I never considered grinding my own meat until I moved from NYC to Berlin. Here, I've only been able to find ground beef, which means I have to go out of my way if I want to cook with another ground meat, like turkey, pork, or chicken. If I'm craving meatloaf or ragu, I either have to ask my butcher to grind the meat specifically for me or do it myself.
For a long time, I avoided the inconvenience entirely by simply subbing ground beef into recipes that called for another type of meat. The thing is, though, ground beef isn't always the best option for whatever you're cooking. For example, when I tried to use it in place of the pork in homemade dumplings, they would end up tasting completely off. After a while I found myself getting so annoyed about it, I figured it was finally time to look into grinding my own meat.
While I initially thought I'd have to buy a meat grinder to achieve my dreams of freshly ground chicken and pork, I quickly realized that my trusty food processor was all I'd need. In a matter of pulses, I was using freshly ground chicken to make some of the most tender chicken meatballs I've ever eaten. The results were so good, I doubt I'll go back to the store-bought stuff, even if I have the chance to.
Even if you have easy access to preground meat, there are a few great reasons to consider grinding your own. Here's why I think you should give it a shot, plus how to do it, according to the experts.
When you're grinding your own meat, you can grind any kind of meat you want.
The biggest advantage to grinding your own meat is that you get to be creative, Grant Hon, executive chef at Omaha Steaks, tells SELF. You can really grind just about anything that you want, whether that's duck for burgers or lamb meatballs. And since it's rare to see these alternative kinds of meat available preground, having the option to grind them yourself really opens up a world of cooking possibilities.
And you can control how fine or coarse you want the grind.
Hon says that another great thing about grinding your own meat is that you can control exactly how the meat turns out. You get to decide whether you want the meat to be super fine for a dumpling filling, meatballs, or meatloaf recipe, or a bit larger for a chunky chili or taco filling.
Plus, you can ensure there are no gristly bits in your meat.
Before you actually start grinding the meat, you should take the opportunity to cut off the gristly, chewy bits that occasionally plague ground meat. This is a huge plus to grinding your own meat, Simon Ellery, owner of The Sausage Man Never Sleeps, a butcher shop in Berlin, tells SELF. He explains that it's harder to know exactly what is and isn't in your meat when you buy it preground at the store, but when you make it yourself you can do your own quality control.
