Grinding Meat

This seems silly, but I have had several people ask me how I grind meat. So I thought I would share pics of the process, and helpful hints.

I buy really inexpensive meat. This cut of top round was $2.41 per pound when I bought it. Sometimes its even less than 2 dollars. This cut is pretty lean. That's okay for us. I would rather be browning beef that's so lean I sometimes need to add a teaspoon of olive oil, rather than use meat that has to be drained.

I set up a big bowl to grind into, and a medium bowl with all of the meat cut into strips. See that fat I left on it? That's fine. Alot of the fat will get caught on the blade, plus, that amount of fat is tiny compared to what you buy at the store with a super lean sticker on it. Plus guess what this meat will not have in it.... ANYTHING else they toss in! This meat will have no hard little bits of stuff in it. Biting into a piece of cow hip ruins my dinner every time! And also just a fun tidbit for you, due to the mad cow issue the FDA made a rule that no cow brains or spinal cords are allowed in beef that is over 30 months when butchered. Scary that if a cow were younger it could have those things in it?? ACK! No thanks (here is a link to the FDA)

I highly recommend you rig a piece of cling wrap over the spout. This is juicy meat, and it will spit all over, this completely solves this problem and makes clean up a breeze.

Now you have a big ol bowl of ground beef! You can if want, put it through a second time. I don't. And just in case you are using the same grinder, I use the larger holed disc. Hang on a second, set this over to the side for 30 seconds.

This is a great tip I read on a review of my Kitchen Aid grinder. Keep a little baggie of bread heels in the freezer, and when you grind your meat your going to use the bread as a way to clean out the leftover meat in the grinder.

Grab your empty medium bowl and push the bread through. It cleans out most of the meat from in the worm. After you package your meat you should really clean the grinder super well. In the hottest water you can stand. I have to admit, it only took me about 10 minutes to grind and package up these 5 lbs of beef, but I spent 20 minutes washing the parts, and wiping the mixer and counters.

This is what I got from my 4 packages of top round. I made one of my packages bigger for a meatloaf(and I marked it so I wouldn't loose it). Then they all went into the freezer. This is a months worth for us.

Also FYI I have used the grinder to make ground chicken, using boneless skinless breasts when they are on sale. It comes out soupier, but once you brown it up its a nice texture for replacing beef in your pasta sauces, tacos, and casseroles. So give that a try too. Have fun! Enjoy keeping more of your money, and that super lean beef!