Making the most out of your butcher meat mincing machine can be a grinding process (pun mercilessly intended). Whether you’re just starting out, or a seasoned pro, you’ll always want to ensure your mincing machine is producing the highest quality product it can. So whether you’re preparing some succulent sausages, juicy burgers, or a simple mince mix, here’s our list of top tips to ensure your mincing machine gives your meats get the best treatment possible, all the way from farm to fork!

Perfect prep

As the old saying goes: fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

Firstly, it’s important to plan ahead and decide which cut will serve you best for the type of dish you’re trying to create. For example, if you’re aiming for juicy, rare hamburgers, we’d always advise a less fatty cut. However for a medium to well done burger, you’ll need to look for a cut with about a 40% increase in fat content.

Chuck steaks are some of the most commonly used cuts for hamburgers, as they’re lean and affordable. Or, if you’re looking for an alternative to help reduce the variety of different meats you need to buy, keep a few handy bags of beef and pork fat stored that you can use to add extra fat to any dish!

It’s not uncommon for many butchers to season their meat after feeding it through the grinder is the best way to ensure that you get a nice even distribution, but to be honest this isn’t guaranteed! Generally, we’d advise rubbing your seasoning into the meat and mixing it up before you even begin to grind - it’s a much more efficient way of achieving a fuller flavour.

Chill out

Your prepped meat needs to be stored properly along, just as with all your working metals. It’s essential that you double check all your meats and metals are cold before anyone even thinks about using them. Your plates, auger, knife and tray should all be stored in the freezer, and your meats should be kept as cold as possible (but not frozen, unless you’re storing them long term).

Cold equipment is way more likely to keep your mincing machine working at its optimal standard. Warm meat, leads to dry meat - and this can cause the machine to overheat and malfunction when in use.

meat-in-the-fridge

More efficient mincing

Chilled meat is a good start, but we’d also advise cutting your meat into strips (about 3 - 5cm is a good length). For most products, a grind through a course plate will also be required before any finer grinding is attempted. For smaller game like ducks, geese and waterfowl, you won’t require a first grind, these can go straight through the fine mincer.

Plus, different dishes require different grinding processes, so it’s important to combo your grinds according to the product. For tighter binds used for things like sausages, using grinding combinations is a necessity to ensure a nice even product.

Once you’ve settled on your meat, dish, and grind, comes probably the most important part of the whole mincing process - take it slow. The faster you try to grind the meat – especially if it’s cut into large chunks – the more risk there is that it’s going to overheat. (Not to mention that attempting to feed the meat into the mincer too quickly can result in serious injury, or worse!).
If the meat begins to slow as you’re feeding it through, try turning off your grinder, and removing any sinew from the knife & buildup from the auger. If that doesn’t do it, replace the auger, knife and plate with clean substitutions.

If the meat completely stops flowing from the grinder (which can be annoying), it’s very likely that there’s a bit stuck inside the head. A good little way to deal with this is to try running a piece of bread through the mincer. This will force any remaining meat out, and the excess bread won’t do your meat any harm!

If you’re an expert mincer, or just starting out, we can cater for all your meat mincing requirements here at Butchers Equipment Warehouse. We supply trusted, five star rated brands to all our clients, and with over 30 years experience, we know Butchers Equipment. We supply a large range of butchers machinery, butchers accessories, and butchers knives to help you get the best deals on equipment for your shop. If you have any questions or need advice, please give our friendly team a call on 01254 427721.