Clean Meat Grinder in Six Quick Steps

Maurice E. Terry

Most of us have already chosen to own meat grinders and not to buy unhealthy grounded beef from market anymore. Get soft and juicy burger patty, sausages or meatballs does not require unique skills if a high quality, a functioning meat grinder is in place. What if your meat grinder is not clean enough or its interior is congested with the leftovers? It is essential that you maintain its cleanliness.

We grind raw meat using meat grinders that become the breeding place for bacteria and germs if we leave them unclean for so long. The solution to this issue is you have to clean it periodically.

To help you know about the best cleaning method, we have presented some tips and tricks. Let’s look at them.

Step 1 : Cleaning the Inside

The first step is to clean meat grinder from within. As meat passes through the machine, there are high chances of fat and grease remaining inside. So, to take the grease out, you can feed bread slices in the grinder just like you feed meat. These bread slices will absorb all the oil and grease and push them out of the machine.

Step 2 : Disassembling the Appliance

As your grinder is cleaned from inside, it is time to disassemble the grinder. You should detach the different parts, such as a pusher, feed tube, hopper, screw, blade, and cover for the blade from the grinder. This will ensure your safety too while cleaning the product. Be sure to unplug the grinder if it is electric.

Step 3 : Washing the Grinder

In this step, you need to wash the grinder, if it is manual. Firstly, fill a bucket or any other container with lukewarm water and mix it with detergent or soap. Lukewarm water easily washes away meat residue. Now, put the grinder and the parts in the bucket. You can only put the parts of an electric grinder and not the main body. To clean an electric grinder, you can wipe it with a piece of damp cloth.

Step 4 : Scrubbing

Get the grinder out of the bucket after few minutes. The next process is to scrub the grinder by using soap (optional) and sponge. In this case, you need to exert full effort to scrub the grinder thoroughly. This will prevent rust and oxidation. You should be more careful while cleaning sharp parts like blades and can use a bottle brush to reach inside the hopper and feed tube.

Step 5 : Drying the Appliance

After the meat grinder is cleaned, wipe it with a dry towel and let it dry naturally by placing the grinder under a fan or keep it in a wire rack to air dry. Wipe each part individually. This will prevent rust too.

Step 6 : Keeping the Machine in a Convenient Place

This is the last step to clean meat grinder. You must be concerned about the storage of meat grinders as well. You can store the cleaned meat grinder in these following ways:

Store the parts in a plastic bag filled with rice to eliminate all the excess moisture.
Store the parts in a freezer or a place with high humidity. You cannot put the electric body of the machine in the freezer.
Store by coating mineral-oil on the parts. You can also use a pinch of food-grade mineral oil. Many people use spray bottles for coating.
Before using the grinder that has been put in rice or coated with oil, you should sterilize them by spraying a mixture of water and bleach through a spray bottle. This will avoid the parts from being infected. Then rinse the grinder with water to remove bleach.

This is all about cleaning meat grinders. Some other tips to maintain meat grinder are

Always grind cold meat and keep the parts cold also.
Do not forget to sharpen blades regularly.
Trim your meat to prevent smearing.
Keep your plates clean and hygienic.

It is not any difficult job to clean meat grinders from different brands/manufacturers. Hopefully, now you will be able to get a fresh, neat and clean grinder.