Grinding your own meat

iudex

I knew while writing that my topic name was a bit funky, but decided to stick with it  .

I bought a manual meat grinder today. 55% off an established brand was too good to pass by.

Apart from recipes, are there any general guidelines I should keep in mind (mostly cleaning, and general usage)?
I would initially use it to make hamburgers and 'steak tartare' (if this is the correct wording in the US as well).

Would go down the sausage road after that (no nasty pun intended ).

Thanks!

johnmitchell

😎

SGH

iudex said:

Apart from recipes, are there any general guidelines I should keep in mind (mostly cleaning, and general usage)?

Keep your meat and the grinder cold for best results. 

Botch

When you're done grinding the meat, I've found that dropping a slice of bread into the grinder, and sending that thru, makes cleanup a lot easier.  

nolaegghead

Doing it by hand is much more satisfying than paying a professional and with better results if you do it right.

EggNorth

As stated above, freeze meat and any pieces that touch meat before.   Then accept that you will have the best burgers ever.

Photo Egg

Use a die large enough so don’t have a pile of mush coming out the grinder.
You can always do a second grind if needed.

Carolina Q

I use a food processor. Pulse til it's to your liking. Careful, it can happen quickly.

RRP

To me your key word was “manual”. Back before I bought the grinder attachment for my KitchenAid I used a manual grinder. What worked best for me was only grinding small quantities - just enough for say one meal. Otherwise trying to grind say even 10 pounds of meat can wear a guy out! 

So what I would do for instance was still buy chuck roasts when they were on sale and then divide the raw meat into 1, or 2 pound or whatever sizes then FoodSaver and freeze them. So when partially thawed I could grind a nice small batch and not get worn out!

Now I will grind 10, 15 to 25 pounds at a time, and still package and freeze the ground results…but my advice is don’t try grinding 10 or 15 pounds with your manual grinder!

iudex

Thank you, everyone. Great advise, seems like I am good to go. 

Should I just cool the grinder in the fridge or do you guys put it in the freezer as well? There is suprisingly little information on that.

lkapigian

Time to start making Sausage/salami

i put mine in the fridge, which if your meat is super fresh is not necessary…freezer, meat tends to stick much like the kids tongue to the pipe  on A Christmas Story 

nolaegghead

No way I'm putting my meat in the freezer.

JohnInCarolina

nolaegghead said:

No way I'm putting my meat in the freezer.

Afraid of shrinkage?

nolaegghead

JohnInCarolina said:

nolaegghead said:

No way I'm putting my meat in the freezer.

Afraid of shrinkage?

Yes, can't grind with shrinkage.  That's grinding 101.

Going back to the original post (OP), steak tartare should be diced with a sharp knife.

Hansm

My local Butcher, yes a real Butcher shop told me that if I wanted to tar tar to order the day before. This way the machines are clean and they do a center cut 1st thing in the morning. The inner flesh is sterile

nolaegghead

Hansm said:

My local Butcher, yes a real Butcher shop told me that if I wanted to tar tar to order the day before. This way the machines are clean and they do a center cut 1st thing in the morning. The inner flesh is sterile

If I'm concerned about bacteria on the outside I'll douse the meat in distilled vinegar for a minute, then rinse off.

Griffin

throw your grinder and the cubed up meat in the freezer for 30 minutes before grinding

iudex

nolaegghead said:

JohnInCarolina said:

nolaegghead said:

No way I'm putting my meat in the freezer.

Afraid of shrinkage?

Yes, can't grind with shrinkage.  That's grinding 101.

Going back to the original post (OP), steak tartare should be diced with a sharp knife.

This is something I knew, but will second for everyone else .

iudex

Griffin said:

throw your grinder and the cubed up meat in the freezer for 30 minutes before grinding

Will try this out, seems right (following the other comments) to not deep freeze everything.

Let alone, one's own meat

Canugghead

We bought a French made Moulinex dedicated meat grinder about 35 years ago. Almost always grind our own in bulk and chamber seal 1/2 and 1 lb pouches to freeze. We control what goes in. Agree with @Griffin , freeze cubed up meat and equipment 30 min pregrind.

buzd504

I like to get a whole brisket and grind and package the flat, and then smoke the point for chili.

JohnInCarolina

buzd504 said:

I like to get a whole brisket and grind and package the flat, and then smoke the point for chili.

Just don’t tell @lousubcap about this!

bradleya123

Perfect timing!  Momma just got a high fluent fancy dancy KitchenAid with a grinder attachment!  I'ma learning about grinding my own meat and making sausage!   

ValleyGirl

I like my KitchenAid grinder attachment, I live alone so have no need for large amounts of gound beef/pork.  I don't make sausages but grind the pork for recipes that call for sausages and add the seasonings, works well for me.  I do cool all the attachments in the fridge before I start and keep all surfaces clean.  

buzd504

JohnInCarolina said:

buzd504 said:

I like to get a whole brisket and grind and package the flat, and then smoke the point for chili.

Just don’t tell @lousubcap about this!

He can cry all he wants - at 2.99/lb, it's cheaper and better than buying ground meat at the store, and I get a lovely bowl of beans along with it.

ValleyGirl

Maybe a little anal, but have learned thru experience!!

SGH

ValleyGirl said:

Maybe a little anal 

Nothing wrong with that 👍

Botch

bradleya123 said:

Perfect timing!  Momma just got a high fluent fancy dancy KitchenAid with a grinder attachment!  I'ma learning about grinding my own meat and making sausage!   

From my experience, the KA attachment works great for grinding but not for stuffing; I eventually got a Lehm (?) stuffing machine.  

fiber_induced_deuce

ValleyGirl said:

Maybe a little anal, but have learned thru experience!!

SGH said:

ValleyGirl said:

Maybe a little anal 

Nothing wrong with that 👍

I had to do a double take and make sure this wasn’t the WAYDRN thread.  That would have been devastating.

caliking

Botch said:

bradleya123 said:

Perfect timing!  Momma just got a high fluent fancy dancy KitchenAid with a grinder attachment!  I'ma learning about grinding my own meat and making sausage!   

From my experience, the KA attachment works great for grinding but not for stuffing; I eventually got a Lehm (?) stuffing machine.  

“Agree”. I tried stuffing about 20 lbs of sausage last year, and hated myself when I was only halfway done. Put everything in the fridge and bought a stuffer  the next day. Made a world of a difference. 

caliking

The KA grinder attachment is decent for small batches. There are a number of all- metal grinder attachments available, that do a better job.