Questions about making ground beef at home...

[msgenie516]

Hi All,

I get very uneasy about buying ground hamburger in a supermarket or even a butcher shop, as I feel I don't know what's in it. I did grind some meat years ago with my KitchenAid mixer, but it is 22 years old now and is starting to act up making bread dough. So I thought I should give it a break and I ordered a 1/4 HP all stainless steel LEM electric meat grinder from Amazon. I think the directions that came with the KitchenAid said to run the meat through the grinder twice, but I'm not sure. The grinder I ordered comes with both coarse and fine blades. Which one should I use to grind beef hamburger? Should I run the meat through the grinder twice?

Also, does anyone know if I made a good choice with the grinder I ordered? I basically went by the fact that it is all stainless and had good reviews, though not many.

I am really looking forward to this (love it, but haven't eaten raw ground beef or cooked but truly rare ground beef in ages because of the dangers of commercially processed meat) and I also think I will attempt sausage making. Thanks for your help!

Genie

 

[ranchhand]

No answers for you, but I am really interested in what others have to say!

 

[Katy]

I don't know anything about the machine you ordered but for most recipes I'd run the meat thru twice. If you're making chili or something like that only running it thru once would be enough. It will just depend on your personal preference.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Quote:
X2 Good luck!

 

[txcarl1258]

Don't know anything about the grinder you purchased, but I do grind my own venison at home. I run the meat through once, but I have a very fine grinder blade. It all depends on how fine or course you want your meat. Sausage making isn't that difficult if you have the right materials. My advice is try different recipes to see which one you like the best. With sausage it is easier to make a lot than a little so make sure you like it before you eat it!

 

[AyeUpChuck]

Im not familiar with the machine. I'll look at the specs in a bit. I am however a former chef of a fine dining restaurant in Portland. We used to do all our butchering, made our own charcuterie, sausages etc. There are a few important tips I can give you. If you like your ground beef super fine then run it through the large die first and repeat replacing with a smaller die. I wouldn't try and put it straight through a fine die unless it was already cut up petty well. You're just making the machine work harder. Just keep in mind that you'll need a decent fat content and binder if you make it really fine. If you want a more medium texture. Run your meat through the large die, season it with your bread crumbs, eggs etc then run it through again on the same larger die. It all boils down to texture.

Also you want to make sure that your meat is properly trimmed. Silver skin and connective tissue jam the die. Which means it has to be backed out more frequently. You do need some fat btw. You also want everything to be COLD!!!!! I keep my components, after drying, in my freezer. Your fat and meat benefit and you don't wind up with mealy meat.

I'll have a look at your model and see if I can help any further but that's my two bits for now!

 

[peeplessinNC]

I have the grinder that fits the Kitchen Aid mixer and use it regularly to make my own breakfast sausage. Yes, you do need to have enough fat in the sausage mix and you can add diced raw bacon if you don't have enough plain pork fat. I have used Alton Brown's recipe to make my breakfast sausage and like it. I dice up the meat and fat pretty small, mix the spices together, then sprinkle it all over the meat cubes and then chill the seasoned meat for several hours before grinding it once through the larger die. I make sausage patties and freeze them before cooking, flat on a cookie sheet so I can take out one patty at a time from the freezer bag.