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Let’s set the stage: You’ve decided it’s time to grill some burgers and you’ve got your Hi Brau
Ground Beef fully thawed and ready to patty. You’ve been salivating all day over how the flavor
of a properly, thoughtfully, intentionally raised beef will make your burgers better than you can
find anywhere else.
You open the package and set your Ground Beef out, ready for your secret blend of seasoning.
You pick up enough to make your favorite size patty, and right as you start to form it…oh no!
There’s something blue in my Ground! Is it mold? Did something get in it? Do I throw it away?
How will I enjoy my burger with the fear of something amiss?!
Fear not fellow connoisseurs, because we once had the same reaction.
Upon finding these bluish specks, we were quite curious. We know there’s no grass or feed that
can cause this. No hormones, antibiotics, nothing of that sort is ever used. So we went straight
to the source - we called our butcher.
With a chuckle, he explained why our fears were unfounded. In fact, he explained why the blue
bit is actually a good thing.
Whenever a Hi Brau steer is processed, it is USDA inspected and certified before it’s butchered.
Once the inspection is complete and the carcass passes, the inspector stamps the carcass with
a purple, food grade, vegetable ink. It is 100% edible.
The reason the ink shows up in your Ground Beef and nothing else is that the fat from the
outside of the animal’s carcass (where the stamp is) is ultimately used to make just the right
blend of savory Ground Beef…not too much fat, but enough for the right consistency and flavor.
Remember, properly raised and aged beef doesn’t require a load of fat to get the right fat to lean ratio.
You may be wondering, why have I never seen that in grocery store meat? That’s also a simple
answer. Instead of risking a consumer that doesn't have access to a farmer throwing their beef
away, they simply cut the section of fat off of the animal…and throw it away. What a waste!
There you have it. Don’t worry at all if there’s a few specks of blue (technically purple) in your
Ground Beef. It simply means that your beef passed a USDA inspection and is fit for
consumption. Now go enjoy that burger!