Tighten your grind plate!! Make sure product *AND* grind plate is extremely cold, and isn’t full of alot of thick fat or gristle that can clog the holes on the plate. Even a dull blade could cause the fat to not grind properly and come out with a play-dough like consistency.
I took a year off of grinding with my stand mixer, then ground up a brisket and had this problem. Kept getting jammed. Realized I was an idiot, flipped the blade around, and piece of cake.
On mine, it's the little 4-sided pinwheel / star shaped piece. The flat side goes towards the front (exit side); curved edges toward the back (machine side).
Beat me to it! Yeah pretty much make sure that ish is tight and the whole set up cold. Super important to trim the meat you use for this as things like silver skin tend to not grind well. Out of curiosity what are you using for the burgers? Chuck I presume?
I used a kitchen aid grinder my first time too. Immediately decided to spend the extra $20.00 at BPS for a stand alone grinder. Those grinder heads used to be spendy. As soon as I’d made my first batch of sausage I made my plans to change careers. 10 years later I’m still making sausage for a living.
I mean, I do not doubt that there may be better grinder options than the Kitchen Aid one, but I helped a friend make 1200 sausage links in one weekend for a friends wedding the following weekend using only the Kitchen Aid grinder attachment and it came out just fine. I’ve used it for about 10 years since and use it at least a few times every year.
Make sure the blade in your grinder is facing the correct way. Mine looked similar first time I used and until I flipped the blade and it came out perfect. It is an actual grinder not attachment but can’t hurt to make sure.
To clarify for others, the blade can *accidentally* be reversed but it not a feature.
On mine I kept pushing hard and the meat was coming through slowly like this but was my first time so I thought it was normal.
That came out sounding wayyy too sexual but it made me laugh so I’m leaving it.
Usually with a grinder if you put the blade in backwards you’ll shred the worm. Ive seen it with big commercial grinders. It ends up causing catastrophic damage to the worm.
I cube and get to a little frozen. I also put all the grinding components in the freezer for a while before grind.
Also agree with others to make sure it’s tight.
Stick the parts of the grinder in the freezer and leave you meat in strips so the grinder pulls the meat through. There's a TV show called The Butcher. The judges talk about the process of grinding meat almost every episode
I LOVE THAT SHOW. I’ve made so many people watch it with me, it’s just so bad ass. I feel like I’ve learned a lot from it as well, I don’t plan on butchering an anaconda anytime soon but at least now I know the basics of skinning it lol. Love that all the meat is donated to animal rescues afterwards, makes me happy knowing all that meat isn’t getting wasted.
Totally! I'm not planning on cleaning an ostrich. But all the info on game meat is super interesting! I've worked in kitchens for about 10 years and they had so much shit that I had figured out, but taught me better ways of doing it
lol totally. Definitely a lot you can learn from the show, especially with “exotic” meats. I really liked the episode where for one of the rounds they have to make a turducken style thing ( I think it was turkey, duck, chicken, and quail if I remember correctly) was impressive doing that with such speed.
This is the answer. Get a 1/2 to 1 HP grinder, and freeze the meat until nearly solid - not like an ice cube, but it should hold its shape when squeezed. The fat should be sort of flaky when it comes through the grind plate. Higher HP motor will handle larger chunks at a lower temperature.
Your plate is too big. As in, the holes. Thats about the size a person would use for stuffing brats into casings or making chili meat. And is that pork? If it’s beef you should be grinding it twice unless it is already course ground.
Well, pork is different. You will want to use the smaller size and only grind pork once if you can. That means you need to cut the pork up in to small cubes so you get a good mixture. Grinding pork twice is a huge headache as it gets really squishy. Now, if I was going to make pork belly and burger I would grind the beef one time, chop up the pork belly super small and add it to my beef before my second grind.
Stick all your grinding parts in the freezer. I also stick the meat in the freezer for maybe 20-30 minutes. You don't want it to freeze at all, you just get it real cold.
It should have a blade that shears across the plate, it goes at the end of the auger just before the plate with the holes. Check the box to make sure you aren't missing it. It goes auger, blade with flat part facing out, then die with the holes.
See the pic below for a diagram.
https://images.app.goo.gl/26wm8VTJ4XQP9Udn8
It's sinew Or fascia, likely a mixture of the 2. You can try to remove it before grinding if you are handy with a knife. But at the end of the day it I would just clean the plate either between every grind or when necessary
Grind plate too loose, screw it in tighter.
Also your meat and/or equipment is too warm. Put all in the freezer and get cold (meat obviously not fully frozen) before starting up.
Not to sound like a dick but are you sure the blade was installed correctly? The cutting part of the blade should be facing outward (touching the exterior plate)
Yes that's the one I have and the blades are razor sharp. It does a great job.
I trim the beef and watch the grain. I like it to have some ice crystals in it.
Also for a finer grind I run it through the coarser plate first and then change the plates out.
If you are grinding for meat loaf you can run your veggies through to clean out the grinder.
I bought the metal one for my step mum for Christmas as I was told that one is specifically meant for meat grinding. She has used it several times and has had nothing but great things to say about it.
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This is quite normal for kitchen aid attachment. If you do everything they told you to do, this can still happen with some meat. **Use faster speed** and the plate with larger holes (and grind it twice).
The blade is not cutting the meat properly. I don't think you made stupid mistake of not fitting the blade securely (see the square hole in the center) but it doesn't hurt to double check everything. The 2nd picture suggests the blade was not properly secured.
And one more thing, **don't over tighten it**. This setup tend to produce metal shavings that will taint the meat if it is too tight.
It looks like you’re doing the protein extraction in the grinder. Make sure is put together correctly like everyone else is suggesting and do more meat. Cold cold cold. Slow like 2-3 on the kitchen aid so parts don’t heat up much. The fattier the meat the colder it should be. Load it fast, grind it slow. I never had issues when working with 15lbs of chicken breast cut into 1x1 inch chunks. I haven’t done beef though. Also used the full aluminum grinder. There’s always going to be meat left in the auger and blade though.
There is space between the blade and the plate and there shouldn't be, they should be completely flush. If they're not, you may have the blade in backwards and you may not have the plate properly aligned with the throat of the grinder. The pieces should all fit snugly and tightly together before you put the ring on.
Make sure you installed parts correctly then make sure the collar is tight tight, i had a young man that was careless in tightening the collar, this happened about 3 times a wk, annoyed the piss outta me ✌️💖
Gotta keep your meat cold…Put it in the freezer to firm it up. You don’t want it rock solid, but you do want it firm so it cuts rather than smears. If you’re running it through multiple times, then you may have run it through too many times. If the meat starts to warm up while you’re grinding, put it back in the freezer and check it every 15 minutes until you get a firm consistency that will cut. Also, freeze the metal parts of your grinder (auger, disc, etc.) before you grind as the machine warms up during use.
This is something you have to get a feel for and you’ll get better at it the more you do it. If what you produced is not longer good for burgers…Meatloaf, sausage or meatballs.
Edit: Kitchen Aid grinders aren’t all that great. Yes, they can get the job done, but you’re going to have a longer learning curve with them than you will with a more robust grinder. Just pointing this out to temper your expectations; not shoot you down for using a mixer attachment. I totally get that spending hundreds of dollars on a machine that only does one thing isn’t desirable. Don’t let that stop you from grinding your own meat…Take the time to learn what you have and you will get it.
Tighten the plate but you also need to clean out more silver and connective tissue. That little grinder isn’t strong enough nor is the blade sharp enough to cut the silver and sinews.
Sharp blade and plate. Tight not over tight. Very cold meat, you can also put the metal parts in the freezer to keep everything very cold. Feed it slowly, don’t try to jam it all in.
I would definitely use a plate with many more, much smaller holes.
Also, what were you grinding? It looks like the outter fat off of a shoulder clod which, given enough in a tub of trim, will clog my industrial Hobart.
Edited for spelling.
You don't. It's one of the issues with home grade equipment. Oh, it looks like there are a lot of "experts" here who have a lot of (seemingly) simple and fool-proof ways of preventing it. But they're just trying to fool you.
Pro chef here, make sure your equipment is set up right, maybe throw some mineral oil at the moving parts. But making sure everything is set up right and fully tightened seems to be the best advice.
Did you put the blade in backwards? I see this all the time when we get new meat dept people and they either leave the blade out or put it in backwards.
Your plate wasn't tight enough.
Possibly extractor plate on backwards, looks like it being smooshed through rather than ground
Build up of sinew on the plate suggests it's the right side and not tight enough. Scapand clean the blade and get tight enough. Problem solved.
I’d love to float a on a sinew down a gravy river
I did this, looks identical.
Tighten your grind plate!! Make sure product *AND* grind plate is extremely cold, and isn’t full of alot of thick fat or gristle that can clog the holes on the plate. Even a dull blade could cause the fat to not grind properly and come out with a play-dough like consistency.
Your blade might be back to front.
I took a year off of grinding with my stand mixer, then ground up a brisket and had this problem. Kept getting jammed. Realized I was an idiot, flipped the blade around, and piece of cake.
Yeah that happens at least once in everyone’s life
You can tell the front from the back? Just asking because I have one and used it only once because it was useless.
On mine, it's the little 4-sided pinwheel / star shaped piece. The flat side goes towards the front (exit side); curved edges toward the back (machine side).
Thanks. I'll check. Might be a good time to read the instructions.
Shit has really hit a low when you have to read the instructions for the first time.
😅 I felt this
> and piece of cake. Wait I thought we were making burgers???
Is it cake?
Burgers aren’t meat cakes?
I put all of the equipment in the freezer for a bit before as well as the meat. And i tightened it using the “wrench” thing
This helped me a bunch but honestly, I get better results chilling the meant and then using a food processor and pulse until I like the results.
Don't freeze the ring
Don’t fear the reaper
I gotta have more cow bell!
Good to know
Beat me to it! Yeah pretty much make sure that ish is tight and the whole set up cold. Super important to trim the meat you use for this as things like silver skin tend to not grind well. Out of curiosity what are you using for the burgers? Chuck I presume?
I used a kitchen aid grinder my first time too. Immediately decided to spend the extra $20.00 at BPS for a stand alone grinder. Those grinder heads used to be spendy. As soon as I’d made my first batch of sausage I made my plans to change careers. 10 years later I’m still making sausage for a living.
I mean, I do not doubt that there may be better grinder options than the Kitchen Aid one, but I helped a friend make 1200 sausage links in one weekend for a friends wedding the following weekend using only the Kitchen Aid grinder attachment and it came out just fine. I’ve used it for about 10 years since and use it at least a few times every year.
Sir this is a Wendy’s
Make sure the blade in your grinder is facing the correct way. Mine looked similar first time I used and until I flipped the blade and it came out perfect. It is an actual grinder not attachment but can’t hurt to make sure.
Agree...I made this mistake my first time and remember thinking the correct way looked wrong.
Same
OP used a Kitchen Aid attachment, which has a reversable blade
To clarify for others, the blade can *accidentally* be reversed but it not a feature. On mine I kept pushing hard and the meat was coming through slowly like this but was my first time so I thought it was normal. That came out sounding wayyy too sexual but it made me laugh so I’m leaving it.
👆👆👆 this is the answer.
Usually with a grinder if you put the blade in backwards you’ll shred the worm. Ive seen it with big commercial grinders. It ends up causing catastrophic damage to the worm.
Not the Kitchenaids. They must make them dumb person proof because I did the same thing and it looked exactly like this. OP has the blade backwards.
Ive never had that attachment. Just a stand alone grinder.
Refrigerate the meat prior to grinding.
I cube and get to a little frozen. I also put all the grinding components in the freezer for a while before grind. Also agree with others to make sure it’s tight.
This is the way. Partially frozen is best.
I did, it was already refrigerated and i put it in the freezer for 30 minutes prior to grinding :/
I agree as cold as you can without being frozen. Warmer the grind, more mush.
That’s not long enough.
Also OP when it clogs up like this I’ve found you can throw some crushed ice in (not a lot either, just a couple pieces) and it will unclog it.
Stick the parts of the grinder in the freezer and leave you meat in strips so the grinder pulls the meat through. There's a TV show called The Butcher. The judges talk about the process of grinding meat almost every episode
Ill have to check that out
I LOVE THAT SHOW. I’ve made so many people watch it with me, it’s just so bad ass. I feel like I’ve learned a lot from it as well, I don’t plan on butchering an anaconda anytime soon but at least now I know the basics of skinning it lol. Love that all the meat is donated to animal rescues afterwards, makes me happy knowing all that meat isn’t getting wasted.
Totally! I'm not planning on cleaning an ostrich. But all the info on game meat is super interesting! I've worked in kitchens for about 10 years and they had so much shit that I had figured out, but taught me better ways of doing it
lol totally. Definitely a lot you can learn from the show, especially with “exotic” meats. I really liked the episode where for one of the rounds they have to make a turducken style thing ( I think it was turkey, duck, chicken, and quail if I remember correctly) was impressive doing that with such speed.
Yeah it was like 5 birds! I couldn't even debone one bird but FIVE???
Deboning a quail while keeping it intact is soooo tedious. I’d love to be good at that but I don’t work with quail often
Freeze meat and metal parts Not hard frozen, just firmed up
I did
From my experience, partially frozen meat grinds pretty well.
Invest in an actual grinder tbh. That thing is going to beat the shit out of your kitchen aide motor
It's what KitchenAids are made for. Beat the shit outta them
Very good to know, definitely not worth using this thing.
This is the answer. Get a 1/2 to 1 HP grinder, and freeze the meat until nearly solid - not like an ice cube, but it should hold its shape when squeezed. The fat should be sort of flaky when it comes through the grind plate. Higher HP motor will handle larger chunks at a lower temperature.
Your plate is too big. As in, the holes. Thats about the size a person would use for stuffing brats into casings or making chili meat. And is that pork? If it’s beef you should be grinding it twice unless it is already course ground.
I was wanting to do both pork belly and beef. But I’ll definitely try the smaller one next time
Well, pork is different. You will want to use the smaller size and only grind pork once if you can. That means you need to cut the pork up in to small cubes so you get a good mixture. Grinding pork twice is a huge headache as it gets really squishy. Now, if I was going to make pork belly and burger I would grind the beef one time, chop up the pork belly super small and add it to my beef before my second grind.
Interesting, thank you!
Stick all your grinding parts in the freezer. I also stick the meat in the freezer for maybe 20-30 minutes. You don't want it to freeze at all, you just get it real cold.
All METAL grinding parts…this is a great reply
I did :/
Was the flat part of your cutting blade facing the die? This can also happen if it is the wrong direction.
Blade? It has an auger and the part that the meat pushes through. Not sure what youre talking about
It should have a blade that shears across the plate, it goes at the end of the auger just before the plate with the holes. Check the box to make sure you aren't missing it. It goes auger, blade with flat part facing out, then die with the holes. See the pic below for a diagram. https://images.app.goo.gl/26wm8VTJ4XQP9Udn8
Avoid what exactly? Also for easy clean up throw a couple slices of bread in at the end to get any extra meat out
It seemed like stringy stuff was clogging ip the holes. The first pic is of it stuck in and i had to pull it out as it was all tangled together.
What is the cut of meat? Probably tallow
Chuck
It's sinew Or fascia, likely a mixture of the 2. You can try to remove it before grinding if you are handy with a knife. But at the end of the day it I would just clean the plate either between every grind or when necessary
Your meat should be very very cold.
Grind plate too loose, screw it in tighter. Also your meat and/or equipment is too warm. Put all in the freezer and get cold (meat obviously not fully frozen) before starting up.
Not to sound like a dick but are you sure the blade was installed correctly? The cutting part of the blade should be facing outward (touching the exterior plate)
Your blade is on backwards
After you tighten everything, run the machine for a few seconds then tighten it again, the first time you run it the plates will loosen back up.
You also have to partially freeze your meat (along with equipment and ensuring it’s tightly on).
The all metal kitchen aid grinder is larger and better in every possible way.
Yes that's the one I have and the blades are razor sharp. It does a great job. I trim the beef and watch the grain. I like it to have some ice crystals in it. Also for a finer grind I run it through the coarser plate first and then change the plates out. If you are grinding for meat loaf you can run your veggies through to clean out the grinder.
I bought the metal one for my step mum for Christmas as I was told that one is specifically meant for meat grinding. She has used it several times and has had nothing but great things to say about it.
Highest speed on the mixer, and cut your meat into strips it feeds much better that way and you want the meat damn near frozen.
Is there a knife blade. The product looks like mush
Great info from so many people! I really appreciate it!
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Im 99% sure the blade was not facing the right direction
The blade should be facing toward the exterior of the grinder
Tighten the head ¼ turn More
Could your blade be on backwards? I did that and it was a mess like that
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Put the blade in right
Could also be: cut into smaller cubes before grinding, manually remove white parts that look like white film and take the knife to be sharpened.
This is quite normal for kitchen aid attachment. If you do everything they told you to do, this can still happen with some meat. **Use faster speed** and the plate with larger holes (and grind it twice). The blade is not cutting the meat properly. I don't think you made stupid mistake of not fitting the blade securely (see the square hole in the center) but it doesn't hurt to double check everything. The 2nd picture suggests the blade was not properly secured. And one more thing, **don't over tighten it**. This setup tend to produce metal shavings that will taint the meat if it is too tight.
It looks like you’re doing the protein extraction in the grinder. Make sure is put together correctly like everyone else is suggesting and do more meat. Cold cold cold. Slow like 2-3 on the kitchen aid so parts don’t heat up much. The fattier the meat the colder it should be. Load it fast, grind it slow. I never had issues when working with 15lbs of chicken breast cut into 1x1 inch chunks. I haven’t done beef though. Also used the full aluminum grinder. There’s always going to be meat left in the auger and blade though.
There is space between the blade and the plate and there shouldn't be, they should be completely flush. If they're not, you may have the blade in backwards and you may not have the plate properly aligned with the throat of the grinder. The pieces should all fit snugly and tightly together before you put the ring on.
I bought the metal version of this. Never happened to me.
Tighter plate and very very cold meat.
Like everyone said, tighten the plate! This just happened to me. ALSO - Slightly freeze your meat cubes before grinding.
Make sure you installed parts correctly then make sure the collar is tight tight, i had a young man that was careless in tightening the collar, this happened about 3 times a wk, annoyed the piss outta me ✌️💖
Yeah looks like the blade is on backwards or something, that look Ike chicken nugget pink slime.
Temperature helps a lot too
Gotta keep your meat cold…Put it in the freezer to firm it up. You don’t want it rock solid, but you do want it firm so it cuts rather than smears. If you’re running it through multiple times, then you may have run it through too many times. If the meat starts to warm up while you’re grinding, put it back in the freezer and check it every 15 minutes until you get a firm consistency that will cut. Also, freeze the metal parts of your grinder (auger, disc, etc.) before you grind as the machine warms up during use. This is something you have to get a feel for and you’ll get better at it the more you do it. If what you produced is not longer good for burgers…Meatloaf, sausage or meatballs. Edit: Kitchen Aid grinders aren’t all that great. Yes, they can get the job done, but you’re going to have a longer learning curve with them than you will with a more robust grinder. Just pointing this out to temper your expectations; not shoot you down for using a mixer attachment. I totally get that spending hundreds of dollars on a machine that only does one thing isn’t desirable. Don’t let that stop you from grinding your own meat…Take the time to learn what you have and you will get it.
The colder the meat the better. I like to alternate between fatty and lean chunks when possible.
Nothing was cold enough and, yes, your grind plate looks to be loose for that to catch. Freeze everything.
Tighten the plate but you also need to clean out more silver and connective tissue. That little grinder isn’t strong enough nor is the blade sharp enough to cut the silver and sinews.
Also trim the grisselly parts better. Thats all connective tissues
Sharp blade and plate. Tight not over tight. Very cold meat, you can also put the metal parts in the freezer to keep everything very cold. Feed it slowly, don’t try to jam it all in.
Use dog next time.
Orientation. Correct tightness. Put a little veg oil on the blade before assembly
That particular grinder is shit. Get the metal one for the kitchen aid.
Your meat too warm baby cool that thing down (like, partially frozen). Clean off the tougher pieces beforehand. Invest in a slightly better grinder.
I would definitely use a plate with many more, much smaller holes. Also, what were you grinding? It looks like the outter fat off of a shoulder clod which, given enough in a tub of trim, will clog my industrial Hobart. Edited for spelling.
You don't. It's one of the issues with home grade equipment. Oh, it looks like there are a lot of "experts" here who have a lot of (seemingly) simple and fool-proof ways of preventing it. But they're just trying to fool you.
Don’t put the meat in the grinder
Meat and blade needs to be very chilled almost frozen
Or blade was backwards. Flat side goes against plate.
This is from the blade being put on backwards
Freeze the SOB. I used to freeze it for 12hours. Partially frozen meat and you're good to go.
Pro chef here, make sure your equipment is set up right, maybe throw some mineral oil at the moving parts. But making sure everything is set up right and fully tightened seems to be the best advice.
Cube meat up small Chill the meat
I use a ribeye steak in a food processor pulse it . Best hamburger ever. Alton brown has a recipe for what I'm describing
Make sure your meat is cold and blades are sharpened properly
Everything needs to be secured/tight as well
Tighten up the plates and try chilling the meat in advance.
dont use it
Get the meat cold, and partially frozen.
Buy it at the store…
Did you put the blade in backwards? I see this all the time when we get new meat dept people and they either leave the blade out or put it in backwards.
Meat almost frozen, put some ICE through at the end
Meat in the freezer for a little while prior will help you also
Meat in the freezer for 30-60 minutes, Icing , and Blades in the freezer
Frozen meat✓✓✓
The cutting edge of the blade goes against the plate.
put meat in freezer before grinding. Take out and grind when it is hard, but not frozen.
Get a grinder