How to Grind Your Own Meat – Barbeque Review

What you will need

Meat grinder–to cut, or grind up the meat.
Mixing bowl
Sausage stuffer –to help you put the meat mixture into the casings
Casings–to preserve the mixture
Meat grinder–to cut, or grind up the meat.
Meat tenderizer –to tighten your meat
Piece of bread –to make the meat easier to stuff into the casing
Sausage stuffer –to help you put the meat mixture into the casings
Smoking Gun–to dehydrate the casing.

A meat grinder or food processor

Is the secret to making your own yummy meatballs and hamburger patties.

Using the best meat grinding program avoids cross-contamination on meat.

In medical terms, cross contamination is when one food is mixed with another. Cross-contamination can happen when raw meat comes into contact with cooked meat. Eaten food that is cross contaminated- automatically becomes unsafe for consumption.

Many things can happen when foods are cross-contaminated: a wide variety of bacteria can infect the food, or the food can become the perfect breeding ground.

When grinding your own meat, you avoid these harmful health issues by practicing proper food safety.

For those who can stick to a pre-planned diet, eating the perfectly made hamburger or meatballs will be better than store-bought food. This is because some of these store-bought meats usually contain lots of additives and preservatives.

The good thing with grinding your own meat is that you can put in the meat of your choice and in quantities according to your dietary needs.

It is also easier to control what goes into your meat like giving more beef muscle (or poultry muscle) than fat, or adding spice or herbs to impart a certain flavor.

Meat grinders, whether mechanical or manual, are available in the market. Manual meat grinders have rotary blades.

A sharp knife

The lower the fat content in the meat, the better. Use the meat grinder for lean meats only. Fatty meats should be ground through a food processor.

Some meats are easier to grind than others.

How often your order your meat from the butcher will determine whether you think meat grinding is a fun hobby or the ultimate chore.

The process takes concentration. Don’t rush, watch your fingers, and try to follow the instructions exactly, or you could end up with a pile of mush. Or worse, with a trip to the emergency room.

The right type of meat for grinding

The key to a nutritious and flavorful nut meat is lean meat. The fattier the meat is, the tougher it will be to grind. If you’re too cheap to buy sirloin, then consider buying cuts of meat that are marked for grinding, such as chuck or round.

Here’s a quick tip to determine if your meat is lean: take a few frozen peas and drop them into a glass of water. If the peas sink to the bottom of the container and stay there, the meat is lean enough. If the peas float, the meat is too fatty and tough to grind.

It can also be a good idea to grind your own meat if you’re canning or freezing your meat. It’s less expensive to buy meat in bulk. You can then grind parts of the meat that you’ll never eat rather than throwing away whole meals. Can you imagine throwing away a perfectly good cooked chicken leg because the rest of the chicken is not good enough? It’s a waste of money.

How to grind your own meat: step by step

Grinding your own meat is fantastic for several reasons. First, grinding your own meat saves you money. Buying a pre-ground beef or chicken breast can often cost a dollar or two more than if you bought it by the pound in the butcher case. Cheaper yet, you can get the whole animal for an even better price and grind your own.

Grinding your own meat is also better for you. When you get your meat ground, it helps you to remember which steak you put into your burger. When you get your meat already ground, you have no way of knowing how the meat was handled, or where it comes from.

Grinding your own meat is also good for your health due to bacteria. Sold meat can contain a lot of bacteria. When you grind your own meat, you put it through a meat grinder which creates a big hole in the meat and you expose all of the surface area. You can see all of the meat, and you can see where it’s whole and where it’s not. So you know the entire piece so you can identify it and remember it’s there. It allows you to observe and know what’s in your meat and what’s not.

Chill your equipment

Before you start grinding beef, make sure your stuff is cooled to the right temperature. You don’t want your grinder to overheat or your meat to spoil because it’s too warm.

Chill your grinder and its blades in your fridge for about 15 to 30 minutes before you start grinding. This will make your work easier because your grinder will be less likely to jam. It helps when working with ground meat because it keeps it from sticking to the grinder.

Before you start grinding, it’s also recommended to chill your meat. While this is true it isn’t necessary with the boneless cuts of meat.

This is because you’re freezing the meat and grinding it all together. Even the little bits of fat on the meat will grind and mix with the meat and fat during the grinding process. You also reduce the chances of the grinder overheating when you grind all together.

If you’re using frozen meat, just spread it out on a large dinner plate. When you’re ready, you can start grinding.

Cut and prepare your meat

Basically, you need steak, pork or chicken. This is the animal that you want to use and it is completely your choice. For example, you might choose chicken, which might not be everyone’s first choice, but can give you the most cost-effective way to get your meals ready. Ultimately, you need to know exactly how you want it cut, as this is the key to how you should plan; the cut type, thickness and how it will be cooked after completion.

One of the first things that you need to do is to cut the meat up, because this is the only way to check if you are going to a butcher to get the meat done for you or if you are going to prepare it yourself. It is always important to consider this step.

You can set aside or freeze half the meat you want to use at a time. If you do this, you can use the vacuum packs that you have to freeze the meat. It is important to do this as it ensures that you do not have to put up with any mess at all. It is better to buy all the meat that you need prior to making everything else happen, so that you do not have to find out that it does not fit into the containers etc.

Assemble your grinder

If you want to grind your own meat at home, you should start with a good grinder. Of course, you can buy pre-ground meat at the grocery store or the butcher, but some cuts of meat taste better and are more affordable when you grind them yourself.

As you learn how to do it yourself, you’ll also learn about cuts of meat that you might never have encountered before and you’ll be able to cook with them more easily.

A good meat grinder should give you the most control over the size and texture of the grind, and will produce a consistently great product from batch to batch. To grind at home, you’ll need three fundamental tools: a good grinder, a sausage stuffer, and a vacuum sealer (if you plan to seal your meat).

Select a grinder with at least 10 grinding options, using a canister width of at least 1,5 inch and a fast but powerful motor. The canister is the part of the grinder that holds the meat, and you will need to choose one that fits the hopper of the machine to which you plan to attach it.

Get your grind on

Many people enjoy the convenience that comes with buying ready-made stuff, but it’s very economical and healthful to make your own ground meat with good cuts of meat. Plus, grinding your own meat is a lot safer than buying pre-ground meat which has sat on the store shelf for ages, so you know where the meat has been.

Grinding your own meat doesn’t have to be hard. Just follow these simple steps and you will be making your own ground meat from a variety of meats in no time!

Step 1: Buy high-quality cuts of meat. The higher the fat content, the more flavorful and tasty your ground meat will be.

Step 2: Start by getting your supplies ready. Make sure you have a meat grinder. You can get one at a kitchen store, or a department store, or even just rent one at your local supermarket.

Step 3: Then place your meat in a freezer as you make your preparations. This helps you meat to be at a lower temperature which will provide less stress and friction to the the grinder.

Step 4: Use a sharp knife to cut your meat. You want to make sure each cut is uniform so your meat can be ground evenly.

Step 5: Place your meat into the grinder. Cover the grinder securely and clamp it.

Grind your meat with a food processor

If you are looking to grind a small amount of meat, you can get equivalent results with a food processor.

Simply remove the blade and gently push the meat into the small opening in the bowl until it is ground to your ideal texture. Be warned: the food processor is notorious for clogging, so prepare for the worst.

Alternatively, get the meat grinders below. When your meat has been ground, be sure to either freeze it immediately or immerse it in cold water to keep it from sticking together.

Chill your processor blades

This is important because if you don’t, the meat can start cooking on the blades from the friction and heat will build up.

Cooler blades literally run better. If you don’t know whether your grinder is hot or not, run it for a while without any meat and put your hand near the blades. If it’s warm, give it a couple of minutes to cool down.

Cut and prepare your meat

Assemble your food processor

The first step is assembling your kitchen machine. Make sure you have a good food processor and not just some cheap option from the discount shelf.

Cheap processors tend to have a tough time with big chunks of meat. You don’t need a super expensive model, a mid-level one will do perfectly.

The type of grinding plate that comes with the machine should have the ability to handle large chunks.

Place the grinder plate in the machine, making sure it is the right way around, so that the cutting teeth are facing downwards. Otherwise, you’ll quickly wind up with a huge metallic mess on your kitchen counter.

It’s as easy as:

Put meat in the feeder.

Your food processor should come with a hole in the top, where you just put the raw meat. It’ll feed into the blades, which will do their job and chop it into small pieces.

Make meat ground meat

Drop the grinder plate down into the food processor and push the contents down into the container, which is usually the blade housing. When all is ground, remove the plate and the container and you have your ground meat ready.

Grind in batches

The most important thing you can do for the health of your dogs is to feed them meats that are cooked at home, but also freshly ground.

Grinding your own meats in small batches produces the best food.

Farm-raised beef has no flavor or is tough and gamy unless the cow was pastured. The way to sweeten the meat is to add fats in the form of pork liver or duck fat.

Why grind your own meat?

It’s shocking to discover how many chemicals are added to supermarket meat. Lamb for example, contains salt and then there are the anti-biotics. And they look all pretty laid out, presented right in front of you.The meat in the grocery store has no natural connection to the food source and that’s why it’s a good idea to buy from a butcher a lot of the time. The freshness factor is important. You can’t beat it.

But it’s also cheaper to grind your own meat. I was completely shocked the first time I saw how much the butcher charged me to grind my own meat. It’s outrageous. I buy a whole beef brisket and it costs about the same as the price of the brisket in the grocery store to my butcher to grind it. That’s just a false economy to the nth degree.

You can also control what goes into the meat when you grind your own beef. Whether you’re a meat eater or an animal-loving vegetarian, grinding your own meat is the best way to get meat that doesn’t have all those additives and the best way to get a natural product into your system.

Greater freshness

Carpaccio is a raw meat dish of Italian origin. Traditionally, carpaccio calls for paper-thin slices of raw meat and is typically seasoned or dressed.

One of the classic ways to prepare carpaccio is grilling the meat on a high temperature to cook it quickly. But many chefs these days are more inspired by the Japanese carpaccio tradition that calls for slicing the meat as thinly as possible from a raw state, using a slicing machine or a very sharp knife.

One of the benefits of slicing the meat this way is that you will be able to enjoy meat that’s at its absolute freshest.

Before the slicing process, the meat should be well frozen, to give it a clean cut. Next, the meat should be laid on a flat surface, slightly covered with ice cubes, and then cut into paper-thin slices.

Freezing the meat can help to minimize the risk of contamination. Many people think that carpaccio is a raw beef dish, but in fact, it can be made from thinly sliced meat from many animals including salmon, tuna, horse and lamb.

Carpaccio is a delight to eat because the thin slices of meat glide smoothly down the throat. The meat also doesn’t need to be chewed or enjoyed slowly.

Better safety

If you prefer to make your own sausages and hamburgers for the tastier taste of meat from your own butcher shop or on your own farm, then you'd better equip your kitchen with some traditional kitchen tools. In just a few minutes, you can make enough meat for several dinners.

You can take care of this hand grinding job by using a manual meat grinder. There exists a lot of information available on the internet about the how to use meat grinders so I won't focus much on that. Instead, it's much more interesting to get more involved with the cooking process and to find out how to get and select the right meat grinder that meet your needs.

Better quality and taste

One of the most common pieces of advice from nutritionists is that you should buy your meat and poultry fresh. But what to do if you are a fitness fanatic and are always on the go?

If you have no other alternative, you can still make your meat taste fresh by grinding it yourself …. your own.

Instead of buying prepackaged ground meat, buy a whole fresh chicken, beef, turkey, or even fish and grind it in small batches. This separation of individual units, which are then combined into a larger batch, improves the taste of the meat.

Customizable meat combinations

There are several ways to grind your own meat.

You can buy a meat grinder. You can also go to a butcher shop and have them grind meat for you.

Spices and other additives can also be added to create the perfect blend.

But for the most part, you’ll want to buy about 1 to 2 lbs of meat.

Save some money

Store-bought meat is often more expensive than fresh meat that you grind yourself.

It’s easy to do in a matter of 10-15 minutes, and you know where your meat came from.

Which cuts of meat to grind

If you are in a rush and don’t have time to slow cooker, it’s really not a big deal. There are a handful of pre-ground meat products on the market, including a line of organic foods, that make getting a week’s worth of meals ready to eat take less than 20 minutes.

Buying pre-ground meat also provides the benefit of reducing the risk of cross-contamination, reducing the risk of bacteria that could lead to illness.

A typical week’s worth of meals includes three or four different pre-ground meat products, as well as one or two fresh cuts of meat.

What is the best meat to grind for hamburger

Or meatloaf?

The best meat for bulk meat grinding is the round or hind quarter primal cut of beef.

The round is the portion of the cow that includes the top portion of the leg and the top portion of the rump.

Always ask your butcher for a saw-cut of meat.

The term “sawed” refers to the technique used to cut a layer of fat from the top of the meat.

It is not really a saw, but a very large, sharp knife.

Once the top layer of fat is removed, you’ll be left with round steaks.

This is ideally what you want for bulk meat grinding.

Another consideration when choosing your meat is the fat content. Some cuts of meat have much more fat than others. The term, “marbling,” refers to the amount of fat within the meat.

What is the best meat for sausages

If you are making your own ground meat, you can use any type of beef, bison, goat, horse, lamb, pork, poultry or other mixed ground meat.

The only thing to keep in mind is to try to use the highest quality meat that you can afford.

Freezing and then thawing meat prior to grinding it will help to tenderize the meat and make the grinding process easier.

Never add water to your ground meat.

Always make sure the meat is very cold prior to grinding.

Following these easy steps, the meat grinding process is a snap.

Be sure to thoroughly mix the ingredients together with the ground meat. Make sure there are no major differences or deviations in the ratios of spices, seasoning and so on.

Using these tips, you may find that a lot more of your cooking can be done right in your own kitchen. It is more economical and you may like the results even better as some powders and additives may be lacking.

How long can you store ground meat in the fridge

I was under the impression it should be thrown out after a few days, but a friend of mine says it's okay to leave it for up to a month. Is there a definitive answer? — Joe, Fort Mill, S.C.

Most ground meat has an approximate shelf life of five to seven days in the refrigerator.

If your fridge is not very cold, you will need to cook or freeze the meat within three to four days. If you have a freezer that goes to 0 degrees, you can safely keep the meat there for up to a couple of months.

Some ground meat may be labeled “for cooking only” or “for raw consumption only.” However, that still doesn’t mean that you have to cook the meat.

If you are consuming the meat raw, you can keep it in the refrigerator for up to seven days.

How to make your burger meat stick together

Ground meat can be…squishy. To make it more like a patty, add an egg. With some salt and pepper, a little cornstarch or flour, and your hands, you can form meat into nearly any patty-like shape you desire.

Be sure to use your hands to mix the meat… I can’t offer enough praises for this technique, I depend on it for perfect veggie burgers and for making ground meat taste (and feel) like it’s much fattier than it really is. But do wash your hands thoroughly with hot water and soap before touching your face or touching anything else.

Also, try to use the current season’s burger veggies. If you have access to them. Winter and fall provide plenty of opportunity for root vegetables that you can simply peel and grind, or cut into larger chunks and process. These are often more winter-y, earthy flavors, so I’m partial to a little hot sauce, spicy mustard, or salsa, on top of the veggie to give it some kick.

Conclusion

Grinding your own meat is healthier compared to buying pre-ground meat. This is because most of the time, pre-ground meat is stored for a long time in a refrigerator or even frozen before getting to the supermarket or to you.

Secondly, grinding your own meat gives you the option of choosing what kind of meat you want.

Grinding meat makes it possible for you to add the spices that you like best, be it just salt or a secret family recipe.

In order to grind your own meat, you have to have a grinder. You can buy one or you can use a hand crank meat grinder.

A hand crank meat grinder consists of a handle, a plate and a body. You place the hand crank meat grinder on the plate. You place the meat on the plate, the plate rolls with the meat on it and transports the meat through the grinder. Lastly, you get ground meat.

In order to grind your own meat you should do it well, choose good quality meat and grind it the way you like it.

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscape, but in having new eyes.”

11 Mind Blowing Side Dishes for Steak

It’s very common in America to eat steak as a main dish for dinner. There are several reasons people choose to have steak instead of other types of meat. It’s a very tasty muscle meat. It’s also relatively inexpensive and widely available in our grocery stores.

It’s no secret that steak is one of the most popular dishes in the world.

I personally love to have steak with some fresh sauces. Steak taste so much better when you’re wearing a bib.

This post is all about recipes on how to make the most out of your steak and turn it into a delicious and healthy meal.

Nothing complements a good steak better than a dish that best complements the texture and taste of the meat.

Most people are not aware of the fact that steak is very versatile. It can be prepared and served in a lot of different ways. There are marinades to tenderize the meat before cooking and glazes to add some flavors to the meal.

But today, we’re going to focus on steaks as a simple main ingredient to other, more elaborate dishes. This way, you can improve your steak-preparation skills and keep coming up with new and interesting combinations.