meat grinding technique

[seattlepitboss]

I have a KitchenAid mixer attachment, the meat grinder. I use it to grind all kinds of meat. When I grind raw meat with it I have often gotten splatters of blood or juice all around the machine, necessitating laborious cleanup. The other day, though, I had to grind some pork and I had a little piece of shoulder in the freezer. I took it out and let it thaw a few hours. Still nowhere near thawed, I hacked it into chunks so the extra surface area would help it thaw quicker.

I decided to try grinding it still a bit frozen. Guess what? No spatter at all! The same recipe called for ground beef too. I had some nice beef chunks I'd previously frozen and thawed, and they were looking mighty juicy and splattery. So I layed them out on a cookie sheet and stuck them in the freezer until they were about half frozen and ground them. Again, no mess at all!

So if you've had trouble with messy meat grinding, try slightly freezing the chunks before grinding. Worked for me!

[Smoothsmoke]

Glad you found out about this tip. I always recommend grinding meat partially frozen. As the grinder will heat up the meat and you always want to practice good food safety.

[Norm]

Good advice!

I have a tor-rey grinder that is all metal and I'll put the grinder parts in the freezer an hour or so before starting. Then I slice the meat into strips and partially freeze it. Makes a big difference in the grind quality.

[AUradar]

I think the meat grinder instructions say to use partially frozen meat.

I have hte kitchen aid as well as a larger grinder. I've read that in some instrustions, but can't remember which ones.

[Zippylip]

another good method (if working with meat right out of the fridge) is to drape a small piece of plastic wrap around the end of the grinder. It contains all the splatter very well & doesn't disrupt the process

[bover]

Just make sure the meat isn't too frozen. I nearly burned up the motor in my Kitchenaid one time because of that.

[gtr]

I like the meat to be almost frozen and I use metal bowls that have been sitting in the freezer for holding the meat that is to be ground as well as the meat that has been ground. Ground meat is where you run the risk of nasties sprouting and it's good to keep everything cold while grinding meat, making sausage, etc.

[wnkt]

Just about all the directions for sausage making includes partially freezing the meat before grinding

[boatnut]

Originally Posted by Norm

Good advice!

I have a tor-rey grinder that is all metal and I'll put the grinder parts in the freezer an hour or so before starting. Then I slice the meat into strips and partially freeze it. Makes a big difference in the grind quality.

x 2 I always put grinder parts in freezer for half hour and partially freeze cut up meat. grinds easier and keeps it cool without fear of spoilage etc.