**forHISglory** · 03-28-2009, 08:30 PM

I'm all for the chubs, for all of the above reasons.

**butterflygreen** · 03-28-2009, 08:33 PM

I like the chubs. Have had mostly good luck with them.

**brennasmom** · 03-28-2009, 09:16 PM

We usually buy the pack of ground beef chubs at Costco. they are 1 pound each which is perfect. I can just grab one for defrosting when we will be using ground beef. And the quality has been great in my experience with the Costco ones.

**Debbie-cat** · 03-28-2009, 09:25 PM

We buy our hamburger in the 5 lb chub packages. I have never noticed any difference in quality. I have frozen them whole (just remember to take off the metal end pieces if you stick it in the microwave) and I have frozen them in packages (cutting them into 1 lb chunks). I don't think you will be disappointed at all with them.