Having a meat grinder in your kitchen revolutionizes the way you make meals. You'll be making the most delicious, juicy hamburger patties of your life in no time. No more buying sausages at the grocery store made of questionable contents, either. A meat grinder will let you take advantage of inexpensive cuts of meat to make delicious meals. If you buy meat in bulk, a meat grinder is the way to take advantage of trimmings you'd otherwise throw away.
Over the years, we have had the opportunity to use some wonderful, commercial meat grinders. They are great tools, but aren't really appropriate for the home kitchen. We use meat grinders around our home, too, and today we want to show you a few of the ones we really like. These are the top meat grinders on the market today.
Meat! 500 W Meat Grinder
This is a real powerhouse of a home meat grinder, and it's our favorite one right now. This thing handles up to 4 pounds per minute, so you can really get through a lot of protein quickly. It includes both coarse and fine stainless steel cutting blades and a stainless steel stuffing plate for sausage making. This electric meat grinder is perfect for the home kitchen.
There are a few reasons this one is the best grinder in our opinion. It's easy to use and the grinder comes with everything you need to get started. You won't believe the ideas you'll come up with for meat grinding when you start using the Meat! 500 watt grinder.
Key Features
- 500 watt electric meat grinder
- 4 lbs per minute
- Forward, reverse, and stuffing speeds
- Includes fine and coarse grinding plates
- Stainless steel sausage stuffing plate
Pros
- Powerful motor that can handle lots of meat per hour
- Durable stainless steel grinding blades
Cons
- Only available on meatyourmaker.com
Cuisinart Electric Meat Grinder
Chances are, you've got a Cuisinart appliance in your kitchen already. The company builds high-quality products that do a good job. The Cuisinart Electric Meat Grinder follows in the tradition of affordable quality, and it's one of the best on this list. It's 300 watt electric motor can handle three pounds per minute. It includes a medium and coarse steel grinding plates and two different size tubes for stuffing sausage.
Key Features
- 300 watt electric meat grinder
- 3 pounds per minute
- Includes medium and coarse plates
- Two sausage stuffing tubes
Pros
- Small size doesn't take up tons of space
- Powerful enough for most applications
Cons
- Less powerful and more expensive than our top pick
- Metal parts are not dishwasher safe
Altra 3-in-1 Electric Meat Grinder
The Altra 3-in-1 meat grinder will do what it needs to for you. It's quite powerful at 350 watts and can grind up to three pounds of meat per minute. It comes with three grinding plates for coarse, medium, and fine grinds. It also has a sausage stuffer tube and an extra cutting blade. It's designed to be easy to clean, but the metal parts should be hand washed.
Key Features
- 350 watt electric meat grinder
- 3 lbs per minute
- Includes fine, medium, and coarse plates
Pros
- All-metal body for long-term durability
- Everything you need to get started grinding your own meat
Cons
- Low quality metal parts
- Some reliability issues reported
Sunmile SM-G31 Electric Meat Grinder
This is a budget machine, but many people will get all the use out of it they need. It won't handle big chunks of meat, but the 250 watt motor will be good enough to grind two pounds per minute. This grinder features three plates. It has a diecast body and aluminum parts, so it must be hand washed. This is the least expensive option on our list, and some users have reported long-term quality issues.
Key Features
- 250 watt electric meat grinder
- 2 lbs of meat per minute
- Includes three grinding plates
- Includes sausage stuffer
Pros
- Inexpensive
- Sufficient for light-duty grinding
Cons
- Some durability issues reported
KitchenAid Meat Grinder Attachment
Okay, so this one isn't a grinder itself, but if you've got a KitchenAid stand mixer, this all-metal attachment will let you grind meat quite well. It uses the power of the stand mixer to turn the auger, so the model you have will depend on how quickly it'll grind meat. This attachment is really designed for single-meal grinds, so if you want to make sausage out of trimmings from deer season, you'll need something more substantial. It will grind out a chuck roast for hamburgers, though.
Key Features
- Grinder attachment for KitchenAid stand mixer
- Three grinder plates included
- Large feed tray
Pros
- Easy to clean
- Doesn't require a bunch of space
Cons
- Can't handle large quantities at a time
How to Use a Meat Grinder
There are some tricks to using an electric meat grinder to grind meat at home that can make the difference between success and frustration. No matter what electric grinder you choose to use, these tips and tricks will get you on your way to making the best ground beef, pork, chicken, or types of meat you want to grind.
Chill your meat before you start grinding. As the meat starts grinding, the fat and meat can separate, creating a gooey mess that plugs up the cutting disk. On grinders like the one from Meat!, you can use the reverse function to free up the clog. Starting with chilled meat will prevent clogs and help speed up the grinding.
When you cut your meat up before grinding, make sure that you cut the meat into small pieces. Make sure to remove bones and tendons because these can damage the grinder and ruin your ground meat. Smaller pieces of meat are less likely to plug up the auger and you'll get a smoother grind.
Don't forget to thoroughly clean any electric grinder before you use it the first time to remove grease the grinder is shipped with. Periodically use a food-grade silicone spray on all internal parts.
Final Verdict
We chose the Meat! 500 watt electric meat grinder as our top choice for several key reasons. This grinder is durable enough to handle large quantities of meat with ease. The grinding head and auger are made of high-quality metal and are very durable. It's the best meat grinder sausage stuffer we've found for personal use. The stainless steel plates will handle a lot of meat without damage.
Grinding meat at home can save you lots of money over buying ground meat and sausage at home. Even better, a meat grinder opens up a culinary world for you. Many of our favorite recipes (like our summer sausage one) start with grinding in our Meat! electric meat grinder.
The Bearded Butchers are dedicated to providing as much information as we possibly can to help you understand how to best process and prepare meats of all kinds. To help you, we maintain a blog and Youtube channel with lots of free, high-quality information. The Bearded Butchers and Beardedbutchers.com are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This means that The Bearded Butchers may receive a commission if you click on a link above and make a purchase on Amazon.com.
