Review: KitchenAid Food Grinder
It's a great starter, but not sustainable long term.
The product: KitchenAid Food Grinder attachment
Overall rating: 5.6/10
Simply put: If you’re getting serious about smoking barbecue, that likely includes grinding down your brisket trimmings, making tallow, or crafting sausages. But big meat grinders and sausage gear can get expensive. And if you already have a KitchenAid mixer available, then you have the tools available to get started.
What it is
The food grinder is an attachment for your KitchenAid mixer. Take your meat scraps and trimmings and feed it through the grinder to make ground beef for burgers, sausage, or whatever your chef-heart desires.
Usage
The meat grinder is an additional attachment, so it won’t come with your standard KitchenAid mixer. They are relatively cheap, however. A quick scan online shows they range from $33-$100 — with options to choose between metal and plastic, though personally I’d choose metal.
Functionality
The grinder fits seamlessly into your KitchenAid mixer. It comes with:
A large tray to place your meat on
The meat grinder and tube
Three grinding plates: small, medium, coarse
A pusher — idk if that’s a proper name — to push the food through the neck
You can also buy the sausage-stuffing tubes, though I would highly — and I cannot stress this enough — highly recommend buying a separate sausage stuffer.
How it works
Attach the grinder and turn on the mixer as normal, which will start the grinder. (Pro-tip: freeze the grinder parts you’re using before use.) Before grinding, you need to cube your meat small enough so that it fits into the grinding tube. (Bonus points if you chill the meat after, too.) Add the meat, using the pusher to ensure it reaches the bottom, and grind until you’re finished.
Additional features
None, really.
What’s not to like
The grinder isn’t made for large volumes of meat. It will take you days to grind up 30 or more pounds. Personally, I’d stick to five pounds or less.
You also need to take the extra time to cut your meat into small cubes that will fit into the auger. It’s an extra process, yes, that takes more time, but it’s better than spending the time cutting while you’re also grinding, which is added time that allows both your meat and the grinder to warm.
Speaking of warming, the grinder tends to heat up during use, which heats the fat and causes it to melt into a gobbled meaty mess that harms your end product. Not good. You’ll notice this happening because the meat will begin to look more like a pink paste rather than ground meat. If this happens, stop and clean the grinder and put it in the freezer until it’s cold. Also, re-chill your meat.
Final thoughts
This is a fine option if you’re just getting into the barbecue game. You’ll quickly learn that you need to do something with all of your trimmings, because it’s too expensive throwing them away. You can make tallow with your brisket fat, burgers with your brisket trimmings, or even sausage by breaking down a pork butt. If you’re doing this on the occasional weekend with a small amount of meat, the KitchenAid mixer is likely fine. It won’t eat a lot of meat all at once, and once the grinder gets hot you have to stop to persevere the meat, and the meat has to be cubed in a small enough size to fit in the auger, but if you’re doing a small enough batch then you can get by.
But once you start getting serious, I’d seriously consider upgrading your gear.
My pick: the MEAT! 1 HP Grinder.
What They’re Saying Online
Cheers: “The very best food grinder I could find for my KitchenAid. Worked perfectly to grind beef, pork, and chicken. No doubt it would work just as well for wild game or other meats. Three grind plates come in fine, medium, coarse. The sausage making tubes are a plus! The food pusher feels good in the hand and reaches all the way to the auger. The included cleaning brush is perfectly sized and retains its integrity. The only things dishwasher safe are the pusher, sausage tubes, and cleaning brush. I freeze this before grinding meat to prevent any melting fat or bacterial growth. Works perfectly with semi- or fully-frozen meats.” — AYonko, KitchenAid
Jeers: “This worked great! ...until it didn't. I can't recommend this product any longer. We take good care of it and just a few months after the warranty expires, it stops working. All our other attachments work just fine, there is no physical damage that can be seen, yet it just stops moving when we try to push meat through. Took it apart and made sure it was clean and that there isn't anything jamming it up, confirmed. Cheap product if it stops working after having it a little over a year.” — Bre, Amazon
Other Texas BBQ reviews: Weston Vacuum Sealer • Thermapen ONE • MEAT! 1 HP Grinder • ThermoPop 2 • ThermoPro TP19