Grinding Meat for Burgers??

Retired RailRoader

I'm eyeing the grinder from Northern Tool.  As soon as it goes on sale again I'll jump on it.  It has great reviews.

Chrisc133, just be advised the grinder that Northern Tools sells is the Kitchener #12 which comes with carbon steel plates. The knife is stainless but the plates are not. The carbon plates rust very quickly so when cleaning them you must quickly dry them and put a coating of oil on them to prevent them for rusting. I used that grinder for years with good results. I did change the plates to stainless once I saw how quickly the carbon steel rusted.

chrisc133

Retired RailRoader said:

I'm eyeing the grinder from Northern Tool.  As soon as it goes on sale again I'll jump on it.  It has great reviews.

Chrisc133, just be advised the grinder that Northern Tools sells is the Kitchener #12 which comes with carbon steel plates. The knife is stainless but the plates are not. The carbon plates rust very quickly so when cleaning them you must quickly dry them and put a coating of oil on them to prevent them for rusting. I used that grinder for years with good results. I did change the plates to stainless once I saw how quickly the carbon steel rusted.  

Thanks for the heads up.  Where can I find the stainless plates? 

jimithing

I have the Kitchenaid attachment and grind my own meat from time to time.  I like doing it but when I'm trying to get dinner on the table in the middle of a work/school week I don't have time to go through the whole grind process.  I've thought about grinding in bigger batches but obviously that means I'd end up freezing the meat.  I'm not sure I'm a fan of freezing my own hamburger meat when the Central Market by me grinds their own meat every day and I can just stop in and grab some real fast.

dmchicago

I also have the Kitchen Aid attachment. I use it to grind short ribs and mix that into store-bought ground chuck.

Great tasting burger.

I just took two out of the freezer for tonight!

Retired RailRoader

Thanks for the heads up.  Where can I find the stainless plates? 
For the Kitchener you want the 10/12 plates. The two places I buy all buy sausage seasonings, casings and equipment are: Sausagemaker.com Here are their plates http://www.sausagemaker.com/grinding-plastes-s/1910.htm And Lemproducts.com Here are their plates http://www.lemproducts.com/category/butcher-grinder-plates/2

dougcrann

For quite a while briskets were the least $$@pound at Cash & Carry. I would just remove the rock hard fat and grind the rest...add a pound of bacon. Made great burgers. But now the least $$@pound was tubes...but I prefer the brisket burgers 

500

How about a grinder like this?  A friend of mine has one.

westernbbq

Retired RailRoader said:

Grinding your own chop meat for burgers or everyday everyday use is the only way to go. Usually for everyday use I double grind chick roasts once through a coarse plate and then through a fine plate. For burgers I like to make what I call a steak burger. I start with a chuck roast and then grind what I have available. Usually I grind brisket and sirloin with the chuck. I do a double coarse grind as we like the texture that the coarse grind provides. As for a grinder I started out with the KitchenAid attachment. I found it just OK and quickly moved onto a Kitchenair #12 grinder. I used that for several years before moving onto a LEM #12 BigBite grinder. While the LEM is costly it's one beast of a machine. Here is a batch of steak burgers that I made recently using chuck, 45 dry aged RibEye trimmings and brisket. 

Here is the LEM grinder
Chunks of chuck, brisket and RibEye ready for grinding
This is the 1st grind
And after the 2nd grind. 
The meat all portioned out and made intLEMburgers with a couple of 1lb. bundles for tacos. Most were vacuumed sealed for later eats but I did cook some for dinner.
Cooked and ready to eat. YUM!!!

RRR,  those burgers are perfectly sized and shaped.   Nicely done.   That LEM grinder is the same one i got and while it is spendy, it was less expensive than a boat or set of golf clubs and it has saved my family money.  We buy meat in bulk from Sysco or REst Depot, or when it is on sale at grocery store.    We then  grind up our own meat for sausage, burgers, meatloaf, meatballs, brats, etc.    Everyone loves the food so much that our restaurant budget has gone down by 75 to 80 percent.  We spent more on initial equipment cost and ongoing cost of meat, spices, charcoal, etc. But i think we are way ahead in the long run on cost savings from not spending money at restaurants.     I also noticed some things at restaurants that i prefer not to have, like inferior quality meat, or poorly cooked sausage etc.  A prime NY steak from Costco is $15. As a pack of 3 is about $45.   A prime NY steak at high end steak joint is minimum $50.   And i make it better at home.   The food we make at home is much better than what we get from some pretty good restaurants.   The BGE has started this whole concept and the family loves it.  As my kids get older and they want to hangwiththeir buddies, i can feed them all excellent food at home as opposed to ordering fast food all the time.  Plus i get to keep an eye on them.  My older son turns 12 this year and he is at that age where friends are super important.  Well when you feed them, they hang around and stay out of trouble.    

Retired RailRoader

Nicely said sir

chrisc133

@westernbbq should you always grind twice?  I'm new to this and mostly grind to make burgers.  I've had nothing but trouble with my kitchenaid attachment getting stopped up...even when partially freezing the meat.  Should I grind first to a larger consistency and then to a smaller?

jimithing

chrisc133 said:

@westernbbq should you always grind twice?  I'm new to this and mostly grind to make burgers.  I've had nothing but trouble with my kitchenaid attachment getting stopped up...even when partially freezing the meat.  Should I grind first to a larger consistency and then to a smaller?

I'm not grinding expert but I'll give you my 2 cents - regarding grinding twice I think it's about texture and holding the meat together.  I've found that only grinding once leads to the meat falling apart more and the texture just isn't right to me.

Regarding your attachment getting stopped up - I've never had that problem with my kitchenaid.  How big of cubes are you putting in there?  I'd probably aim for 1" cubes.  And make sure your mixer is running on high enough speed so it has enough power to push the meat through the grinder.  And what kind of meat are you using?  Chuck?  Make sure any pieces of really hard fat are trimmed off, those aren't any good even if they make it through the grinder.  They aren't going to render at all when cooked.

Retired RailRoader

chrisc133 said:

@westernbbq should you always grind twice?  I'm new to this and mostly grind to make burgers.  I've had nothing but trouble with my kitchenaid attachment getting stopped up...even when partially freezing the meat.  Should I grind first to a larger consistency and then to a smaller?

A 2nd grind is subjective, it's whatever you like. I like the texture of a 2nd grind. Your 1st grind in any grinder the meat should be partially frozen and done with the larger plate. The 2nd grind is where the KitchenAid and Kitchener both fall short since there is nothing to grab the meat and push it forward in both grinders. That's why you resort to stomping the meat into the hopper. The best way I found for both of those grinders is try to slowly feed the ground meat into the hopper a little at a time. Once you need to start stomping your going to have a rough time of it. Remember with all grinders the grind head should be very cold. I put my head in the refrigerator overnight just so in can start first thing in the morning. Then for the second grind depending on how much I'm grinding (20+ lbs.) I'll put the head in the fridge for an hour or if I'm doing a smaller amount then I just do the 2nd grind right away. RRP I think is using this ice pack from Cabela's and I think he likes it. http://www.cabelas.com/product/CABELAS-COMM-GRADE-GRINDER-COOL-TEK-PACK/2201915.uts I have no experience with it so I can not comment on it.

chrisc133

jimithing said:

chrisc133 said:

@westernbbq should you always grind twice?  I'm new to this and mostly grind to make burgers.  I've had nothing but trouble with my kitchenaid attachment getting stopped up...even when partially freezing the meat.  Should I grind first to a larger consistency and then to a smaller?

I'm not grinding expert but I'll give you my 2 cents - regarding grinding twice I think it's about texture and holding the meat together.  I've found that only grinding once leads to the meat falling apart more and the texture just isn't right to me.

Regarding your attachment getting stopped up - I've never had that problem with my kitchenaid.  How big of cubes are you putting in there?  I'd probably aim for 1" cubes.  And make sure your mixer is running on high enough speed so it has enough power to push the meat through the grinder.  And what kind of meat are you using?  Chuck?  Make sure any pieces of really hard fat are trimmed off, those aren't any good even if they make it through the grinder.  They aren't going to render at all when cooked.

I recently tried the kitchenaid with chunks of pork picnic for ground pork burgers....it was partially frozen, and cut into small chunks.  My problem was the fat and silverskin would heat up and completely get wrapped around the blade and stopped up in the holes.  I almost tossed it then and there...but I finished everything off in the food processor...which resulted in a poor texture.

Is there an affordable grinder that you guys recommend?

J-dubya

^ are you putting the grinder itself in the freezer (as well as the meat)?

chrisc133

J-dubya said:

^ are you putting the grinder itself in the freezer (as well as the meat)?

No I was just putting the meat in

J-dubya

Try freezing all the grinding components as well, it helps a lot  IME 

lkapigian

I bought one @ Harbor Freight for $54.00....Certainly not an LEM but for an entry level it works great...No complaints and it plows through everything I have given it with no issues

chrisc133

Wow...that one is $44 bucks with the harbor fright super coupon. 

Any other experiences with this machine?

jtcBoynton

500 said:

How about a grinder like this?  A friend of mine has one.

I still have one.  Was my mother's - I remember grinding up items in it when I was a kid (a long time ago).  They work, but electric is so much easier.

lkapigian

chrisc133 said:

Wow...that one is $44 bucks with the harbor fright super coupon. 

Any other experiences with this machine?

Been stuffing sausage with it, but if your doing more than 5-10 pounds you need a dedicated stuffer. A few pounds of sausage, no issues....add a couple of dollars for the walk in and exchange warranty if you have any issues.

shtgunal3

lkapigian said:

I bought one @ Harbor Freight for $54.00....Certainly not an LEM but for an entry level it works great...No complaints and it plows through everything I have given it with no issues

I bought this one too. Not bad for a cheap grinder. I've been using it for a couple years now. I would love to upgrade. This is a good/cheap choice to use to decide if you want to continue to grind your own meat.

westernbbq

chrisc133 said:

@westernbbq should you always grind twice?  I'm new to this and mostly grind to make burgers.  I've had nothing but trouble with my kitchenaid attachment getting stopped up...even when partially freezing the meat.  Should I grind first to a larger consistency and then to a smaller?

I don't think I've ever done a 2nd grind.  I read a lot about this - one school of thought is that the second grind makes sure the meat is completely ground properly, the other school feels that once is enough so that you don't overprocess your meat- unless you want to make it like a paste.

I started out with a kitchenaid a couple of years back and while it was great for small batches, the sinew on the shoulder was too much do deal with- it constantly wrapped around the blade and I spent more time cleaning the dang thing than actual grinding, and I didn't want to take the time to remove all the sinew from the meat prior to grinding.  way too much for my lazy you know what.

so, I did research and found the BIG BITE was the way to go.  I'd even like to get a LEM hand grinder and go old school just to prove to myself that I can do it.  But the big bite #12 is money.  I also got a 5 LB and then a 15 LB canister style piston driven sausage stuffer which really makes the process of making sausage that much more enjoyable. 

On the burger front, I am not sophisticated enough to tell chuck from sirloin or short rib from brisket.  But, what I did learn is that buying meat on sale, using brisket fat trimmings from packer cooks has resulted in burgers better than any preground store bought hamburger I've ever gotten.

Grind on, Stuff on, and most of all EGG ON!

kl8ton

One of my favorite shows of all time:

chrisc133

westernbbq said:

chrisc133 said:

@westernbbq should you always grind twice?  I'm new to this and mostly grind to make burgers.  I've had nothing but trouble with my kitchenaid attachment getting stopped up...even when partially freezing the meat.  Should I grind first to a larger consistency and then to a smaller?

I don't think I've ever done a 2nd grind.  I read a lot about this - one school of thought is that the second grind makes sure the meat is completely ground properly, the other school feels that once is enough so that you don't overprocess your meat- unless you want to make it like a paste.

I started out with a kitchenaid a couple of years back and while it was great for small batches, the sinew on the shoulder was too much do deal with- it constantly wrapped around the blade and I spent more time cleaning the dang thing than actual grinding, and I didn't want to take the time to remove all the sinew from the meat prior to grinding.  way too much for my lazy you know what.

so, I did research and found the BIG BITE was the way to go.  I'd even like to get a LEM hand grinder and go old school just to prove to myself that I can do it.  But the big bite #12 is money.  I also got a 5 LB and then a 15 LB canister style piston driven sausage stuffer which really makes the process of making sausage that much more enjoyable. 

On the burger front, I am not sophisticated enough to tell chuck from sirloin or short rib from brisket.  But, what I did learn is that buying meat on sale, using brisket fat trimmings from packer cooks has resulted in burgers better than any preground store bought hamburger I've ever gotten.

Grind on, Stuff on, and most of all EGG ON!

Thanks @westernbbq

I'm going to take a look at the LEM grinders.  I experience the same problems with the kitchenaid as you describe.  I could sink another $130 bucks or so into something cheap that I won't be happy with...or spend a little more for something that will last me a lifetime.

I just spent $300 on a globe slicer...and I find that I need to grind meat as often as I need to slice...so I'm leaning towards getting a legit one.

MelSharples

Kitchenaid grinder here, use it to do 3-4 pounds at a time. I usually do a mix of short rib, brisket, and whatever steak cuts I have in the freezer. I have a lot of meat in the freezer (perks of my job) so I like to experiment with different cuts. I have found that mixing a tougher cut with a steak cut yields the best results.

Capt7383

Any one ever grind up a corned beef brisket for burgers

westernbbq

A buddy of mine got the harbor freight unit and he loves it, no issues.  I hadnt used it yet but will feel like an idiot (wont be the first time...) if it handles similarly to the LEM.   The lem was 450 but between the amazon prime deal, credit card points, a promo going on from lem at the time, i think i am into it for less than 370.  Plus prime got free shipping

Wife hates harbor freight as whenever poppa goes there he comes home with too much stuff!

theyolksonyou

I bought this on for about $60 I think. So far, so good for light use. 

chrisc133

westernbbq said:

A buddy of mine got the harbor freight unit and he loves it, no issues.  I hadnt used it yet but will feel like an idiot (wont be the first time...) if it handles similarly to the LEM.   The lem was 450 but between the amazon prime deal, credit card points, a promo going on from lem at the time, i think i am into it for less than 370.  Plus prime got free shipping

Wife hates harbor freight as whenever poppa goes there he comes home with too much stuff!

What was the Amazon prime deal?

westernbbq

A got a gift card and with amex points got either amazon prime bonus points or amex plus prime membership enrollment ended saving about 60 or so extra bucks as i recall.  I think it had something to do with buying an amazon gift card for 1000 and getting it for 5 % off if it was purchased with an amex card.  Then siging up for prime membership amd using amazon gift card got an extra ten bucks off.   All of this combined with lem promo and  amazon free shipping resulted in me being pretty happy with the results.