Best Meat Grinder For Grinding Bones And Other Processing Leftovers?

[ShannonR]

I honestly don't really worry about the sharp thigh bones. Quick question, do you plan on totally deboning your meat chickens? That part is usually still attached to the bird after butchering so shouldn't be a problem. Unless of course you compost the cooked chickens too, as I mentioned above.

 

[Birdinhand]

I honestly don't really worry about the sharp thigh bones. Quick question, do you plan on totally deboning your meat chickens? That part is usually still attached to the bird after butchering so shouldn't be a problem. Unless of course you compost the cooked chickens too, as I mentioned above.

l'm not sure, this is my first big run and my first time owning a food saver bag sealer, I may just go nuts and do some deboned, some whole, some quartered. I actually like chicken liver fried, so I may be sealing up a bunch of those too. my favorite way to prepare chicken is backing, I learned a nice lemon zest chicken recipe a while ago that involves boiling the zested lemon and placing it whole, inside the bird followed by covering and cooking for about 2 hours. it makes the most tender chicken I've ever had. so long story short, we'll end up with a lot of cooked bones which I've been throwing out. I'm not sure if it's going to be worth saving them and grinding them all at once. it's the heads/necks, feet, feathers and entrails from the harvest day which originally got me wondering how to best deal with such volume and end up with a usable compost for the garden. I just hate sending stuff to the landfill.

 

[azjustin]

I'm getting ready to process my COB 500 Cornish Cross. We've got 29 that will be ready in about 2 weeks and I'm wanting to find a way to compost all the leftover parts like head/neck, feet and feathers. We generally are recycling minded and I don't want to throw away valuable nutrients that could benefit my garden but I also don't want a lot of recognizable bones and feathers to build up in the soil. Any suggestions on the best way to break them down? I've considered a wood chipper but so far, all I can come up with is getting a meat grinder and sending bony parts and feathers through it. Do you all have recommendations on a meat grinder that is up to the job? so far, it looks like the STX INTERNATIONAL STX-1800-MG is an economical option, does anyone have experience with it?

Weston meat grinders, the #32 model in particular, could probably grind up a car if you have the patience to do so.

It's hand crank but can be fitted with a pulley and motor for automation. We freeze bags of chicken bones and grind them whole and the entire family gets an arm workout.

 

[Birdinhand]

Weston meat grinders, the #32 model in particular, could probably grind up a car if you have the patience to do so.

It's hand crank but can be fitted with a pulley and motor for automation. We freeze bags of chicken bones and grind them whole and the entire family gets an arm workout.

I work with my hands a lot as it is and have had to cut back on repetitive strain, otherwise the hand crank you mention looks pretty awesome!

 

[Birdinhand]

so I thought I'd report back that I settled on the STX MAGNUM 1800 AIR COOLED ELECTRIC MEAT GRINDER, I bought it through Mercantile Station 2 ($189 delivered), since they do repair and warranty and since it's the same price as Amazon prime, I figured I'd get it through them and be more direct (they are the main distributor in the US either way). they offer a 30 day no hassle replacement if defective and a 3 year warranty beyond that. I read reviews that praised it for it's ability to handle bones and chicken meat and I called up the seller, who also carries and does the repair on several models, and asked about which one was best for bones and they also said this one was the way to go, even though it's lower wattage than some, it has the right cutting blade/screen design to handle bones and chicken sinew with minimal clogging. so I don't have to worry about it breaking down while grinding bones, the warranty will cover breakages even if it's used for lots of chicken bones. so far, there are lots of happy user reviews out there, especially folks who make raw food for their pets, incorporating bones.

I've processed two batches of birds (28 total) so far with this grinder and it's a champ. I've had it stop a few times, perhaps it's on a timer, IDK but it started right up again. Now that I've got almost a 100 lbs of chickens in the freezer, I'm going to start reading up on all the yummy chicken sausage recipes and make some sausage!