5 Best Meat Grinders For Hunters

Grinding your meat can be your preference if you enjoy hunting. You can avoid having to take your venison to a processing facility by doing this. Additionally, it enables you to pick the cuts you desire and, if you so wish, to smoke it yourself. 

However, in order to receive ground meat, you will either need to bring it somewhere that has a grinder or purchase a meat grinder. Purchasing a meat grinder to ground your own meat has a number of additional benefits as well. I’ll be discussing about the best meat grinders for hunters in this article. 

Best Meat Grinders For Hunters

1. Weston Pro Series Electric Meat Grinder

The Weston Pro Series Electric Meat Grinder is designed for heavy use and is powered accordingly. It is a workhorse and can grind up to 200 pounds of beef in less than ten minutes. The grinder is sold in a set that includes medium and coarse grind plates, as well as an integrated knife sharpener and all the supplies needed to make sausage. 

This grinder chews through enormous volumes of meat without missing a beat because of its steel gears and two horsepower. Metal on metal working surfaces might be challenging, however while in use, a fan air cools the engine and gears. Reverse function increases security, and a tray guard will stop inexperienced processors from getting their fingers too close to the auger. Hearing protection is not required because the motor operates quietly. 

The heavy-duty unit can be moved around with ease thanks to the solid top handle, and the grinder stays put while being used thanks to the rubber feet. For cleaning, the device can be swiftly and simply disassembled. Components have a storage tray with a dust cover that fits within the meat hopper. To avoid having to look for any missing pieces, everything stays put when used again. For hunters, the top meat grinder is the Weston Pro Series Electric Meat Grinder.

Pros:

• Powerful air-cooled motor
• Steel gears
• Reverse function
• Safety guard

Cons:

• Expensive

2. STX Turboforce II Platinum

The STX Turboforce II Platinum is the best possible approach to get you started, in our opinion. The price, functionality, and bundled attachments of this device are all perfectly balanced. 

An excellent meat grinder with a respectable 75 horsepower is what you get at this price point. The STX Turboforce II Platinum, depending on the cut, can process three to four pounds of meat every minute. 

This meat grinder is incredibly efficient and quiet, excluding the horsepower. Additionally, it is an excellent deal because of the sturdy attachments that come with it. 

Several cutting blades, sausage stuffers, coarseness blades, and even a footswitch are included in the box. When it comes to this grinder, STX International truly went all out.

Pros:

• Cost-effective.
• Can be used With or Without the Foot Pedal which is included with the grinder.
• The instructions were well written with many photos on how to assemble the parts for different purposes. Additionally, it offers advice on how to properly grind, stuff sausages, and clean every component.
• It’s functional.

Cons:

• There are some challenges when connecting the meat tray to the grinder.

Should I Use a Manual Hand-Powered Meat Grinder?

After hunting and getting a good catch, the next thing you think of is grinding the meat to suit your need and tatse. So, is it advisable to use a manual hand-powered meat grinder?

No. Processing wild animals require much more work when done manually with hand-crank meat grinders. 

Using an electric meat grinder for large games and, if necessary, a manual-powered grinder for a smaller game or leftover bits of meat is our best recommendation.

How to Properly Use a Meat Grinder

If you’ve ever ground up meat, you’re probably already familiar with some key techniques and tools. I have some advice for anyone who might be brand-new to this. 

Before you begin grinding up the meat from your hunt, you’d need to cut it into pieces or strips that you can insert easily into the grinder’s “throat.” Then, place the meat in your freezer and wait until it is half-frozen. 

Before beginning the grinding process, place the grinder’s components in the freezer for around 30 minutes. When fed into a cold grinder, chilled meat remains firm and is simple to grind. Cold meat can become mushy and difficult to remove from a warm grinder.

I strongly advise against feeding room temperature meat into a warm grinder because it is a horrible idea. In the end, I suggest processing meat by feeding semi-frozen meat into a cold grinder. This will simplify your life.

Things to Consider Before Buying a Meat Grinder

• Horsepower

A meat grinder’s power is essential. Uneven cutting and grinding of the meat by a weak machine will result in greater connective tissue bits appearing in the finished product. When you have enough force, cutting and grinding are always precise and effective. 

• Grind Rate 

How many pounds of meat a good meat grinder can process in a minute or an hour will be specified. For most hunters, a decent bench line would be anything that exceeded 10 pounds per minute. Fast and effective grinding machines can handle 15 to 20 pounds per minute. 

How quickly the grinder can process meat can be determined by looking at its throat. Processing takes longer with small, skinny streams. Large throats can quickly handle a lot of volumes. 

• Weight 

You shouldn’t search for features like portability or lightweight in a meat grinder. A large grinder usually has a strong motor and solid metal parts. A decent unit will be substantial and is a great indicator of what you should look for in terms of durability and dependability.

• Price

It does not take long for a meat grinder to pay for itself when you take into account the cost of transporting meat to the butcher for trimming, grinding, and packaging. Everyone loves a good deal, but a price concession frequently means a quality tradeoff. 

Is a Meat Grinder Worth It?

Is it worth it buying a meat grinder for grinding your meat after a good hunt?

Yes. For processing game and meats from naturally occurring sources, many butchers charge $1 per pound. Even over a long period of time, the expense can build up quickly. A meat grinder that will last a lifetime will rapidly pay for itself. To cut costs, a good unit might be shared by relatives or friends.

What is the Best Meat Grinder For Hunters?

The fine-grained meat of different wildlifes grinds easily. When properly trimmed, a wildlife’s meat will yield around 20 pounds of ground meat once the steaks and roasts are removed. So, what’s the best meat grinder for hunters?

When grinding meat, a medium-sized grinder that is simple to set up and clean is ideal. When purchasing a grinder, there is no need to go overboard. Always take your needs into account, as well as weighing price and worth. The best meat grinder that fits this description is the Weston Pro Series Electric Meat Grinder.

What Are Some Meat Grinding and Clean-up Tips?

Grinding and cleaning meat can be a bit technical so, I’ve arranged some tips that you’ll find really helpful.

Before you grind, trim. Make sure there are no bone or bullet fragments on the ground that could harm or dull your blades. As much silverskin and connective tissue as you can be removed. Since you have to stop grinding, turn off the power, and disassemble the grinder to remove the buildup after a while, these have a tendency to clog up around the auger and impede the process. 

Get the meat cold before you start after trimming it. I prefer to trim batches of meat weighing 5 to 10 pounds at a time, then put the meat in a plastic tub and put it in the deep freezer for a couple of hours. Cold meat grinds more thoroughly and moves through the grinder more quickly than warm meat. 

Once you’ve finished grinding, it’s time to start cleaning. Start by feeding the grinder a few slices of white bread. By doing so, any leftover meat is forced out of the auger and some of the collected fat from the operation is absorbed. Disassemble the grinder after disconnecting the power source. The motor should disengage from the plate, the auger, the blade, and the neck. Any meat that has become stuck to the power unit should be removed using a paper towel or a moist cloth. 

To find out whether certain components are dishwasher safe, consult the owner’s manual for your grinder. Go to a sink with hot, soapy water if it doesn’t indicate one way or the other or if not. Scrub the inside of the grinder tube with a long brush. Before storing, fully dry the components. 

An investment in a quality grinder will pay you in delicious meals for years to come. Taking care of your game meat is quick and simple when the proper model is chosen to meet your processing requirements. By processing it yourself, you can stop speculating about whether the ground game meat you receive from the processor actually originated from the animal you dropped off and can start knowing exactly what goes into your freezer.

Can Meat Grinders Really Grind Bone?

Is it possible for a meat grinder to grind the bones of whatever animal you catch during a hunt?

Yes, a meat grinder can grind bones. Only the bones from chicken, duck, other small fowl, and rabbit, which are all considered soft bones, can be ground. Only specific grinder models are sturdy enough to handle the bones from turkey, which are thought of as soft yet more dense. Hard bones are found in meats including pork, beef, lamb, and venison.

When grinding bones, you should start with at least a 3/8″ hole size and then use a smaller plate or the same plate for a second grind to obtain the finished bone size. 

The meat and bone should be really chilly and never frozen. Rest certain that the stuff you see in your grinder head or in your ground meat is not grease; rather, it is usually burned fat that has been left in the grinder head for too long. Just make sure the grinder is assembled properly, the head is cleaned, and the meat is very cold.

Conclusion

After comparing the advantages and disadvantages of each model, it truly helped us to understand which features are valuable and which are just marketing gimmicks.