Having the right equipment in your kitchen can go a long way in helping you make the meals you love seamlessly. You’ll definitely benefit a lot from having a meat grinder. However, it’s not just about buying this equipment but also knowing how to use a meat grinder. This guide has everything you need to know about the meat grinder including how it works, how to use it to grind beef and chicken, and other amazing meals you can get out of a meat grinder in your home.
What is a meat grinder, and how does it work?
Meat grinders can either be a manual grinder or an electric grinder. These are machines that have a tray or hopper for moving meat through the grinding plates easily. The result is a finely minced beef which is perfectly mixed with ingredients. So, what’s the difference between the manual grinder and the electric grinder?
The manual grinder usually has a hand crank used for operating the machine. However, the electric grinder has an internal motor that powers the grinding action of the machine through the stand mixer attachment.
Meat grinders are great for mincing and grinding meat. However, they also work for a wide variety of ingredients, ranging from vegetarian diets like falafel to spiced lamb meatballs. With a few accessories, you can also strain fruit to make purees. It doesn’t have a complex working mechanism either.
So, how does a meat grinder work? Start by placing the food in the feeding tray and push it down the auger using a plunger. There is a rotating cutting knife in place to slice the food into several small pieces as it is pushed forward. Then, these small pieces of food move towards the grinder plate for various degrees of grinding depending on your preferences.
When this is done, the ground food comes out through the other end of the casing. And that’s it! When shopping for a meat grinder, you should make sure that it would work for the types of food you wish to grind. For beef, you need a meat grinder with a large auger. However, smaller auger works great for other types of meat, including poultry. Look out for the size holes on the grinder plate too as these will determine how fine or coarse your ground meat will be.
How do you make ground beef with a meat grinder?
There are so many uses for ground beef in meals and that’s what makes the meat grinder so important in your home. You can spice up your meatloaf, burgers and even spaghetti Bolognese with some ground beef. Here’s how to make ground beef with a meat grinder:
• The first step is to choose the right cut of beef for your meal. Although this depends a lot on your preferences, one of the best choices out there is chuck since it’s filled with so much flavor and has just the right amount of fat and lean meat for a healthy meal. Make sure it’s chilled before grinding.
• Next, slice the beef into smaller pieces that will be just right for the opening of your meat grinder. If you want ground coarse beef, you should insert thicker pieces into the meat grinder which will take a while to grind. However, you can get a finer ground beef when you use softer pieces.
• By this time, you should have your meat grinder already assembled and cleaned properly, with all the necessary parts attached as directed by the manufacturer. Usually, this should take only a few minutes to complete. Then, turn it on.
• If this is an electric grinder, it will have a hopper at the top for loading the meat into the machine. Guide the meat through the meat grinder with the pusher steadily until all the ground beef is on the other side of the grinder and out into a bowl.
Now your ground beef is ready for use. Don’t forget to clean the meat grinder thoroughly as soon as you’re done, preferably with hot soapy water.
How do you grind chicken with a meat grinder?
With ground chicken, you can have a delicious plate of dishes like burgers and meatballs with a unique twist. Similar to ground beef, your chicken should be chilled for about 40 minutes before the grinding process. Before cutting the chicken into tiny strips or cubes, remove any bones, ligaments or tendons left. The goal here is to make sure that the pieces can fit easily into the feed tube in your meat grinder.
Place your bowl underneath the grinder, place your sliced or cubed chicken on the tray of your meat grinder and allow the chicken to move towards the feed tube slowly. If necessary, use the pusher to make this process as seamless as possible. The result should be freshly ground chicken that will prepare any delicacy of your choice.
Ideas For Using A Meat Grinder
The beautiful thing about grinding your meat is that it gives you the freedom to make dishes that fit your taste buds, and a meat grinder can help you get a vast amount of ingredients ready for this. Instead of getting a food processor or food mill, a meat grinder can come in handy for even hard cheese like gruyere. Also, this machine is great for veggies like onions, peppers and cucumbers. There’s just so many meals to prepare and here are a few ideas for using a meat grinder.
1. Fresh sausage
Do you know you can make homemade bangers and mash easily when you have a meat grinder? All you need is the food grinder attachment in the machine for the perfect blend of pork backfat, pork and beef which will be used in your homemade meal. Be sure to have the Sausage Stuffer Attachment handy as this will help you to easily stuff your fresh sausage through the meat grinder. It may be another attachment, depending on the type of grinder you have.
2. Chicken thighs
One of the best way to get some grind chicken thighs to make delicious chicken meatballs is with a meat grinder. This also serves as a handy substitute for a low fat diet in your meatball recipe, when you use chicken instead of pork or beef. Slice the chicken thighs into pieces, place them in the meat grinder and you should have properly minced chicken thighs to prepare the perfect chicken meatballs recipe.
3. Potatoes
At first glance, it may seem like putting potatoes through a meat grinder may be a bad idea but your grinder can actually handle this. The meat grinder can be great for grinding garlic, butternut squash and potatoes which will make the perfect gnocchi.
VEVOR Meat Grinder Review
The VEVOR meat grinder is a portable meat grinding and mincing machine that provides exceptional performance. It helps you create fine or coarse beef for use in various kinds of instant meals. So, if you need a machine to help you make your own sausages and burgers with that extra benefit of handling your meat within a controlled environment, this meat grinder can come in very handy.
Features and performance
• Powerful 1100W motor: This meat grinder has an 1100W motor which can grind as much as 661lbs of meat per hour. This powerful motor makes the VEVOR meat grinder provide a steady level of operation during use.
• Large capacity meat tray: This large capacity meat tray is important because it gives you more than enough space on the meat grinder to place your meat before the grinding process. It provides an extra level of convenience while using the meat grinder in the kitchen.
• Two grinding plates: The VEVOR meat grinder comes with a 6mm grinding plate and 8mm grinding plate for fine or coarse grinding. This gives you multiple options with the freedom to determine just how much grinding you want your meat to take.
• Sausage kit: The fitted sausage kit is available to make various kinds of delicious sausages including bratwurst.
• Multifunctional meat grinder: The VEVOR meat grinder comes with numerous functions including sausage filling and meat mincing. Apart from meat, you can use this machine to grind vegetables, chili, fish and so many other ingredients. Therefore, it’s great for commercial and residential purposes.
Pros
• Two grinding plates for fine and coarse ground beef
• Solid and durable stainless steel material
• Easy to install
• Effortless to clean thanks to the removable head
• Circuit breaker for extra maintenance of the motor
With a meat grinder, you can easily make ground beef in the comfort of your own home without worrying about the safety of your meat being compromised. You can easily control the quality of your meat and set the grinding to your preferred level, so you always end up with a tasty and fresh beef on the other side of the grinder.
