Anyone here grind their own meats? I do not hunt anymore, but I would like to tinker with buying good cuts to make fantastic burgers! Also, packaged ground beef/pork can be questionable. Also, it seems that meat grinders can be had on the cheap via Amazon or wherever online. Any recommendations?
Oh, and SAUSAGES!!!
Grinding the Meat
- Canelek
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Grinding the Meat
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- Psyloche
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Re: Grinding the Meat
I don't do it normally, but have at a friend's house because we wanted to try doing exactly what you said (good cuts ground into burgers); plus watching the meat come out all ground up was somewhat fascinating. We used one of these to grind the meat and it turned out pretty well. I enjoyed the burger but haven't bothered doing it again since because 1) I don't have the grinder, he does and 2) it was expensive meats for burgers!
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Re: Grinding the Meat
I think I will wait until I have a good stand mixer and then reconsider. It seemed like a super idea yesterday! However, aside from making awesome burgers and chilli-meat, I really would not use it often enough. Plus we are trying to save money and it is hard to justify grinding 20 bucks worth of steaks for burgers! I think if I really feel like it, I'll just pulse some steak in the food processor.
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- Aabidano
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Re: Grinding the Meat
If you're not doing much or often, just snag a hand cranked grinder at a flea market or whatever.
I've got one that was my grandmothers, works great as long as you aren't doing a lot.
I've got one that was my grandmothers, works great as long as you aren't doing a lot.
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- Drolgin Steingrinder
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Re: Grinding the Meat
I have a grinder attachment for my mixer and I've used it for making fresh sausages and burgermeats a few times. The main annoyance is that I don't have a dishwasher, those grinders are a pain in the ass to clean!
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Re: Grinding the Meat
Grinderparts --> Hand clean, thoroughly dry + protective oil. If I remember correctly, those fuckers will oxidize quickly so I imagine the dishwasher is out.
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- Xatrei
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Re: Grinding the Meat
I've got the grinder attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer, as well as an ancient hand-cranked one that belonged to my great-grandmother. I actually prefer the hand-cranked one to the mixer's for anything that I'm grinding lose. If it's going in a casing, the mixer's attachment is good because you can extrude straight into the casing. I would think you can pick up a hand-cranked one pretty cheap.
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Re: Grinding the Meat
Agree with many of the comments above.
Cane - as you know I'm an avid hunter, and I grind probably 100-200 lbs of burger each year (between what I harvest, and my brothers / father as they don't have a good grinder so I grind their meat for them as well).
The hand cranks are cheap, and you can often find them at garage sales / flea markets for less than 5 bucks. These are great for just wanting to do it for a couple of burgers or whatever, but do get tiring if you are doing large amounts as you would expect.
I also have the kitchen aid with the attachment - and I absolutely love it. It seems some people don't care for it, but imho - it works fantastic. But also as Drolgin stated - if you don't have a dish washer it's a pain to clean up as any grinder is. The new ones are all dish washer safe, so there is no worry about oxidation etc - it's only the older ones I believe.
I've washed mine in the dishwasher for the past 5 years - repeatedly, and it still looks brand new.
I have also used some of the weaker electric grinders you see at cabelas etc, and they just don't have the "oomph" to get it done - I have yet to find one that will do as well as the kitchen aid - but I also have not tried any of the professional grade ones which I am sure are much better.
Hope that helps.
Canoe
Cane - as you know I'm an avid hunter, and I grind probably 100-200 lbs of burger each year (between what I harvest, and my brothers / father as they don't have a good grinder so I grind their meat for them as well).
The hand cranks are cheap, and you can often find them at garage sales / flea markets for less than 5 bucks. These are great for just wanting to do it for a couple of burgers or whatever, but do get tiring if you are doing large amounts as you would expect.
I also have the kitchen aid with the attachment - and I absolutely love it. It seems some people don't care for it, but imho - it works fantastic. But also as Drolgin stated - if you don't have a dish washer it's a pain to clean up as any grinder is. The new ones are all dish washer safe, so there is no worry about oxidation etc - it's only the older ones I believe.
I've washed mine in the dishwasher for the past 5 years - repeatedly, and it still looks brand new.
I have also used some of the weaker electric grinders you see at cabelas etc, and they just don't have the "oomph" to get it done - I have yet to find one that will do as well as the kitchen aid - but I also have not tried any of the professional grade ones which I am sure are much better.
Hope that helps.
Canoe
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Re: Grinding the Meat
I think that clears a lot up. Thanks bud!
Now, to justify the Kitchen Aid purchase....luckily my girlfriend can bake, because that is one culinary skill I have yet to spend much time on!
Now, to justify the Kitchen Aid purchase....luckily my girlfriend can bake, because that is one culinary skill I have yet to spend much time on!
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- Aabidano
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Re: Grinding the Meat
Borrowed a friends commercial grinder, it was great for large batches, grinding multiple deer at once, making a lot of sausage, etc...Canoe wrote:but I also have not tried any of the professional grade ones which I am sure are much better.
Actually was a pain for small batches, powerful enough to spit meat across the room if you aren't feeding it right.
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