Meat Grinders?

[Denise]

Hello everyone!
Last year we had a few discussions about meat grinders and some bbers mentioned that they have Kitchenaid mixers. I would like to get my boyfriend a meat grinder for making sausage and ground meat from his deer and elk. We would be grinding scrap from about 3 deer and 1 elk every year. Do you guys think a Kitchenaid could handle that much grinding? Does anyone out there process your own meat? What do you use?

[SusanT]

I've ground beef once with my Kitchenaid grinder. It's not a lot of fun. It took me about an hour to grind three pounds of beef. A lot of connective tissue can jam up the works and taking the darn thing apart and cleaning it is a real pain (not to mention kind of disgusting). I would imagine that an elk or deer would have a lot more connective tissue than a cow who just stands around all day chewing.

Could you have a local butcher or processor do the grinding for you?

[Vanessa]

Hi. You might need something a bit more powerful for elk and deer. Now I recall MRSREBER's husband grounded deer. ..maybe you can ask her Also because of connective tissue and the amount of meat we are talking about you might need a proffesional machine or my other idea would be contact a meat market and make a deal paying to have the meat grounded.

[Curleytop]

I too have the kitchenaid attachment. Used to grind meat years
ago when you couldn't get 7% fat ground beef. I have some beef strips in the freezer which I think I will grind. I have heard that it is easier to grind the meat when it is partially frozen.
Also, there are two blades for the grinder, a large and small. Used to grind it first with the large (nice for chili meat) and the with the small. I think using the small blade to begin with cuts the work in half. Yes, it is messy, I suggest you wear an apron, and have the mixer on a work surface where the "juice" doesn't get all over things, and it is easy to wash off.
Still, I think it is a worthwhile investment, just not something you would use every day.:p

[Terrytx]

I agree with curleytop. The DH makes a lot of sausage, using all sorts of meats. He has found that slightly frozen meat does pass through the grinder easier and the two blades of the kitchenaid help with the tougher cuts of meat. He had another grinder before I got my Kitchenaid and he was having a terrible time with it. He says the Kitchenaid is great.

[browneye]

I have used a KitchenAid, and it has worked well with partially frozen meat, but I have never done THAT much meat.

Here is a great online store that has all kinds of info, including casings, grinders, etc..... http://alliedkenco.com/stuffer.htm

I have purchased lots of items from them. There is also just really good information as well as books on sausage making, etc.

[Anne]

We use an oster meat grinder - made specifically for grinding meat. We really like it, have used it for about 6 years and generally process the burger from 4 to 6 deer or half a moose per year. No problems with it yet and you can adjust for the texture you desire. It also comes with a sausage stuffer that is very handy.

[Denise]

Thanks everyone! Anne - you are just the person I've been looking for! I have not found a single hunter here in Colorado who processes their own meat! We have found that it costs almost as much, per pound, to pay someone to grind OUR meat as it does to buy a pound of hamburger!
So - does your Oster have a plastic housing or a cast iron housing? Do you freeze meat first? Do you have any good sausage recipes you could share? How about other venison recipes?

[Anne]

Hi Denise. Our grinder has a white plastic housing. We generally take a couple evenings to process a deer, all the scraps go into a large bowl in the fridge while we bone, trim, and package the rest. The scraps are pretty cold by the time we grind them but not frozen. When the grinder starts to slow down on the tough stuff we add a chunk of back fat. I suspect our burger is about 3% fat or less, the patty sausage is a little higher. We do not use pork or beef fat, IMHO that would be defeating the purpose of having organically grown meat. We pretty much use venison in place of beef, pork, or lamb in regular recipies. The deer we have here are very tender and don't require nearly as long a cooking time as beef - overcooked (ie well done) venison is like shoe leather. One of our favorite marinades is 2/3 red wine 1/3 tamari, ginger, garlic, and a bit of jalepeno. Brown a roast, add the above to the pan, and roast at 375 for about 40 minutes. I have lived in parts of the country where the deer had a much stronger flavor (kind of like the last mountain goat we had) - ginger is a great way to enhance/tone down a strong gamey flavor. I'll try and remember to look up some sausage recipes tonight.