A meat grinder is needed in every kitchen that spins young children. For them, steaks are not very relevant and sausages and meatballs are much more acceptable food. While supermarkets may ask you to mince a piece of meat you have purchased, having a meat grinder at home is a good idea.

This article will advise you on how to choose a meat grinder.

Don't overpay!

The main criterion for choosing a meat grinder is… cost effectiveness. You can buy an expensive meat grinder for $ 200, but you may soon realize that you've overpaid.

Save money and buy a meat grinder for 50 euros? You may soon start to scoff at it ... It is therefore important to consider several criteria to decide how much money you can spend on a meat grinder.

How often do you use a meat grinder?

According to the frequency of use, all meat mincer users can be divided into three groups:
Rare users are people who need a meat grinder once a month or less.
Average users are people who use the meat grinder more than 1-3 times a month.
Regular users - people who almost do not pack meat grinder and use it 1-2 times a week.

Which category do you qualify for?

If you are a rare user, consider whether you really need an electric meat grinder. Maybe a purse will suffice? If you only eat a small piece of meat, that choice would be very logical. If the meat grinder has other functions to do, then look for a powerhouse, but not very powerful and inexpensive.

Medium users are advised to choose only electric meat mincers, but usage patterns and needs should also be considered.

Regular users should spare no money and buy a serious device. It is a working tool that must help you to grind a lot of meat.

Regular users are people who have quite a few pets and regularly cook food for them. Hunters, who sometimes need to grind half a deer or elk, should also be included. Even if such a beast is hunted only once a year. Farmers who raise pigs for themselves and sell their meat should also think about powerful devices. Even if you have a large family and you buy meat in the half-pig format, you can still classify yourself as a regular consumer.

The power of the meat grinder

The mincer motor must be powerful enough to grind at least 1 to 1.5 kg of meat per minute. You can mince 0.5 kg of meat with your hands and you won't be able to do so for a long time - just tired of your hand. 1 kg of meat per minute is minced with 400-700 W power mincer. 1.5-2 kg of meat is ground in a 700-1000 W power grinder. 1000-1200 Watt Meat Grinders easily overcome 2.5 kg of meat. If you need a faster meat grinder, look for a meat grinder up to 2000 W (these are extremely rare in online stores because they are already considered industrial).
The higher the power, the more meat you grind. And don't worry about the cost of electricity. If you have a 1kW (1000W) meat grinder, it will cost you just 13 cents per hour. Such a meat grinder grinds at least 2 kg of meat, meaning you grind 120 kilograms an hour (theoretically). It is practically a whole boar or a huge pig. Usually so much meat is minced only industrially.

Remember, the higher the power, the better the meat grinder can deal with problematic meat - cartilage, tendons, pork rinds, fat or even bones. If you buy meat in a shop in 5-10 kg pieces, you don't really need a powerful meat grinder.

Reverse

One of the essential functions of a meat grinder, which is needed when grinding larger quantities and various types of meat. This is the reverse. It is needed when you see that the meat grinder has become jammed, the knife or the screw has become tangled. This way you do not need to disassemble the meat grinder to clean it.

Another important feature is overheating protection. If the meat grinder works long and very hard, the engine needs to "rest". As a result, it may just shut down.

Meat Grinder Accessories

Meat mincers are not only used for mincing meat. It's a great way to make some cookies, make sausages, squeeze fruit and berry juices, and chop vegetables for freezing in the winter. All this can be done with special accessories. In most cases, meat mincers only have biscuit-making and sausage-making attachments that turn into a conventional sieve.
Some models have special vegetable cutters that are roll-shaped. This allows carrots to be cut into straws or cucumbers into thin slices. An eraser is also available, though many recognize that a juicer should be a standalone device. Squeezing juice with a meat grinder is quite a long and inefficient job. If you do this once a year, nothing terrible, but if you do more often, look for a juicer.

What a meat grinder is made of

The best meat mincers are stainless steel. They are long-lived, not afraid of work and friction. It is practically an eternal device. As a result, some have hand mincers left by our parents or grandparents - they still work well if they only sharpen blades (sharpen at any sharpening service center). 

Steel mincers have one drawback - they are usually dishwasher-safe. If you use the meat grinder frequently and want easy washing, then choose a plastic meat grinder.

Of course, plastics wear faster, but they cost less than steel.

As a result, some manufacturers combine plastic and metal details.

Pay attention to the meatloaf legs. They should be rubbery because the meat grinder must be stable when placed on a greasy table. Rubber feet help maintain that stability. Plastic feet are more about beauty than benefits ...

The metal parts of the meat grinders rub against each other, resulting in a black liquid that smells like metal ... To minimize this "waste", it is sometimes necessary to oil the meat grinder. If you do not have it, ordinary oil will work. The meat grinder must be rinsed properly after use. It is recommended that you do this by hand so that no meat remains. If there is any meat residue left, they will start to perish in the cabinet where you keep the meat grinder, and the unpleasant smell of rotting meat will spread. It is very unhygienic and unpleasant.