Meat Grinder FAQs

What Are Standard Meat Grinder Sizes and How Is It Measured?

The "outlet opening" is what grinder plates are measured by; you can measure the outlet diameter or plate to find your hub size. Use the chart below to find the hub size of your grinder:

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Hub Size Outlet
Diameter #5 2-1/8" #8 2-1/2" #10 / #12 2-3/4" #22 3-1/4" #32 3-7/8"

What Size Grinder Is Right for Me?

The larger the size of the meat grinder, the greater the volume it can handle and the quicker (expressed in pounds/hour). If you are thinking about getting a manual hand crank grinder, you need to consider that larger grinder sizes require more power to turn the crank. However, larger grinders usually compensate for this by having a bit longer crank handle to provide more leverage.

If you are looking at electric grinders, you will notice that the larger the size number of the grinder, the more powerful the motor that comes with it. Bigger grinders need more power to push the larger volumes of meat through the machine.

So, whether you want a manual grinder or an electric meat grinder, keep in mind the larger the size number, the bigger the unit will be and greater investment.

What Are Grinder Plates and How Are They Used?

The grinding plate, also called a cutting plate, is a round carbon or stainless-steel plate with several holes in it that sits at the end of the meat grinder. As meat is forced through the holes of the grinding plate, a spinning blade cuts across the holes several times per second.

Grinding plates come in different standard number sizes (based on diameter size) to match the size grinder you have. Besides the standard number size, grinding plates also come with a variety of hole sizes for making fine, medium, or coarse (chunky) ground meat. The sizes are generally noted in millimeters or MM and sometimes are indicated on your current grinder plate. We recommend replacing your plates and cutting knife at the same time.

What Are Different Grinder Plates Hole Sizes For?

Grinder plates come with different sized holes to allow for smaller or larger sized chunks of meat to pass through. Grinder plates with smaller diameter holes, like 3MM (1/8"), 4.5MM (3/16"), or 6MM (1/4"), make a fine ground meat for making franks, bologna, or hamburger. Plates with larger holes, say 13MM (1/2") and larger, allow larger pieces of meat to pass through. These larger plates, sometimes called medium or coarse grinding plates, are used for making various types of sausage. Most grinders come with one or two grinding plates, but more plates can be purchased separately. The holes in the grinding plates are relatively sharp when new but tend to dull over time as they are used and should be replaced periodically. We recommend replacing your plates and cutting knife at the same time.

Hole Size Generally Used For 2.5MM (3/32") FINE GRIND - Bologna, Franks, Forcemeats, Hamburger & Jerky 3MM (1/8") FINE GRIND - Bologna, Franks, Forcemeats, Hamburger & Jerky 4MM (5/32") MEDIUM-FINE GRIND - Hamburger, Breakfast, Polish & Italian Sausage 4.5MM (3/16") MEDIUM-FINE GRIND - Hamburger, Breakfast, Polish & Italian Sausage 6MM (1/4") MEDIUM-COARSE GRIND - Salami, Summer Sausage, Bratwurst & Pepperoni 10MM (3/8") COARSE GRIND - First Grind, Chili Meat & Chorizo 13MM (1/2") VERY COARSE GRIND - First Grind, Chili & Stew Meat & Vegetables 20MM (3/4") VERY COARSE GRIND - First Grind or Chunking Meat 25MM (1") VERY COARSE GRIND - First Grind or Chunking or Sausage Stuffing

Are Stainless Steel Grinder Plates and Knives Better Than Carbon Steel?

Although stainless steel grinder plates and knives are more expensive than their carbon steel counterparts, they are more durable than carbon steel and typically retain their sharpness for up to three times as long. Knives and plates made of stainless steel also have the benefit of avoiding rusting. For further protection against rusting, carbon steel plates must be always kept dry and occasionally even covered with a thin layer of oil.

Should I Get a Manual or An Electric Meat Grinder?

Deciding whether to get a manual grinder or an electric meat grinder is largely based on the frequency and/or quantity you will be grinding. Will you be grinding a whole deer or making sausage on a regular basis? Or do you just want 30 pounds of homemade sausage occasionally? Look for a grinder made for the capacity of meat you need to grind.

Manual Grinders - A manual meat grinder is all you need if you will only need to grind occasionally or in small batches. If you only use a grinder to make a small batch, or only once a season for game meat, and you don't want to spend a lot of money, check out our manual meat grinders. Any of our manual models are a great value for anyone who doesn't need to use one for large quantities or on a regular basis. We carry them in stainless steel and plated cast iron at everyday low prices.

Another factor to consider about manual grinders is using them to stuff sausage. Making sausage using a manual meat grinder can be somewhat cumbersome. The meat must be fed into the grinder and the handle cranked at an even rate by one person, while the sausage casing is manipulated on the other end by a second person. One way to make the stuffing process easier without jumping up to an electric meat grinder is to purchase a sausage stuffer, which makes the stuffing job much easier and faster.

Electric Meat Grinders - For folks who grind meat frequently or in large batches, an electric meat grinder is a definite advantage. The electric motor saves a lot of manual labor and allows meat to be ground quickly and easily by just one person. Remember that meat must be kept cold during the grinding process, so the time it takes to do a grinding job is very important. If you need to grind 100 pounds of meat by hand, it could take you a very long time and a lot of muscle. Using an electric model to grind 100 pounds of meat takes less than an hour and will save your body a lot of pain. Electric grinding machines do cost a bit more than manual ones but paying the extra money may be well worth it for you.

Electric grinders are also easier when it comes to stuffing sausage. Since there is no handle to crank, the even grinding rate is taken care of by the electric motor, which helps to stuff sausages casings evenly.

At Meat Processing Products we only carry quality manual and electric meat grinders, so no matter which type you choose to buy, you can rest assured that you will be receiving a top-quality product.

Can I Stuff Sausage with A Meat Grinder?

Any meat grinder, whether manual or electric, can be fitted with sausage stuffing tubes and used to stuff sausage into casing. Many grinders come with a set of stuffing tubes, but they can also be purchased separately and are rather inexpensive. Just be sure that they match the standard size of your grinder so that they attach properly.

Making sausage using a manual meat grinder can be somewhat cumbersome. The meat must be fed into the grinder and the handle cranked at an even rate by one person, while the sausage casing is manipulated on the other end by a second person.

It is easier to stuff sausage with an electric grinder. Since there is no handle to crank, the even grinding rate is taken care of by the electric motor, which helps to stuff sausage casings evenly. Even easier than stuffing with a meat grinder is to stuff sausage with a sausage stuffer, especially if you will be stuffing larger quantities of sausage.

Can I Grind Bones in A Meat Grinder?

Most meat grinders aren't designed to grind bones and it is a rare manufacturer who says that their grinders will do bones, even their heavy-duty commercial models. As you would expect, they need to say this because bones can be very hard on motors and can break the internal gears (especially the cheaper model grinders with plastic gears) or overheat the grinder motor. A manufacturer's warranty might be voided if the grinder is used to grind bones.

However, we have found in our experience that most grinders are indeed capable of grinding smaller animal bones and soft bones, like chicken, rabbit, etc. Obviously, the larger and more powerful grinder you get, the more durable it will be and the better for grinding soft bones. If you really need to grind bones, say for making your own pet food, we suggest the highest wattage all-metal grinder you can afford.

We have found that the Weston #22 or #32 Butcher Series or Pro Series electric grinders go through soft bones like butter because they have all-metal gears and are very powerful.

We do not recommend grinding beef, deer, pork, or other larger animal bones that are more dense, hard, and thick as these may damage your grinder.

Can I Make My Own Dog or Cat Food with A Meat Grinder?

Making your own pet food is an excellent use of a meat grinder. There is a lot of information on the internet regarding putting your pet on an all-raw food diet with pet food you make at home with a meat grinder. Advocates say that your pet will be much healthier if it eats food with a good mixture of ground meat, organs, and bones (see grinding bones above).

What Other Foods Can I Process with A Meat Grinder?

Grinders, whether they're manual or electric, can be used for all sorts of foods. Although they're called "meat" grinders, they can be used to grind anything including nuts, fruits, and vegetables, and even cheese.

Options Description Nut Butter Put peanuts or almonds through a meat grinder to make your own wholesome nut butter Fruit Sorbet Run frozen strawberries, bananas, mango's, or any other frozen fruit in your meat grinder for an amazing frozen fruit sorbet treat Make Baby Food Make your own baby food peas, carrots, or any other fruit, vegetable, or cooked meat Meat Pate Pass cooked meat through your grinder for excellent meat pate dishes Breadcrumbs Use dry or toasted bread Cheese Crumbles Make your own Parmesan crumble or other dry hard cheese crumble Endless Possibilities Stews, spreads, chili, humus, and as many ideas as you can imagine

Do Meat Grinders Require Any Maintenance?

Whether manual or electric, we recommend stainless steel grinders if you can afford them because they are maintenance free and dishwasher safe. Electric grinders nowadays are 100% maintenance free and require no special cleaning care or lubrication. If you have a cast iron meat grinder, the dishwasher is out of the question.

Washing the pieces by hand will help reduce the chances of rust. Cast iron grinders need to be protected from rusting by keeping them away from moisture. After cleaning, always be sure to dry all the parts thoroughly. You may wish to coat the grinder with mineral oil or cooking oil to protect it from rusting. Store the grinder broken down into its separate components and store in zip top bags.

You can surround the iron pieces with dry rice in the bags and the rice will absorb the moisture in the air. You may have a stainless-steel meat grinder, but your grinding knife and/or plates may be made of carbon steel and not stainless steel. These carbon steel parts need to maintain in the same way as the cast iron mentioned above.

Meat grinders have always been an essential tool for commercial butchers, delis and grocery stores, but now their use is growing among home users who are concerned about questionable ingredients that can be in pre-ground meat. Home meat grinding brings the benefits of:

• Increased safety &#; eliminating contaminants from store-bought packages
• Better flavor &#; you control the cuts and fat content that go into your machine. Grinding meat fresh is also better, as oxygen degrades nutrition and flavor
• Improved texture &#; fresh grinding keeps the meat loose and improves texture and moisture levels

If you&#;re in the market for a meat grinder, we&#;ve put this guide together to aid your decision making process. Have questions about which model or type is best for you? Give us a call and talk to our friendly, experienced customer service staff!

Standalone Meat Grinders

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Standalone meat grinders come in manual and electric models. Electric meat grinders have grown in popularity, as they require less work to grind a batch of cubed meat and, with that increased efficiency, the meat stays cold&#;which helps maintain pleasing texture.

Meat Grinder Attachments for Other Kitchen Tools

Instead of purchasing a standalone grinder, some cooks choose to add attachments to kitchen tools they already have so they can be used to grind meat. These attachment-type grinders are most often used with stand mixers. They provide more versatility with your kitchen mixer, as they can grind and mince virtually any food, including meats, vegetables, fish, and potatoes. These attachment-type grinders are easy to use and can provide high quality results. Use these links to check out the attachment for the Bosch Universal mixer, WonderMix or Ankarsrum mixer for more information!

Parts of Your Meat Grinder

All meat grinders, whether manual or electric and standalone or attachment-type, have these parts in common:

• Screw &#; the screw is the main driver of the meat grinder. It pushes meat from the feed chute toward the blades.
• Blade/Knife &#; the blade (or knife) may have either two or four cutting edges. The blade works with the plate (see below), rotating against it to cut the meat. It sweeps across the holes in the face of the plate to form sharp 90-degree angles to precisely grind the meat.
• Plate &#; also known as the disk or disc, the plate has holes that your meat passes through. The smaller the hole, the more finely ground the meat becomes. Most meat grinders come with multiple plates so you can choose the coarseness and texture of your meat.
• Ring &#; this keeps the blade and plate in place while in use.
• Tray &#; the tray holds meat that&#;s ready to send down the feed chute. A large sturdy tray provides the best convenience and efficiency.
• Pusher &#; the pusher is used to feed cubes of meat down the feed chute.

Using Your Meat Grinder

Selecting the right meat grinder is just the first step in processing. From maintaining a nearly frozen temperature to keeping your knife and plate set sharp, your method and technique can make the difference between mushy meat and the perfect texture.

The Temperature of Your Meat

It&#;s extremely important to have (and keep) the meat you&#;re processing just above freezing temperature right up to the moment it&#;s ground. The fat and connective tissue in meat cut easily when nearly frozen, but as they warm up, these parts can resist cutting and make grinding difficult for both machine and operator.

The Sharpness of Your Knife and Plate

The next crucial factor to successful meat grinding is having a knife and plate set that is sharp and properly mated. Dull or poorly matched (more on that below) knives and plates make a grinder work much harder, can cause jams, and produce meat that is mushy.

Knife and Plate Sets

When quality knives and plates are new, their cutting edges are extremely sharp and they're in a perfectly flat plane. As a knife and plate are used together, they will wear in a pattern that's no longer perfectly flat. They can still work well that way as long as they're kept together as a set, but if a non-flat knife is switched to a new, perfectly flat plate, gaps will exist between the cutting edges of the knife and the edges of the plate's holes. Even though the edges may be sharp, the effect of this kind of mismatch is largely the same as if the edges were worn out and dull.

For this reason, we recommend using a separate knife for each plate and carefully keeping that pair of blade and plate together (even mismatches nearly imperceptible to the naked eye can have a major effect on performance and output).

Plates are reversible; one side should be used exclusively with one knife, then when the plate is reversed, the knife should be discarded and replaced with a new knife for the new side of the plate. The sharp corner of some hard tool (a screwdriver for example) can be used to make scratch-marks across the abandoned side of the plate, so you can tell the sides apart in the future.

Reversing Features

Some brands and models of electric grinders have a reversing feature&#;although with the right selection of a high-quality, properly-sized grinder and good technique, you should need the reverse feature rarely, if ever. A meat grinder is unlikely to jam if it&#;s sized right for the job, has sharp, matching plates and knives, and your meat is kept just above freezing right up to the moment it&#;s ground.

Making Sausage

Most standalone models have the ability to make sausage using stuffing tube attachments. Making sausage includes the normal process of grinding meat but adds in fat, salt, and flavorings on the front end and then guiding the ground-up meat into castings. While you should salt your burgers after forming the patties, you should salt your sausage before grinding, as the salt dissolves some of the proteins and creates a springier, sausage-like texture.

If you&#;re looking for sausage with extra-fine texture, we recommend you grind your meat twice&#;first through a large-holed plate and then through a smaller one. To keep the meat safe and easy to process, chill between the first and second grindings. This will prevent smearing and lead to great quality sausage with just the right texture.

Using Commercial Meat Grinders

For uses like preparing sausage, burger patties, soup meat, and more, a home meat grinder will do just the trick. But if you plan to use a meat grinder for more intense preparation, including processing game like venison and elk, don&#;t let the &#;commercial&#; label on our commercial meat grinders steer you away. Many of our customers are hunters who process all of their meat on their own. Investing in a commercial meat grinder gives them the size and processing power to economically produce outstanding products with the hands-on control they want.

Browse our selection of commercial meat grinders or learn more about the selection from PRO-CUT and Thunderbird below.

Top Brands & Manufacturers of Standalone Grinders

To get the best taste and texture from your game or meat, you should invest in a high-quality meat grinder. At Pleasant Hill Grain we carry the best on the market, featuring models from LEM, PRO-CUT, Thunderbird, Waring, Maverick, and Weston. Learn more about the manufacturers below, or call us to ask our knowledgeable staff product-specific questions.

LEM

LEM meat grinders offer five size choices, so there&#;s a fit for every job and budget. Ranging from ¼ to 1.5 horsepower, these models use high-torque motors and a special feed screw design to grab meat aggressively, eliminating the need for forceful stomping. LEM grinders feature stainless steel headstocks, feed screws, grinding plates, blades, meat trays, and cabinets.

PRO-CUT

PRO-CUT produces a line of grinders that are engineered and built for commercial use and allow for extended periods of grinding&#;even all day. Commonly found in delis, meat markets, butcher shops, and grocery stores, these machines are able to produce quality ground meat and provide reliability in both quality and usability. PRO-CUT commercial meat grinders feature grinder trays and housings made of stainless steel. All feed screws and headstocks are long-life, tin-dipped, fine-grain cast iron to ensure the equipment provides your business with years and years of trouble-free service.

Thunderbird

Thunderbird is another highly respected name in commercial meat grinders. Thunderbird 500E (5 HP), Thunderbird 400E (1.5 HP), and Thunderbird 300E (1 HP) commercial meat grinders have solid stainless steel feed screws and headstocks, headstock rings, and meat trays.

Thunderbird meat grinders are UL and NSF certified, and all operate on single phase power which allows even the largest Thunderbird meat grinder to be used anywhere, even without a commercial three phase power supply.

Maverick

Maverick makes a compact tabletop grinder, the electric meat grinder, that really packs a punch for its size. It&#;s one of our customers&#; top picks for a home kitchen meat grinder, as it runs quietly, cleans easily, and store compactly. The comes with three sizes of meat grinder plates as well as a sausage stuffing tube.

Meat Grinders from Pleasant Hill Grain

Pleasant Hill Grain provides a superior online shopping experience for home and kitchen products, including our selection of high quality meat grinders, both standalone and attachment-type. We provide support from our friendly, experienced customer service staff. We&#;ve been selling and supporting quality grinders for many years, and we would appreciate your business!

Have questions? Please call us at the number below&#;we&#;d love to help you select a meat grinder that&#;s perfect for your needs!