If you are a meat maestro or perhaps a burger aficionado, you do not have to rely on store-bought ground meat. After all, grinding meat on your own is easier than most people think.
If the results of your first attempt didn’t give you the impression, that should not be your huge turnoff. Most importantly, it is healthier and safe when you decide to go the home-ground style.
The CDC approximates about 265, 000 E. coli infections each year. Who wishes to be on that list anyway? Well, if that is not enough to convince you, let’s dig deeper into home-ground meat things.
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Why Should You Grind Your Own Meat At Home?
When you take a glance at pounds of ground beef on a tray, one fact remains clear – You got no clue whatever ingredients are included in there and whether the meat is safe.
However, by grinding meat by your own, you have everything under your control. Most importantly, you control what goes into what into your mouth and in a position to avoid food-borne illness.
Here is why grinding your own meat at home may be a good choice:
- You have full control over the whole process.
- At any time, you can reach to your freezer and make yourself beef burgers for quick lunch
- Overall quality, freshness, and level of fineness are all under your control
- It is possible to achieve a better texture than found in the store-bought varieties.
- You can maintain the 80/20 meat-fat ratio or adjust as you wish
Procedure
New to meat grinding? Well, it is pretty simple, just follow the below steps:
- Curt the beef chunk onto small 1.5-inch cubes. These will work pretty fine with hamburgers, sausages, stews and more.
- Freeze the cubes for at least half an hour. This will allow for easy manipulation of meat.
- Next, spread the cubes on a baking sheet and let them be separate from each other. The cubes will be ready for grinding when the edges are stiff while the inner is supple.
- For efficient and convenient grinding, the grinder appliances should be kept in the freezer for a while. This makes a whole big difference especially in regard to meat smearing and clogging.
- To prevent the temperature danger zone, keep your ground meat chilled. You may decide to keep the ground meat in a hopper filled with ice cubes.
- If you are not pleased with the end results, put the ground meat back into the grinder and repeat the process.
- To enjoy juicy and fresh meat, it is advisable to cook the ground meat immediately. However, you can decide to freeze and use it later.