Grinding your own meats

[pepperdoo]

I just found my attachment and I want to start grinding my own meats. Regular prices on ground beef is up to $4.00 a pound in some places around here.

Does anyone grind there own meats?

[readergirl]

We bought a grinder. So far I have only used it to grind beef, but plan on ham and turkey, and it is saving me money already. I only buy chuck roast and bottom round roast when they go on sale for $1.98 (often around here). I buy 2-3 and freeze for roasts. Now later in the week I buy another 2-3 and grind into hamburger. Nothing is as good for meatloaf, meatballs. or hamburgers. I cook the meatloaves and meatballs, and package into meal size portions, or each meatloaf. I shape the hamburgers into patties, and freeze the patties. When it is time to grill, just pop the patties out of the freezer and onto the grill. It only takes a few extra minutes to cook. No defrosting needed. And you know what is the the meat. That is the best part.

[oreo]

After seeing a segment about hamburgers and how you can combine your own blends of meat to create your own special blend, I bought the meat grinder attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer. I then priced the different cuts of meat and I had to buy so much of each and the price was the same as buying it already ground so I haven't ever used it!

So the place where you buy meat actually charges more per pound for the unground meat versus ground? The places by us don't do that (which is surprising since it is more work).

[alabamagal]

Ground beef is cheap here. Usually under $2 a pound on sale. But that is the plain old beef. Ground round, sirloin are more.

I think why it is cheaper is that they use the cuts that they can not sell. Usually odd shapes and end pieces. I also believe it is one of those things you don't want to know about. I happily just buy the packages (on sale)

My mom used to have a meat grinder. She used to it make "deviled ham" with leftovers. Maybe for a few other things. I would think you could use it to make great blends for hamburgers and things, but likely not something you could save lots of money on.

[pepperdoo]

Since it's just me now, I'm going to play around with different meats. I'm really good at stripping the meat from chickens, and I saw a cooking show that featured a restaurant that specializes in nothing but meatballs. Beef, pork, chicken, turkey, lamb, elk, deer ( deep breath)

I know, I'm weird and entertained by the most off the wall stuff, but it keeps me from feeling down about Paul if I keep busy. Actually, I was entertained by stuff like this before he passed, so call it what you will:)

[bobbysgirl]

OREO: Would you be interested in selling the grinder attachment or trading it? I bought a hand crank grinder and was a bit disappointed in the results. Thinking now, maybe I should try putting the meat through it more than once. Any thoughts?

[Becks]

This is just too much work for me. That and the fact that I rarely use ground meats, so it would be more of an investment than it's worth in my case. But interesting to know that some of you are trying this for yourselves.

[steph08]

We have an electric grinder that is wonderful. We basically only use it to grind up venison when we shoot deer. We don't really buy any ground beef because of that! I have ground up turkey as well. Haven't tried chicken though

[Becks]

You shoot deer? I just hit them with my car on occasion, saves time but not money, lol.

[steph08]

Feb 14, 2011 21:01:52 GMT -5 Becks said:

You shoot deer? I just hit them with my car on occasion, saves time but not money, lol.

If you knew how much my husband spent on hunting stuff, we would probably come out even on the money end!

[oreo]

I'm still hopeful that some day I'll get around to grinding some meat. I'd like to find a really good hamburger blend. I guess I just have to buy a lot of meat, grind it, patty it, and freeze it.

[donnafreedman]

Wow, Pepperdoo -- $4 a pound?
I've heard of people buying bigger cuts of meat on sale and asking the grocery store's meat department to grind them. Haven't done that yet but I might, if I see a very good price on roasts.
I eat very little ground beef these days. When I see it at $2 or less I'll buy several pounds, then make some into hamburger patties and brown and freeze the rest in small amounts to flavor chili, soup or spaghetti sauce.
I'll bet cleaning the attachment is a pain. But I also bet the burgers are terrific.
Best burger I ever had? Moose meat ground up with bacon ends (moose is very lean). Every burger was a bacon burger!

[kadee]

I bought one electric grinder but was totally unhappy with it. It seemed to run backwards (and may have) pushing the meat back out the feeding hole. I wasn't getting anything out of the grind end. Returned it & got my money back!

I want a kitchen aid anyway and was wondering if the grinder attachment really worked? How small do you have to cut the pieces to run them thru?

I want to buy whole sirloin tips & trim & grind myself! We love it for all of our ground bf. recipes...meatloaf, burgers, spaghetti, lasagna, enchiladas, mex. mess dish (?)(I made it up), chili, homemade pizzas, etc.
You can also buy the whole sirloin tips by the case at Sam's for cheaper yet!

[Artemis Windsong]

One of the best investments we ever made was an electric grinder. We cut and wrap the majority of our venison. No fat goes in the grind meat and we know where it came from.

Hunting is a nice diversion, good exercise and provides food. Just be glad it's animals he's hunting.

[kadee]

Ok, I just HAD to bring this up...
When I was a kid, my grandma would boil tongues and run them thru the old hand meat grinder. She did them on fine. We then mixed sandwich spread with the ground meat & used it to make sandwiches out of....tasted sort of like potted meat! I thought they were pretty tasty back then!

[pepperdoo]

Yup, $4.00 a pound regular price. The last pack I bought ended up being over half fat, not 85% like the package said, so that was my last straw. Plus, it's like pulling teeth to get someone to grind it for me. That's why I've decided to just do it myself. The meat grinder's not a pain to clean, and I think it's going to be worth it for me. As time goes on, I dislike being forced to buy the stuff that's put out for sale, and I want more choices in the freezer, not so much bulk, but more of a variety.

I intend to grind chicken, turkey, pork, beef, and I may even make sausages like I used to.
Plus, everyone knows I can stay entertained just watching bread bake in the oven and being in the kitchen:)

[pepperdoo]

My next toy to save up for and get from Lehman's ( Simple Living Products) mostly made by the Amish just may be a grain mill:) The coffee grinder is a hoot:) I love it:)

[toservewithlove]

I honestly don't cook meals often enough to justify it right now, but I know my cousin's family relies very heavily on their grinder. They happen to live on a farm and nearly all of their meat is either something they've raised or hunted. This is just one of the things they do to afford the opportunity for my cousin to be a sahm to 6 children.

[misspt]

I haven't read every post here, but ground "beef" without a label of what type of meat it is, i.e. "chuck", "sirloin", etc. Is akin to hotdogs, you would be amazed at what qualifies under the "ground beef" label. For that very reason I don't purchase it. The stuff that is worth purchasing is getting close to $4/lb here in Mississippi, so I grind my own buying chuck roasts, or other cuts of meat that are reduced for sale. OR we eat a lot of ground turkey that I buy when I visit my sister and we go to the commissary where it is much cheaper than my local grocers.

[bobbysgirl]

Feb 15, 2011 16:45:28 GMT -5 donnafreedman said:

Wow, Pepperdoo -- $4 a pound?
I've heard of people buying bigger cuts of meat on sale and asking the grocery store's meat department to grind them. Haven't done that yet but I might, if I see a very good price on roasts.
I eat very little ground beef these days. When I see it at $2 or less I'll buy several pounds, then make some into hamburger patties and brown and freeze the rest in small amounts to flavor chili, soup or spaghetti sauce.
I'll bet cleaning the attachment is a pain. But I also bet the burgers are terrific.
Best burger I ever had? Moose meat ground up with bacon ends (moose is very lean). Every burger was a bacon burger!

When I asked the butcher to do that he wouldn't because the price was too low for the service. Who knew???

[pepperdoo]

I have the Classic K- model from Kitchen Aid with the 4.5 quart bowl as of today. I had the larger one, but I gave it up to Paul's nephew because of storage issues, and the larger one doesn't suit my needs.

The search for a grain mill is on:) I just love the ideas posted. It's keeping me busy:)

[Agatha]

I have a Cuisinart DC Pro that is (OMG!) 34 years old! And I've only had to replace the bowl once. I've ground meat with it and it does a nice job. I knead bread dough with it all the time.

But I would love to make sausage! Pepperdoo, do you have recipes?

AgathaS (I'm signing because only the exalt button is showing this morning.)

[bobbysgirl]

Feb 14, 2011 18:13:39 GMT -5 @patstab said:

I have an attachment for my Kitchen Aid and I too grind my own hamburger. Also grind ham for ham salad.

I started buying stew meat from Sams and grinding it, makes great hamburger.

Thanks for the info STAB. I am going to look into this.

[bobbysgirl]

Feb 15, 2011 18:23:24 GMT -5 pepperdoo said:

My next toy to save up for and get from Lehman's ( Simple Living Products) mostly made by the Amish just may be a grain mill:) The coffee grinder is a hoot:) I love it:)

I was reading one of my redneck magazines and the grain grinder caught my eye. You can do other things in it too - like coffee and such. I'm afraid to see what they're asking for them.

[pepperdoo]

Saturday's project will be to grind chicken and lean pork to make Asian flavored meatballs to freeze. I don't want to make 20 pounds, just enough so I can have 4 to 5 meals, depending on if I eat Thai, Chinese ... you get the picture.

White meat chicken was $4.09 for 5 pieces. I stripped the meat off the bones and froze the bones for stock. The pork was a long cooking piece (carnita ) that was $ 1.32 total. That's pretty good for a little over 4 pounds of meat.

Better than $4.00 a pound, I must say:)