Can I Use Meat Grinder For Vegetables?

Vegetables, in the form of tomatoes, garlic, and onions, are one of the few consistent elements in our recipe. But whether you use a turbo blender, a mortar and pestle, or just a good old-fashioned knife and cutting board, there are a variety of ways to prepare veggies.

The answer is yes if you own a meat grinder and are wondering if it will work well for grinding veggies. Onions, tomatoes, and other vegetables can be ground to a fine pulp in a meat grinder (like this Heavy Duty Commercial Stainless Steel Meat Grinder).

A manual meat grinder can be used for this, although it won’t be as efficient as an electric one. If you must, though, I have one that resembles an electric grinder that would interest you. Huayno Stainless Steel Manual Meat Grinder

Before we get into why a meat grinder is so useful in the kitchen, I’ll show you how to use it to grind vegetables, one of its many potential uses.

Table of Contents

How To Grind Vegetables With Your Meat Grinder

You’ll soon learn that using a meat grinder to pulverise veggies is a simple process. If you follow the instructions below, you can do the task quickly.

Materials Needed

Meat grinder
Vegetables
Bowl
Knife

Step 1: Cut The Vegetables Into Tiny Bits

If your meat grinder is on the smaller side, you may need to cut your vegetables into smaller pieces to fit them in. Preparing your vegetables for grinding by cutting them into smaller pieces will speed up the process. In order to make any headway with your meat grinder, you’ll need to run vegetables like onions through your kitchen knife first.

Step 2: Get Your Meat Grinder Ready

After chopping your vegetables, you should prep your meat grinder by either plugging it in (for electrical meat grinders) or mounting it in a convenient location.

To facilitate effortless grinding when the veggies touch the contact plate, you may also like to idly run water into the motor. In addition, while you have the opportunity, put a dish beneath the meat grinder’s outlet to catch the shredded veggies.

Step 3: Pour Your Sliced Vegetables Into The Meat Grinder And Grind

When your meat grinder’s settings are just right, you can throw in as many vegetables as it can handle at once. You may need to apply pressure to the vegetables as they go through the hopper of your meat grinder.

Keep your spoon from going all the way through the hopper by being cautious. The veggies can easily collect vegetables as you apply pressure, and then crush them as needed.

Gather the pulverised produce and put it to good use. In the next step, you’ll clean the grinder so it’s ready for use again after it has dried. Following these easy instructions, you should be able to complete the task successfully.

How To Clean Your Meat Grinder After Grinding Vegetables

For a successful meat grinder cleaning, you’ll need the following supplies:

Materials Needed

Chemicals for washing dishes
Brush Wet washcloth Bottles
Sponge
the instructions for your meat grinder

Step 1: Pour Water Through The Hopper

In order to remove any remaining stuck veggies, run water through the hopper after grinding.

As soon as you’re done grinding, clean your meat grinder as thoroughly as possible to reduce the likelihood of food particles, such as vegetables, becoming lodged in the machine and leading to rust.

Step 2: Grind Some Slices Of Bread

Putting two or three slices of bread in the blender after processing vegetables might help remove any leftover oil from the meat grinder’s blades and tunnel.

Whatever you decide to do with the ground bread is entirely up to you, and it helps to drive out any remaining vegetable particles that may be present in the meat grinder.

Step 3: Dismantle The Removable Parts Of Your Meat Grinder

In order to clean your meat grinder thoroughly, you’ll need to disassemble the pieces that can be removed. If you don’t know how to do this, consult the handbook for your meat grinder. To avoid starting anything you can’t finish, you should be sure you’re capable of doing so.

A manual meat grinder’s main components are the blades, the cover, and the metal plates; the screw that feeds the contents of the hopper into the feed tube; and the pusher, which, when assembled, serves as both the hopper’s lid and the pusher.

If you’re worried about getting confused when putting it back together, film yourself disassembling it.

Step 4: Soak The Removable Parts In Water Mixed With Dish Soap

After disassembling your meat grinder, place the individual pieces in a bucket of soapy water in your sink. For the optimum outcome, soak for at least 45 minutes.

Please be aware that submerging the motor components of an electric meat grinder in water can cause irreversible damage to the appliance. Soaking these pieces will assist loosen the grip of the veggies on the meat grinder’s components.
Step 5: Use Your Sponge To Wash The Parts

First, soak the individual pieces of your meat grinder in water, and then use your sponge to clean them. Be thorough in your cleaning, but be careful around the blade area.

Put the bottle brush to good use cleaning the feed tube and plate holes that a sponge can’t reach.

Step 6: Rinse The Parts, Dry Them, And Store Them Properly

After you’re done cleaning the components, rinse them in clean warm water and pat them dry with a towel before letting them dry on a wire rack or some other suitable surface.

Make careful to oil the moving parts of your grinder to prevent rusting, and store the grinder in an airtight container away from direct sunlight and moisture.

It’s also a good idea, if you have the room in your fridge, to store some of the components of your meat grinder, since research has shown that doing so improves their performance.

What Else Can I Make With A Meat Grinder?

If you thought a meat grinder could only be used for grinding meat, you’d be completely wrong. Your meat grinder can do more than just pulverise veggies; here are a few recipes to get you started.

Jimmy Dean Breakfast Sausage (Credit To Chef Chang)

Ingredients

¾ teaspoon of salt
16-ounce of pork meat
½ teaspoon of dried parsley
¼ teaspoon of ground sage
¼ teaspoon of ground coriander
¼ teaspoon of crushed red pepper
¼ teaspoon of dried thyme
¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper
1 tablespoon of oil
½ teaspoon of MSG (not compulsory)

How To Make Jimmy Dean Breakfast Sausage – Step By Step Guide

Step 1

Mix all the ingredients together in a single bowl, being sure to include everything on the list. It is imperative that the pork be ground up in a meat grinder.

Step 2

Once everything is combined, you can make sausages or throw a party, whichever suits your fancy at the time. If you want to make sausage, you’ll need to use a meat grinder to break down the pre-mixed ingredients before stuffing them into the casings with a stuffing tube.

Step 3

Put your sausage in a hot frying pan with some oil. presence throughout frying is required; the sausage must be turned over and over for a minimum of 12 minutes. After it browns on all sides, you may eat it.

Put parchment paper in between each burger after frying to keep them from sticking together. They have a potential longevity of 3 months. Just use what you can use of the sausages and store the remainder in the freezer.

Ground Beef Jerky (Credit To Chef Chang)

Ingredients

One pound of ground beef with the fat removed
The following ingredients should be used in your marinade:
Just a splash of soy sauce, maybe a tablespoon
1/4 teaspoon of Prague powdered salt for curing
Worcestershire sauce, one tablespoon
The equivalent of one teaspoon of curry powder, red
One-tenth of a teaspoon of lemon pepper powder
Black ground pepper, one teaspoon
a half a teaspoon of onion powder
1/2 teaspoon of dried garlic
1/2 of a teaspoon of cumin
About a quarter of a teaspoon of ground ginger

If you like your beef on the spicy side, as I do, feel free to up the amount of any ingredient, up to the point where you’re satisfied with the flavour.

Ground Beef Jerky – Step By Step

Step 1

Once the beef has been processed in a meat grinder, combine all of the ingredients (including the ground beef) in a large bowl. All the components need to be carefully combined.

Step 2

Strips (approximately 4 inches in length) can be made on a dehydrator tray using a jerky gun (for more information, see this link). Without a jerky gun, the meat can be cured by laying it out on a baking sheet and covering it with greaseproof paper.

Step 3

Roll the meat out to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. With regards to meat, the thinner the sheet, the better. After rolling, cut the beef into 4-inch-long strips using a sharp knife.

Step 4

To dehydrate the beef, arrange it on a dehydrator tray and heat it to 160 degrees Fahrenheit in a dehydrator. If you leave your beef jerky in the dehydrator for too long, it will dry out and become tough. You should remove it after around 3 1/2 hours.

The meat grinder’s versatility far exceeds its reputation, allowing you to make dishes as varied as turkey burgers, Korean ground beef, and rice bowls.

Is It Healthy To Grind Your Own Meat?

The practise is not only beneficial to health, but also highly recommended. Simply put, grinding your own meat is the first step in experiencing the full flavour potential of your burgers and meatballs. When you grind your own meat, you can control the consistency and quality.

As an added bonus, you can be assured that your meat will retain its peak freshness because you are not using any of the additives that some pre-ground meats may include.

Grinding your own meat, if necessary, is well worth the time, as it greatly minimises the danger of E. coli contamination.

Is A Meat Grinder Worth It?

Absolutely! After reading this, you should realise the value of meat grinders and the convenience they provide.

How awesome would it be to have a gadget that helped you whip up your favourite morning treat or meal replacement? In addition, you can transform things, such bones, into their swampy counterparts. I can attest that it is well worth the effort.

Does KitchenAid Meat Grinder Grind Bones?

Unquestionably, yes! However, this is conditional on the sort of bones you plan to pulverize. The smallest chicken bones or brisket bones should be fine for the grinder, but that’s about it.

As far as I can tell, anything tougher or heavier than bones could be troublesome, therefore I recommend using a bone grinder (read more about them here) for the best results.