A quality food processor is a “must-have” for every kitchen, simply because it is versatile and makes life very easy and convenient when planning to cook your favorite meal.
Talking about its versatility, people often ask if is it possible to grind meat in a food processor, this is common because most people don’t have a meat grinder and are looking for a better alternative.
To answer your question, Yes you can grind meat in a food processor but there is a specific set of rules that you need to follow in order for you to grind your meat properly without ruining your food processor and that’s what I am going to show you in this article.
Let’s get to it.
Before Grinding Meat in Your Food Processor
It is essential that you have a decent (high-quality) quiet food processor with sharp blades, this is vital if you want to successfully grind your ground beef. If you have a food processor that doesn’t have sharp blades then I recommend that you get yourself a meat grinder or buy a better food processor like the Kitchenaid.
How to Grind Meat in a Food Processor
Step 1: Semi-freeze the Meat in a Freezer
Before you start to put the meat in your food processor, whether its chicken or ground beef it is essential that the meat is hard but not completely frozen, that is why I recommend that you put the meat in a freezer for about 40-60 minutes before starting the whole grinding process.
Step 2: Cut the Meat into Smaller Pieces
The smaller the pieces the easier it will be for the food processor to grind it. So it is important to cut the meat into smaller pieces, you don’t have to make them really small but don’t put the meat in the food processor as it is.
Make sure that you also don’t put a lot of meat than what the motor of your food processor can handle, I always recommend smaller chunks, this might take more time but its better than burning your food processor.
Step 3: Use the Pulp Setting
After you are done cutting the meat into smaller pieces and inserted a smaller batch of meat into the food processor, now all you have to do is to lock it in then use the pulp setting. In Slower motions keep on using turning it to pulping the meat until you see the desired result.
Final Step: Clean the Food Processor
often overlooked but very important to clean it immediately after use, this keeps the food processor safe from attracting bacteria.
What to Avoid
There are certain things that you need to avoid to prevent burning and breaking your food processor which includes:
- Using Meat with Bones: This is a sure-fire way for breaking your processor, food processor blades and motors don’t have enough power to handle harder objects like bones, so make sure the meat you will be using is boneless
- Using a Food Processor with blunt blades: if your food processor is older now and the blades are no longer that sharp, I recommend that you avoid using it to cut meat, in that way you can just manually use a properly sharp knife and do it yourself.
- . Inserting too much meat at one time: Since this is not a food grinder it is essential that you avoid inserting a high quantity of meat in your food processor.
Final Thoughts on Grinding Meat in a Food Processor
Without a food processor in the kitchen, cooking would be tedious with many functions like chopping veggies and sometimes crushing ice this is a must-have kitchen appliance.
I hope this article answered your can a food processor crush ice question, feel free to let me know should you have any more questions.