OK, so a meat grinder doesn’t really fit in the category of stuff I want, although I really do want one right now because it would help make life easier and save some money. I’ve been looking at tons of meat grinders and have compiled my research for you her so that you can see a quick overview of pros and cons.
ELECTRIC VS MANUAL
A great place to start with your choices is electric versus hand crank manual. I was thinking at first that there’s no way I want a manual grinder. It seems so old fashioned and old fashioned stuff isn’t usually practical or all that effective either. So I was ready to only look at meat grinders when I had a thought way back to childhood. I was remembering how good the old hand crack meat grinder worked that my parents used and how much fun I had turning that handle. When I made a phone call to find out what others thought, I discovered that many of the electric ones (at least the ones on the lower end of the budget range) are either not very powerful, fast and have very small openings.
1. No Power
Even if it’s electric then I don’t want something that will start smoking when I put too big of a piece of meat in accidentally. I want something that can cut through some grizzle and fat and not grind to a halt if I haven’t cleaned off every spec of fat.
2. Slow
When we’re busy cutting up meat, getting ready to package it, then the one of the last things we want is to sit and wait for a slow grinder. It’s after all a big project and we’d rather not spend many hours waiting for the grinder to catch up with my work.
3. Small Opening
The purpose of finding a good meat grinder is to save time and make shorter work out of the process of creating my own ground meat. And if there is a small opening then it will take extra time to cut the meat into smaller strips before I even put them in the grinder. Even a faster grinder with a small opening would take longer because of the prep time.
Benefits of Electric
Electric sure can be handy. It can save on man power and make it a far simpler process to grind up meat. It can keep things churning at a more consistent pace and keep the ground meat to a very consistent cut shape and style.
Benefits of Manual Hand-crank
Does not not require electricity. Can be used anywhere, even at a cabin and has a bolt down feature that will help it stay firmly in place. Go at at your own pace. Typically can handle bigger pieces of meat at one time.
Unclogging a stuck Meat grinder
When you meat grinder grinds to a halt :) pun intended, it is most likely a jam in the feed mechanism where long strands of meat or muscle tissue from the meat can get entangled. Typically it is a very simple process to unclog your grinder. If you are using an electric meat grinder, please make sure to disconnect the power and follow any other safety precautions recommended by the manufacturer. The remove the end where the meat comes out and carefully pull out the grinding mechanism. Dislodge any meat that is wrapped up around it and either discard or cut it up to be reground. Be careful not to cut your fingers on any of the blades or other pieces as they may be sharp. Once the meat or muscle tissue has been removed, reinsert the assembly into the grinder exactly as it was and screw the cover plate back on. This should complete the unclogging process and you’re all set to go.
Check the fuse: If it still doesn’t work, or the power won’t come on, check to see if there is a fuse that you can replace simply. Sometimes the extra power drain can cause a fuse to blow.
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