ground buffalo

[JulieM]

I was in Whole Foods tonight and they had some really lean looking ground buffalo, and I was thinking it might be good in a pot of chili I'm planning to make, but I've never eaten buffalo. Can anyone give a review and a comparison to ground beef?

[ClaraB]

Hmm, it really is pretty similar to ground beef, but maybe a little richer. I really like it, and it makes awesome burgers, so I'd think it would be very good in chili.

[Diane A.]

Tastes like chicken! (Sorry, I couldn't resist). Actually it is quite similar to ground beef. I doubt that most people could tell the difference in a recipe like chili. The price always makes me think twice about buying it. I usually opt for ground sirloin.
Diane

[sharhamm]

With the price of Buffalo I would make a burger out of it. They are delicious and taste like the best hambuger you have ever had. Tip: Do not cook it on a high heat. Buffalo needs to cook at a medium temp. and slowly. Low in fat and cholesterol.

[tbear1923]

Buffalo burgers are awesome!! highly recommend.

[1MegMeg]

I echo what everyone else has said! Buffalo is yummy! It is very similar to beef, not gamey tasting or anything. I am confident that you could serve it and no one would know the difference if you didn't tell them. It's a great low-fat and healthier substitute to beef. :)

[SusanMac]

It has a much bolder taste than regular ground beef. I typically use much, much fewer seasonings when making buffalo burgers. Also, we've found that the pre-shaped patties are not as good as just buying a hunk of ground buffalo. Not sure why. It could have been a difference in brands. While it would make an awesome chili, I agree that it might be best to serve it solo where you can really tell the difference.

[JulieM]

Thanks everyone, I'm definitely going to give this a try. I don't think I've ever seen it before at Whole Foods so I don't know if it's a product they're just trying out to see if it sells or if they have it now and then and I just hadn't noticed before.

[1MegMeg]

Just out of curiousity, how much is it at WF?

[swquilts]

Julie, it's a standard shelf item out West here at WF. To echo the others buffalo is very lean and quite tasty. :)

[JulieM]

Originally posted by 1MegMeg
Just out of curiousity, how much is it at WF?
Unfortunately I didn't see the price, but I'll pick some up this week and post it when I do.

[Goin' Coastal]

Not only is buffalo much lower in fat, it is also much lower in cholestral.

[bobmark226]

Originally posted by 1MegMeg
Just out of curiousity, how much is it at WF?

How much is it anywhere?

This weekend I was in the boonies and we stopped at a market to pick up a "few things," you know, like $40 worth, and despite the fact that I have some resistance to eating this ugly critter, I was curious. This market, mind you, had no ground turkey or chicken or any turkey or chicken sausage of any sort, but they did have ground buffalo. So I figured "why not?" until I picked the package up and saw it was $7.99 a pound!

Bob

[RebeccaT]

It's $4.99 per lb. here at Central Market. I bought it for the first time yesterday, and used part of it in place of ground turkey for Turkey Gyros (also available on the BB). Didn't get to taste it once I'd cooked it, though, since I had an attack of all-day-sickness and suddenly couldn't go near the stuff. DH liked it, though. I plan to use the rest tonight or tomorrow, simmered with some of Lindrusso's Marinara.

[SueK]

I think I paid about $5 per pound as well. I bought some to make burgers this weekend, but our plans changed. Since I had already frozen and thawed it, I just browned it and stuck it back in the freezer. I'm going to make All American Chili with it later this week.

[ClaraB]

I just bought a pound of it (already frozen) on sale at our local supermarket for $2.49/lb :). Hey, there has to be an upside to living in North Dakota, right?! ;)

[sneezles]

Originally posted by ClaraB
Hey, there has to be an upside to living in North Dakota, right?! ;)

I bet I could think of a couple more!;)

We've been eating buffalo for years. I think it's sweeter than beef. When we bought our half a steer we got both bulk ground and patties, both we very tasty. It probably averaged out to just around $4.00 pound but that was buying 300 pounds at once. It was locally grown and processed too!

[Jazzmatazz49]

I had no idea buffalo was so mainstream. I thought it was a curiosity like ostrich or alligator. So are there huge buffalo herds out west? And can you rollerskate in them?:D

[Goin' Coastal]

We have a restaurant chain here in town called Ted Turner's Montana Grill that serves bison. It is very popular. I have had the burgers, the meatloaf and the pot roast there - all very good!

[ClaraB]

Originally posted by Jazzmatazz49
I had no idea buffalo was so mainstream. I thought it was a curiosity like ostrich or alligator. So are there huge buffalo herds out west? And can you rollerskate in them?:D Yes, there are buffalo herds (properly, bison) out West, including North Dakota. And no, I've never tried to rollerskate in them, although you could mountainbike through them. It would probably be the last thing you did, though :eek:. They're raised much like cattle here, and are actually much hardier than cattle - the better to deal with our North Dakota winters :D . It's becoming a lot more common in the grocery stores out here; you can get many different cuts of buffalo. It's probably a lot more common here than out East, though.