Your children are in love with hamburgers. So, you decided to purchase a meat grinder to make the patties and cook some burgers at home. But, after a few trials, your meat grinder keeps getting clogged. Even when you try to clean the grinder, it does not help at all.
What has insulted your meat grinder? How can you stop yourself from encountering such a situation again? Check out our article to understand why your meat grinders keep getting clogged and how you can deal with the issue!
Other meat grinder collections:
3 Reasons Why Your Meat Grinder Keep Getting Clogged
Clogging is a pretty familiar problem to home cooks, especially if you have just bought and used it a few times. Some critical causes of this issue include sinew and connective tissues, overstuffing, as well as the lack of proper maintenance.
Sinew and other connective tissues
Connective tissues, such as silverskin and ligaments, together with sinew, are the most common root of a clogged meat grinder. As the whitish strands that connect bones with muscles or connect between muscles, these components are usually tough and strong. Thus, it becomes pretty challenging for the grinder to process all of them smoothly.
Sometimes, even when a sharp blade can deal with small-sized connective tissues, for example, silverskin, it does more harm than good to the grinder. You may first witness your grinder running slower and weaker. Then, it suddenly stops because some silverskin gets stuck between the blades.
Overstuffed
As a beginner to meat grinding techniques, you may sometimes forget the appropriate amount of meat to put into the grinder. Thus, you go beyond its original capacity, eventually overstuffing the newly bought machine.
In this case, the equipment cannot grind the meat evenly. Moreover, it may fail to function appropriately due to the critically high pressure generated by the overloaded meat on the blade.
Improper maintenance
Another factor that inflicts clogging is the lack of proper maintenance. For instance, when the blade gets too blunt, it cannot cut the meat into tiny pieces if you don’t hone it well.
Besides, if you leave wet blades that are not made of stainless steel at average room temperature, they may be exposed to oxygen, hence suffering from corrosion. This phenomenon may typically result in the dullness of the blade.
Yet, in case you are already in a situation where your grinder is clogged, what should you do to tackle the issue? Keep reading to find out!
How To Deal With A Clogged Meat Grinder
Step 1: Disassemble your grinder
Without a doubt, you should take all the components out of the machine to clean them all.
Yet, if you own an electrical grinder, ensure that you do not let the motor pick up any water. Also, to disassemble your grinder more appropriately, don’t forget to check your manufacturer’s guidance in the manual. They usually leave some illustrations that help you visualize the disassembling process better.
Step 2: Let the grinder soak
Now, try to remove all the meat stuck on the blades or other components of the grinder.
If you still see residual meat, oil, or grease on the disassembled parts, let them soak in warm water for 30 – 45 minutes. The high temperature will soften these pieces of meat so that you can wash them more efficiently later on.
Step 3: Clean all the parts
Scrub all the parts of your meat grinder, such as the blade, cover, or screw, using a sponge. You can pour some baking soda over the sponge since this chemical component can help clear off the grease better.
Step 4: Dry the grinder & reassemble
When you have cleaned the grinder well, rinse all components under running water. Then, utilize a dry towel to wipe off the residual liquid.
After that, let them air-dry and reassemble all the parts carefully. Now, you can use the grinder again to make flavorful patties.
Pro Tips To Prevent Meat Grinder From Clogging
You may never want to encounter clogging again after experiencing such an annoying situation. Here are some tips you should bear in mind to prevent clogging in the future:
- Remove all the excess sinew and bones beforehand: Most grinders are not designed to process sinew and bones. So, try to cut off these parts before grinding.
- Sharpen or replace the blade when necessary: In addition to corrosion, frequent usage may also lead to the blades’ dullness. Try to sharpen them regularly or replace them if you find it necessary.
- Cut meat into smaller pieces: Smaller pieces of meat enable the blades to grind more efficiently. Thus, spend some time cutting your meat in advance to save your grinder from clogging.
Final Thoughts
To sum up, sinew, connective tissues, overstuffing and improper maintenance are some potential root causes of your grinder’s clogging. However, with the abovementioned guidance and tips, we hope you have learned the critical measures to take when your meat grinder keeps getting clogged.