WARNING: ground beef is NOT gluten-free

Lasagna, tacos, hamburgers, chili . . . ground beef is an absolute staple in many of our favorite foods. However, months after I had started my gluten-free diet in China, I was still having issues. The culprit? Store bought ground beef. After talking to the butchers at the grocery store, I discovered that they "clean" their meat grinders by running a few slices of bread through it at the end of the day. A fantastic time-saving solution for them, but unfortunately a big cross-contamination disaster.

The solution? Grind your own beef. Meat grinders are very cheap to purchase and simple to use. Then, you buy a slab of beef, cut it into approximately 2 inch square pieces, and feed it through the grinder. This option also lets you choose what quality of beef you want (I usually ask for whatever cut has the least amount of fat). Rather than using bread, I recommend simply washing the meat grinder immediately after use, to avoid raw meat getting dried on to all those moving parts. Ground spices are also affected by this practice. Click here to read more.