KitchenAid Food Grinder: Input Wanted

Buxwheat · April 2009

Since I already have a KitchenAid mixer, but no food grinder, I was wondering about everyone's opinion/experience w/ the attachment. It costs less than $50, so I figure how good can it be? On the other hand, buying a dedicated grinder would set me back much more. I plan on using it to make burger rather than paying the grocery store meat market to do what I can do and for grinding pork/veal mixtures that are not always available at the store. The description says it comes w/ both coarse and fine grinders: How coarse is their coarse: as big as the coarse grind from the store (chili size grind)? I read the post on "Bricon" burgers the other day and thought I could save some $$$ on ground beef by doing it myself.

Unknown · April 2009

I have one; it works fine for smallish quantities, as long as the meats are icy cold. The plates will clog with connective tissue unless you scrupulously trim every bit away, and this tendency to clog increases as the friction heat builds up. You'll need to stop every 15 minutes or so and clean the blades & plates.

The coarse plate isn't as large as what my supermarket sells as chili grind, but it's pretty big. The small is fairly fine; I've used it for grinding pimento cheese.

fishlessman · April 2009

it grinds well enough to use as long as your not making 50 pounds or so, you can grind up a butt quick enough. the plates are small, not a chili grind, the small plate is pretty useless unless your making hot dogs. one pass thru the larger plate is more like a double grind at the butcher

AZRP · April 2009

I used my KA grinder for years before buying a commercial grinder. I still use the KA for anything under 5 lbs. Its great for burgers, any flavor you are partial to like rib eye burgers, sirloin burgers, etc. It cleans up fast and is easy to use. -RP

Crimsongator · April 2009

I love mine, thanks to weekend warrior

Rascal · April 2009

I have one that I've yet to use. Holes in the coarse plate (for meat) are 1/4" dia. Someone mentioned that ground brisket makes for great burgers. Gotta give that a try...

vidalia1 · April 2009

I use mine a lot for 2-3 pounds of ground beef, pork, chicken, etc...you really can't beat it and it is a good price...

BeerBQ · April 2009

I bought it a couple of weeks ago and was very pleased with the coarse grind results. The small attachment is useless as my grind was mush. I put the meat in the freezer for a couple of hours and ground again using the coarse attachment and it came out perfect. I ground 4+ lbs of brisket with 1/2 lb bacon. Best burgers by far!

Buxwheat · April 2009

Thanks, all. I'll pick one up this weekend. Bed, Bath, and Beyond should have them and we always have their coupons.

stike · April 2009

i agree. the grinder is fine foe small batches, maybe up to 10 pounds. works best if you chill the cubed meat, too, before grinding it.

i also agree about the large die. i ground once through that, and then again through the small die, and the hamburger was too finely ground. almost emulsified feeling. once through the big grinder is good.

the stuffer attachment (which is nothing more than two different sized tubes), is pretty useless. takes a lot of effort to get a continuous fill-rate going. and there's so much effort working the stuffer and feeding it that the meat can warm up pretty quickly. i'm looking for a fairly inexpensive decent stuffer. the kitchenaid one isn't great. but as a grinder it's been fine.

thirdeye · April 2009

The day before I bought mine, I helped a guy grind a deer into burger. Not just the scraps....a whole deer minus the backstraps and the neck roast. I was sold. Back then they were only $35, but they are still a deal at $50.

Mine is at least 15 years old, and we have the smallest KitchenAid (motor wise) mixer. I only use the coarse plate, and only grind once even for my sausage. I prep the meat into strips rather than cubes, which lets it feed better, and chill before grinding. For timing, I allow 1 minute per pound. Even with a beer break, I can grind 50 pounds in an hour.

Clogging is only a factor if you try to run the motor at too high a speed (or if the meat is not chilled). The setting is different for beef and pork, but I want to say I use a 4 or 5 on my motor speed.

I would not recommend the stuffer they sell. If you are into that get a barrel type and you will be set.

Bricktucky · April 2009

Congrats on hitting 12000 posts. That is a lot of advice I've found extremely useful and pretty funny. Thank you for all the help you've given everyone.

KitchenAid Food Grinder: Input Wanted

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