I shop at Trader Joe’s and they have a pretty diverse meat selection. I usually go with lean ground beef or buffalo patties, but this week they had lamb patties. Now, on to the question. How can each of these 1/4 lb patties vary so much in protein and calories? I assume it has to do with water content and protein density, but it seems quite variable to me. These are the values for a 1/4 patty of each meat. Beef: 25g P,0g C,5g F,150cal…Buffalo: 34g P,0g C,9g F,215 cal…Lamb: 42g P,5g C,4g F, 230 cal. It just seems a little weird to me.
I’m curious about that also. Sorry i can’t help. How does cooking affect those numbers also? Alot of fat can be darained out of ground beef i know?
All of these meats are pretty lean and there is minimal fat that drains off the Foreman grill or is left in the frying pan. Therefore, I don’t think cooking changes the calorie/fat content much. I’m just suprised at the variation in protein content.
I got these figures from a cookbook, based on 1 ounce of meat: Lean ground beef- 5g P 5.9g F Lamb-5.8g P 1.3g F Buffalo- 6.1g P .5g F. If anything the buffalo should be the highest in protein, and lowest in fat.I think that the buffalo needs more fat than the lamb to hold it together, so when they grind the buffalo they are adding fat to it, which would reduce the protein per patty.
I’m not sure I get your question. They’re different meats, so of course they will have different nutrient profiles - just like eggs and cheese, or tomatos and cucumbers. Not trying to be an asshole here, but I’m really not sure what you’re getting at…
I did some calculating and this does not add up, I think someone at Trader Joe’s screwed up, these numbers can’t be right. You would be getting 10g of protein from 1 ounce of lamb, and that is just not possible, if it was then more body builders would be eating lamb. By the way my numbers for the lamb were based on leg of lamb.
Sure they are different meats, so they will have different macro breakdowns, but it just suprised me that the labels said that for each 1/4 lb patty of lamb, I was getting 42g P vs 25g P in my 1/4 ground beef patty. It seemed that there would not be that much variation in protein content. Sure, I suspected a little variation, but for something to be almost 80% more protein dense seemed incorrect to me.
Could you guys possibly be comparing food values of
cooked vs. uncooked meats? Example: lean, raw beef
has around 6 grams of protein per ounce, while cooked
has 8 grams.
Where did you get your figures from? I would like to take a look at your source.
How much do buffalo patties cost? Do they taste any good? I know a lot of people recommend buffalo when trying to gain? Any reasoning behind this?
joeyz has it mixed up. The protien content is more when raw. The package at Trader Joes has a typo. I also buy almost everything I eat from that store. They have Niman Ranch beef which I believe is a very high quality product, and many people where I live agree with me. As far as lamb goes I usually buy a 4 pound leg from a butcher buy my house, trim some fat off(I purposely leave some on) And eat it throughout the whol week. I think lamb is a great source of food, and it might be all in my head but I think since I started eating it I have gotten stronger.
I’m just going by what is on the label for an uncooked 1/4 lb patty.
Buffalo tastes almost the same as beef. I like it allot. The texture at least from the buffalo i had was a little rubbier and more chewy if that makes any sense. My guess as to why people like it for gailing that you get the taste of red meat and maybe the bennefits people talk about after eating a steak, with very little fat which would follow a massive eating style meal.
Okay, if that’s all it is, then you should start by looking up the values for lamb and so on in a nutrition book and seeing if the values add up to what Trader Joe has on their labels. There may, as has been pointed out above, have been a typo or two somewhere along the line.
OR, it may be that TJ is trying to sucker some muscleheads into buying stuff (do I smell...a CONSPIRACY??!??)...
I buy 1 lb of buffalo (frozen 1/4 patties) for $3.99. I don’t know where you shop but if you can find a natural food store (Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Wild Oats, or maybe a local Co-op) you may be able to get it there.
That must be why Paul Anderson liked raw meat in his shakes
My figures “were” based on cooked meat being more
dense than its raw counter part. (The cooking process
removes fat + water.) My figures were incorrect!
Just checked Art Ulene’s “Book of Food Counts” - It
revealed that both cook and raw yield similar amounts
of protein, around 8 grams per ounce. My error falls
under the category called “long held misconceptions and
misinformation.” OOOPS! Good thing I don’t eat raw meat!
P.S. ko/horace : thanks for the input guys!
If you dont already have it, you have to order the Paul Anderson book from IRONMIND.com. This is a must read for anyone who is a strength junkie such as I am. The pictorials alone are worth the price of the book.
Is that Power by Paul or The Mightiest Minister?
The Mightiest Minister. Ive never seen the other one. Tell me if its good if you have it.