Anyone out there have a Meat Grinder?

[Jewel]

I just ordered a Villaware Meat Grinder from the Chef's Catalog that I have been wanting for quite some time. I'm getting tired of not knowing exactly what's in my sausage, and I'd like to be able to make my own! I did some shopping, and found their 320 watt professional model to be the best one (non-commercial), but I'm wondering if anyone else uses one? Chef's has this model marked down from $200 to $99 with free shipping.

When I ordered spices from Penzey's for the first time last week, I ordered the 'Breakfast Sausage Blend' and it got me thinking. I would love to make my own, but I want to use lean meats with no skin. Now I'm thinking Italian Sausage and Hot Sausages too!

Anyone else have ideas, suggestions or opinions? Thanks! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[rosen]

You can make your own chicken sausage like the expensive Aidells brand (so good!). Turkey makes a great hot & spicey sausage 'cause the turkey is so bland the other flavors really POP! Pork is lean & also works well. You can really use any lean meat 'cause it is the herbs & spices that really pack the flavors. What an exciting new piece of equipment to have! I use my Grandmothers antique meat grinder that you clamp to the table & hand crank...which is why we get homemade sausage maybe once a year! But it freezes well, so it's a HUGE batch!

[woodsl]

I have a grinder attachment on my KitchenAid stand mixer, and I have ground my own meat numerous times. I made the Atsa Spicy Pizza Sausage from CL Jan/Feb 01 (pg 89) and it was very good. But that is the only lean sausage recipe I have. I would love to have some additional recipes (including any using venison as I have some venison in the freezer.

[Jewel]

I forgot to ask one other question regarding ground pork? Seems like any time I see ground pork in a store, it's 20 grams of fat per serving. I thought 'the other white meat' would be leaner! My husband is thinking that with this new grinder we could grind our own LEANER cuts, (like when we find center cut pork chops on sale, or whole pork loin on sale, which we do quite often) and save so much fat. Any idea why the store-packaged ground pork is so high in fat?

[Vanessa]

About 30 mins ago my DH came home with the K Aid attatchement for meat grinding/pasta making. He is all excited reading about it.
Bed Bath & Beyond has a great price (there's a 20% coupon this weekend). Since I am allergic to beef guess we will turkey & pork when we start playing around with the grinder.
Right now he is just facinated with the idea of fresh pasta !

[This message has been edited by Vanessa (edited 03-31-2001).]

[woodsl]

Originally posted by Jewel:
I forgot to ask one other question regarding ground pork? Seems like any time I see ground pork in a store, it's 20 grams of fat per serving. I thought 'the other white meat' would be leaner! My husband is thinking that with this new grinder we could grind our own LEANER cuts, (like when we find center cut pork chops on sale, or whole pork loin on sale, which we do quite often) and save so much fat. Any idea why the store-packaged ground pork is so high in fat?

I think because fat is cheap, and let's face it, although too much fat is bad for us, it adds flavor.

[Terrytx]

My DH bought the grinder for my KitcheAid. He loves to make sausage. He just uses standard recipes and cuts way back on the fat. Making you owns lets you regulate the spices and the % of fat. He also makes my ground pork and a lot of our hamburger, when top sirloin goes on sale (which is pretty often).

[Wendy w]

Hi everyone!

Thank you for posting this, Jewel and with great timing too! I know what you are saying about knowing what is in your sausage. By the way, the CL 2000 annual has a recipe for chorizo that looks interesting as it doesn't have the exotic "parts" that the stuff in the store has!

My boyfriend gave me a KitchenAid stand mixer for Christmas and the 3 pack of accessories that we haven't used yet.

He is dying to make sausage and his birthday is this coming weekend. In addition to a couple of little things that he likes and needs but is too stubborn to get for himself http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/rolleyes.gif, I am getting him a few things for sausage making.

I ordered breakfast, bratwurst, Italian sausage seasonings, and curing salt (for making salami)from the Spice House and a sausage book from Half.com which is a little weird but informative. I may have to order the sausage funnels from KitchenAid as I saw some a couple of months ago and when I went back, they were gone http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/frown.gif .

Thank you Renee for the tips-especially about the rice and information! This bulletin board is costing me $$, but I blame no one as it is my own fault http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/redface.gif . I just had to order the Bruce Aidell book as his sausage is very good. While I was at it, I noticed that they had the CL 15 minute for $12.00, You can guess what I did next http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/redface.gif .

Vanessa, I have been toying with the idea of purchasing the pasta plates. Let us know how you & your DH like them and if they are worth it.

If any of you have any more tips or recipes to share, it would be appreciated. I have made home made salami in the past, if anyone would like the recipe, I will be happy to post it.

[ReneeV]

Hi,
I have a Kitchenaid meat grinder attachment and just love it. You can make all kinds of great sausages. Bruce Aidells has a really good sausage making cookbook. Some of the recipes are low-fat, like chicken apple sausage. But even the ones that are not, can be adapted. When whole pork loin goes on sale for $1.50 a pound, I buy one and put it in my freezer until I can get around to grinding it and making sausage. Sometimes I mix it with lean ground turkey, (not breast meat only, that's too dry), which has a moister, softer texture.

Another lean sausage making trick that I learned from a great, intersting cookbook called "Good Stuff", is to add 1/3 c of really soft cooked rice, mashed, per pound of ground meat. You can't see it or taste it in the sausage, but it aids in keeping the meat moist. This works particularly well if you are using casings. When making the rice, I usually use 2x the amount of water and cook about 20-25 minutes until it's good and soft.
Then I drain off any extra water remaining and mash it with a potato masher.

Hope these tips help. Homemade sausage is so good and sooo worth the effort.

Renée

[Jewel]

ReneeV, thanks so much for the rice tip! I would never have thought of it. I think I'm going to be trying really hard to make my sausages leaner than most, so I have a feeling that 'dryness' will be a problem. The rice idea may help! One question though: Do you put the soft rice through the grinder with the meat to get it into the threads? Or just mix it by hand after the meat is already ground. Seems to me it would be easier to put it through the grinder. Sorry for the ignorant question, but I'm so new at this! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/confused.gif I usually make my rice in a Rice Cooker/Steamer, and if I leave it in there for an hour or so on 'warm', it gets good and soft. That should work fine!

Is there anything else I can make with this thing besides sausage and hamburger? Guess I'm limited, huh? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif Thanks!

[browneye]

I love Bruce Aidell's Spicy Louisiana Sausage, which DH and I make in large batches in the KitchenAid grinder, then freeze. It is really great for everything from breakfast, tossing into casseroles, quesadillas, chowder, etc. Here is the recipe for those of you who haven't yet acquired his book.

Spicy Louisiana Sausage
2 cups sliced onions
1 1/2 pounds boned chicken thighs without skin (about 2 pounds with bones) or 1 1/2 pounds ground chicken
1 1/2 pounds boned turkey thighs without skin (about 2 pounds with bones) or 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
1/2 pound bacon, cut into pieces
1 1/2 tblsp chopped garlic
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp. dried sage
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp English style dry mustard
2 tsp yellow mustard seed
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup paprika
4 tsp. kosher salt
1 tblsp freshly ground black pepper

Simmer the onions in water to cover until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Cool under cold running water, and drain. (Make sure the onions are cool. They can be made ahead of time and refreigerated for later use. ) Coarsely grind the onions with the chicken, turkey, and bacon or chop coarsely in batches in a food processor. If using previously ground chicken or turkey, coarsely grind or chop the onions and bacon and mix thoroughly with the ground poultry. Add the remaining ingredients to the ground meat mixture in a large bowl or plastic tub and blend thoroughly with your hands. Fry a small patty until done and taste for salt, pepper and seasonings. Divide the sausage into 7 or 8 portions, wrap tightly in plastic wrap (I use my food saver here) and refrigerate or freeze for later use. Makes 7-8 1/2 pound packages.

These are really quite simple and yummy!

[Wendy w]

browneye,

Great recipe! I can't wait to get the book - sounds like I need to add sausage making to my BF's "honey do" list.

[Andrew]

We have a Krups grinder.
The moving parts are steel it comes with a sausage attachment and some other stuff.

Costs around $100 and is the sturdiest stand alone grinder I've seen. We love it and use it often
especially for grinding beef and pork that I've trimmed of most all the fat.

[Terrytx]

My sweet Dh has spend all day making chicken sausage. He started with the recipes from Flying Sausages cookbook then adaped them to our taste. He made Southwestern Chili, and added lime juice instead of beer, and added garlic and black beans. It tastes almost like the Tequila-black bean saugase at Whole foods. Then he made Thai chicken sausage and pretty much followed to recipe. And last, Spicy Cajun sausage. They all are excellent, I can't figure which one I like most.

[This message has been edited by Terrytx (edited 04-14-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Terrytx (edited 04-14-2001).]