Know which ground meat is best for recipe

Let's face it, when it comes to ground meat, fat adds flavor. But cutting fat doesn't have to condemn a dish to tastelessness.

Preserving the rich and savory notes in light versions of traditionally fatty dishes is all a matter of knowing which meat is best for a given recipe and how to prepare it.

First, what to buy. And to know that, a primer in reading labels is called for.

For meat and poultry to be labeled "lean," the U.S. Department of Agriculture says it must contain 10 grams of fat (4 1/2 grams saturated) or less per 4-ounce serving. For "extra-lean," the standard is 5 grams of fat (2 grams saturated) or less per serving.

But don't be misled by those labels. Neither meets the federal definition of a low-fat food, which is 3 grams of fat or less per serving.

Fat percentages also can be misleading. Ground beef labeled "90 percent lean" sounds low in fat, but actually packs more than 11 grams of fat per serving. And "95 percent lean" has 6 grams per serving.

Appearance doesn't help, either. An absence of white flecks doesn't mean a ground meat is low in fat. Especially in red meat, most of the fat is hidden in the muscle tissue itself.

So what to buy? Generally, the leaner the better. Ground turkey breast can have less than 1 gram of fat per serving. But it will be dry, so it is best used in recipes that have plenty of other moisture, such as a meatloaf.

For hamburgers and other recipes where the meat provides the moisture, 85 percent lean meat tastes best but has 17 grams of fat per serving. To make that palatable for a healthy diet, consider blending meats.

A fatty ground beef could be mixed with low-fat ground turkey to create flavorful and moist burgers with far less fat than all-beef burgers.

Or consider combining fattier meats with fillers such as bread crumbs, couscous or prepared bulgur (the cracked wheat found in tabbouleh). In general, it's best not to add more than one-third filler or the patties can fall apart during cooking.

Now that you've got the meat, how do you prepare it? Of course this varies by the recipe, but many dishes calling for ground meat call for browning it in a skillet. This is a good opportunity to cut the fat.

A study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that draining the fat from the skillet after the meat has cooked, then rinsing the meat under hot water cut the fat content of beef by as much as half.