Many different kinds of meat can be used for hamburgers. If ox meat is used, it is much better passed through the grinder twice. Even beef can be very tough if it is unfattened meat from the range. Certainly wild meats would be better if ground twice. Unless you are on a special diet, lean meat should have a small amount of fat added, to make the hamburger juicier. If you are grinding the meat at home, it is easier to grind if it is chilled a few hours, since many foreign markets sell meat that is very recently butchered. Two of the best cuts are probably chuck and round, chuck is meat taken from the shoulder of the beef and round is taken from the top of the rear leg.

Once the meat is ground, it should not be kept without freezing for more than 2 days. Better to use it the first day and then make up extra into patties and freeze them.