Awesome, Clean, Easy To Use Meat Grinder
This review is based on just one time use. I don't know if I'll be able to update this review or not, but at least for now, I LOVE this meat grinder. I have the attachment for meat grinding for my KitchenAid and did not love this because it's so small and it takes forever to grind even a pound of meat.
I saw a couple videos on YT, one by STX, before I put together and used this grinder. It sat in the box for about a week before I felt bold enough to put it together for use because it was larger than I thought and I thought it would be difficult to put together, despite seeing the ease of the videos.
It didn't really have real instructions on putting it together, but it did show a diagram, and once I realized what was what, it was easy to put together. I had seen the videos a couple days before actually taking the grinder out of the box. It was neatly packaged and I thought some things were missing, but they were not.
It came with all the things you see in the photo, including the plate for the sausage stuffer. That's a huge plus because the YT video I saw that person did not have the stuffer plate. I honestly didn't realize I had purchased the Stuff plate.
The design is very clean. I did freeze my pork so it was semi-frozen, not completely. This makes handling or grinding the meat easier from other videos I saw from other grinding machines. I ground 3 pounds of lean pork (I had removed about 98% of the fat) and cut the pork into strips that would feed into the machine easily. You can ascertain from the opening what this would be.
I thought there were some pieces missing, like the auger, one of the blades, but they were inside the auger enclosure. All of how you put it together is very logical and uncomplicated. It easily ground my 3 pounds of meat and I wish I could put a video because I have a couple.
Though my pieces of meat were the right size and semi-frozen, the thing you push the meat down is very handy. I read a review of some guy very upset that there was some rust or something after one use. If he would have read the care instructions that were provided in the box, it says after use you are to immediately wash with soap and water (I used hot water) and not use anything abrasive to clean it. I did exactly that.
And the CARE instructions said to immediately hand dry all the parts, leaving no water as some parts can rust or other stuff you don't want. I used a dish towel to dry all the parts. Afterwards, I sprayed the auger, the blade, the end parts of the auger where the blade & unit go into with a cooking spray to keep it nicely lubricated.
It was a bit challenging to get all meat stuck in the grinding plate out. I used the smallest grinding plate. It took a little while using my faucets high intensity water sprayer to get the meat/fat stuck in the grinding plate. It would be nice to have some sort of press for this and each of the grinding plates that you can force the meat out. That is the biggest drawback, but not a huge deal.
The one video review not from STX, the guy after he finished grinding the meat put a slice of bread through the grinder to get the rest of the meat out. I think I probably should have done this, too, because I wasted maybe 2 oz of lean pork in the auger/grinding plate area. Live and learn. I guess that heel of the bread I hate, it can go in here the next time.
None of this machine is to be put in the dishwasher. It's all immediate hand dry.
Does not grind veggies or bones.
Lastly, I forgot to turn the side knob to tighten the auger holder thing so while grinding, this whole assembly attached to it fell and scared me. Nothing damaged. Next time and always make sure to tighten this (but don't over tighten).
PROS:
- Easy Assembly
- Easy Cleaning
- Wide Grinding Mouth
- Can 3 lbs pork in 1-2 minutes
- Very affordable at $149
CONS:
- Should have a press for each of the grinding plates to get stuck food out easily when cleaning
- Should maybe have a little bag for all your accessories (but I suppose a baggy works)
I'm looking forward to trying the other grinding plates, grinding other meats and the sausage stuffer. It'll be so much healthier when I can grind and make my own sausage instead of processed store bought.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
