is the kitchenaid meat grinder worth it

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Test 2: Grinding Pork Butt

Pork butt is another well-marbled cut of meat, with an approximate 75:25 lean meat-to-fat ratio that makes it a popular choice for grinding for fresh and cured sausages. It also features a good amount of connective tissue and sinew, both of which can cause jams during the grinding process if they wind themselves around the blade or auger. Basically, it’s the perfect cut for testing the mettle of a meat grinder.

As with the beef chuck, I trimmed the meat into 1 1/2-inch cubes and 1-by-3-inch strips and chilled them in the fridge. Grinder parts were chilled in the freezer for one hour.

This test separated the contenders from the pretenders. A few grinders struggled with speed and jammed during this test, which led to the dreaded fat smear. The heat from the friction of the jammed grinder caused fat to render, producing a soft, squishy paste rather than the ground meat we were looking for. Along with these poor results, the jams that couldn’t be resolved by hitting a reverse button also forced us to take apart the grinders, in order to pick out the offending bits of sinew and then put them back together. This is a messy and frustrating process that could easily turn people off from grinding their own meat.

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Meat Grinder

A good meat grinder will work through pounds of meat in minutes, extruding uniform cylinders of ground meat that have clearly distinct bits of ground lean muscle and fat, at a steady clip. It should be easy to set up, use, and clean so that you look forward to using it.

All meat grinders come with the same basic parts, but to produce high-quality results, good meat grinders should have the following:

• Sturdy construction with a compact footprint. A grinder should be able to process pounds of meat easily, without causing the machine or the person operating it any undue stress. The grinder should run smoothly without being too loud. And because it’s a piece of equipment that home cooks won’t be using every day, it shouldn’t be so bulky that it eats up lots of storage and counter space, or be so cumbersome that it makes people think twice about pulling it out of their cabinets when they do have a chance to use it.
• Metal grinder parts. Keeping meat cold is of utmost importance during the grinding process, in order to avoid fat-smearing. A big part of the temperature control equation is ensuring that the main components of the grinder (the hopper, screw, blade, and plate) don’t overheat when operating, and this is easier to manage when the hopper and screw are made of metal rather than plastic. Metal parts can be chilled in the freezer prior to grinding (it is worth noting that famed butcher Pat La Frieda argues against this practice, claiming that over time it can make grinder pieces brittle, but I haven’t experienced this issue over the years), and they don’t get as slick as plastic ones when smudged with fat, so they are easier to take apart and clean.
• Reliable motor or hand-crank. Whether youre using a motorized or old-fashioned manual model, a good meat grinder should operate smoothly and at a steady clip as pieces of meat are worked through the machine. An electric motor or hand-crank is responsible for powering the screw, which pushes meat through the chamber toward the blade and plate, and therefore the speed of grinding. Strong motors and easy-to-operate hand cranks allow you to grind at a consistent speed and with fewer jamming issues, which in turn produces high-quality ground meat with a consistent grind size and no fat smear.
• Sharp blade and plates. None of the qualities mentioned above matter much if the grinder’s blade and plates are dull; the smearing that you diligently worked to avoid is just delayed until the last second as meat is mashed into a paste by the dull blade and pushed through the die. As with chef knives, grinder blades should be sharp right out of the box, and with moderate use, they should need to be sharpened once a year at most. Most grinders come with at least two plates (also known as dies), for coarse and fine grinds.

$50 VS $100 VS $400 Meat Grinder

Is KitchenAid a good meat grinder?

The KitchenAid has a smaller blade than a standalone meat grinder. The attachment that is made out of plastic will not be as durable as the metal one. If you want to have a metal attachment, you would have to pay an extra $40 for it. Also, when you put the grinder at a fast speed, the meat doesn’t come out as good.

Are KitchenAid attachments worth it?

Despite being made for their stand mixers, not all KitchenAid attachments are worth their salt. Throughout this site’s many years of reviewing gear, we’ve tested KitchenAid attachments alongside standalone versions of whatever they are (for example, meat grinders and ice cream makers).

Can a KitchenAid stand mixer grind meat?

This sturdy meat-grinding attachment takes advantage of a KitchenAid stand mixer’s powerful, variable-speed motor, and its large food tray makes it easier to grind bigger batches, satisfying the meat-grinding needs of most home cooks without taking up a lot of storage space.

Are KitchenAid meat grinders dishwasher safe?

The cleaning brush was useful in these instances. The plastic parts — the food pusher and sausage making accessories — are dishwasher safe. My biggest issue with the KitchenAid Metal Meat Grinder Attachment is that there’s usually a one-ounce chunk of meat left over at the end between the blade and the grinding plate.