grinding question.....

[Cookingmama]

(I hope this is in the right place.... if not... feel free to move it.)

i know some folks here grind their own meats.  do you just buy any piece of beef and grind it up?

Does anyone grind anything other than beef?  can i just go buy a hunk of pork butt and just start grinding it?  does it matter what cut of chicken you grind?  breasts... too dry?  thighs might be better i would think. 


i have a vintage Kenwood (overseas) mixer and it has a grinder attachment.  it is a bit stronger than a standard 325 kitchen aid.

i also have a vintage 75 year old Kitchenaid... but now I'm just showing off.   

[LaTuFu]

What are you doing with the grind? Sausage?

A lot of it depends on what you're doing with the final product, because you may need to mix in fat with it if it is a lean meat like chicken or venison.

[Cookingmama]

Different types of burgers.... maybe sausage patties.  Meatloaf.  I'm not skilled for sausage.

[chefn58]

I don't grind my own beef......anymore. Not that I don't know how to but because the possibility of cross contamination and getting someone sick. It can be unsafe.

If I was to grind I like to use muscle meats like chuck, sirloin and occasionally brisket and add a portion of fat to it to hit the percentages I'm looking for.

Thighs are definitely better than grinding straight chicken breasts. If you are going to go with the breast when you make your burger add some cream to it to add moisture. This has worked for me in the last. Just be sure that after you miss your burgers you put them in the fridge for a while to set up.

I have ground pork butt as well. It works great in meatloaf and for other applications.

I have also mixed different ground meats to make burgers. Some of these have been bison/beef, Italian sausage/beef and my all time favorite ground bacon and ground beef. Depending on the potency of the meat changes the percentage of one to the other.

I hope this answers your question but maybe created more!


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[Cookingmama]

Thanks for the info.  The thing that stayed in my head though is the it being unsafe part.  How so? 

[demosthenes9]

Different types of burgers.... maybe sausage patties.  Meatloaf.  I'm not skilled for sausage.

Short version, yes, grind up a butt, grab some sausage seasoning mix and off you go.   Butts are about 70/30 lean to fat.  If that is too fatty for your tastes, you might want to grind a bit of lean pork loin in with the butt.

[chefn58]

Sorry!  I left out a small part. It is not the safest to grind your own beef in a COMMERCIAL restaurant setting. At your own house is a different story. Grind away!
Commercially, the liability that comes with grinding beef is far greater than the benefit. There's nothing wrong with mixing different ground meats I just don't recommend grinding your own.


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[1buckie]

THIS.......is everything you could ever want to know about sausage making....

http://www.meatsandsausages.com/

http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes

The links are the English translation of a giant forum of Polish sausage makers....
The Smoking Meats, BBQ & Sausage making sections all have great general food handling & safety & parameters info also......


What you're basically doing is making fresh, uncooked sausage to then cook right away.....not a cured, low heat smoke preserved product.............

The info there will tell you about percentages of fat to lean for different types of meats, for instance, most people would put in something like 22~25% pork (with fatty pieces) into a venison sausage to get the moisture  amount corrected & not have a dried out grind......it's basically the same for what you want to do, just that you're not adding Tenderquick or Cure #1 as a cold  (actually warm) smoked product....

Here's the simple rundown on that part:

"Smoking Without Nitrates
For those who smoke meats without cures, it will be advisable to smoke them at temperatures well above the danger zone (>160° F, 72° C). Such a product will not be pink but will exhibit a typical grayish color of cooked meat. Adding cure to meats that will be smoked brings many benefits (explained later), one of them is preventing the danger of contracting food poisoning, known as botulism. Barbecued meats are smoked at much higher temperatures which eliminates the danger of Clostridium botulinum producing toxins.

Those who insist on smoking meats without nitrates, should be aware that the internal meat temperature trails the temperature of the smokehouse by about 25° F and to be on the outside of the danger zone, the smoking must be performed at temperatures higher than 170° F (77° C) which in our opinion becomes cooking with smoke. Clostridium botulinum bacteria need moisture, warm temperatures and the absence of oxygen. These are prevalent conditions in a small self contained smoker, where incoming air is kept at minimum in order for the sawdust to smolder and not to burst into the flames. A large outside smokehouse with a separate fire pit is at a smaller risk as there is an ample flow of fresh air that enters smoking chamber together with the smoke. Using dry wood increases safety as less moisture will be created."

You're basically doing "hamburger" style ground meat & cooking or smoking at a higher heat so there's no need for the preservatives.....

[masonred]

Get this book, Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing by Rytek Kutas.