Hamburger Meat and aging steak

Very low on the learning curve on some aspects of B-B-Qing and have 2 intitial questions.

I have been trying to grind my own meat to make hamburrger and wondering if other do this and if so what type of meet do they think grinds the best burgers. I have tried some chuck cuts and some sirloin, and my sirloin tends to be a bit dry (I am sure fat content has something to do with this).

Second, I know expensive steakhouses age their steaks up to 3 weeks in special coolers. Does anyone have a home version of how to age steak? Would a vacuum sealer be a usefull item to use in aging steak? How long do people age the beef for? Do some cuts of beef lend themselves to aging and some you should not age?

Thanks for any insight.

Love the books so far, have the Bible and the Rubs and Sauces book for about 2 weeks.

Matt

1) Yet another Alton Brown method. Use a food processor to grind meat. 10 pulses is good. Ask the butcher for some fat trimmings and tell him you are going to use them for grinding. As long as your butcher isn't a 19 year old kid who doesn't know anything he will likely give you some.
2) If you age your meat you need to make sure there are two things happening. First there need to be air space around the meat. Second there needs to be drainage. One way to do this is to place a piece of tupperware that has holes poked in it upside down in a larger piece of tupperware and place steak on that. You should home age steak in the fridge for no more than a week. My local market (Cental Market) ages all their beef on site, so I don't have to.

Luke, you mention Alton Brown. I am a huge fan of AB's and find the information he spews in 30 mins insanely useful. I started taping his shows until my family catches on and thinks to buy me the DVDs. I just saw he has a new kitchen gadget book, way cool. I know this is a pointless post but it gave me a chance to throw a cheer out to AB. Hurray!

Good Travels
George

No Way! New book, where can I get one.. I need one... can I have one now... (Editors Note: Mr. Navarro has been sedated, we apologize for any trouble he may have caused.)

Where do Alton Brown's show air? Food Network, PBS? Any helpwould be appreciated!

I watch it on the Food Network. I also check the www.altonbrown.com web site often for book signing updates and other tid bits. Great show for sure. You can also get the info on the TWO new books AB has on www.foodnetwork.com. One is ready while the other is a preorder for 9/03.

I hope Food Network picks up Steves show. They have done pieces on him but, now it's time to air his shows.

George