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Meat grinders are available in almost all the kitchens of the world. This amazing machine has been serving families for many years and has made kitchen chores a lot easier. Isn’t it necessary that we know how to clean meat grinder in a proper manner? Of course, it is! This is because the key to healthy living is cleanliness.
For knowing how to clean meat grinder, you must be looking for a proper guide. Well, sweat out no more! This article will have all the proper guides listed in a well-aligned way for you to follow. We will go through the following steps:
- Step by step cleaning process of your grinder.
- Storing your grinder.
- How to ensure easy cleaning of your grinder.
Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
1. Step By Step Cleaning Process Of Your Meat Grinder
All the steps listed below must be followed step by step to ensure proper cleansing of your meat grinder. They will be free of microbes if only the things that have been listed is done.
Begin with cleaning immediately after use
When you will be using your grinder it is obvious that your meat will be leaving behind traces of meat, oil and grease. These residues will later dry on the surface on your grinder and will also cause contamination by allowing microorganisms to grow. These microorganisms can turn out to be deadly for your health if not cleaned properly.
You surely don’t want to such gross things to happen with your grinder! Avoid these things from happening you have to keep in mind how to clean meat grinder immediately after use.
Grind bread using your meat grinder
Before dissembling parts of your grinding machine, feed 2-3 slices of bread into your grinder. Feed them the same way you do for grinding meat. The bread will act as an absorbent to absorb the meat’s oil and grease. Grinding bread will also help clean remaining beats of meat stuck inside the internal parts of your grinding machine.
Begin with disassembling of your grinding machine
If you own an electric grinder, make sure that you unplug it at first. Separate the removable parts of your electric or manual grinder.
Move on to cleansing
Fill up a sink or a bucket with warm water and then add dish detergent to it. Hot water is necessary as heat destroys microorganisms. After getting the warm water ready add the disassembled parts inside. Water must be warm, as it is needed to sterilize the metal parts and make it free of any sort of microorganisms.
- Allow the metal parts to soak in the soap or detergent for an hour. The time is needed so that the remaining grease, oil and meat residue that is sticking, loosens and comes off.
- The warmth of the water must not be way too high. As excess heat can result in damage of the metal parts.
- For electrical meat grinders make sure that you don’t soak motor parts or parts that cannot be dissembled. You will end up destroying your machine instead if proper precautions are not taken. Wipe off the parts using a piece of cloth to clean the parts that you are unable to rinse.
- Remember, rinse the metal parts of the grinder for an hour only. rinsing for long hours can result in rust formation.
Do not use dishwasher
You are not supposed to use a dishwasher for cleansing your meat grinder. This is because the dishwasher will force the blade of the grinder to become blunt that will ruin the performance of the meat grinder. Manual washing ensures that the parts of your meat grinder are not being harmed or damaged.
Begin with scrubbing
- Using the help of a sponge scrub the parts of the grinder that you have rinsed in the warm water and soap after an hour. While cleaning the blade of the grinder make sure that you are taking proper precautions. You might get cut with the sharp edges of the blade. For scrubbing feed tube, hopper and the plate’s hole use a bottle brush.
- While scrubbing be patient. Take as much time you need and make sure that you are done with removing the oil, greases, and residue of meat.
- Rinse the parts in clean water with no soap after you are done with scrubbing.
Dry the parts you have cleaned
Soak the water that remains on the surface of the parts that you have cleaned. This needs to be done to prevent rust formation. To ensure proper drying, first, wipe using a towel and then lay all the parts on a dry towel. Wait for the parts to totally dry before you put the grinder away. This step is extremely important for ensuring long durability of your meat grinder.
Let’s Watch a video on how to clean meat grinder.
2. Storing Your Grinder
After cleansing, proper storing of your meat grinder is the key to make it last for years. Purchasing a meat grinder again and again because of negligence is surely tiresome and something foolish to do.
Oil the metal parts
- You must store the metal parts of your grinder in such a way so that any sort of rust is prevented from forming. Rust can be formed because of air as well not only water.
- Oiling is a way of preventing rust formation because of air.
- Fill a spray bottle with mineral oil and then spray it on the metal parts of your grinder. Make sure an even coat of oil has covered the metal parts of your grinder. You must not oil electric parts of your grinder.
- More attention needs to be paid to the pusher and screw of your meat grinder as these parts are the ones that will come into contact with meat most of the times.
Use a bag filled with rice to store the parts
Carefully store the metal parts of your grinder in a plastic bag containing a handful amount of rice. You are being asked to use rice, as rice acts as a moisture absorbent. This will help you store the parts in the freezer, and if you live in an environment that is high in terms of humidity.
Store the arts inside the freezer
- Meat grinders tend to give you the best performance when the parts of it are cold. However, you are allowed to keep non-electric parts only, inside the freezer. Also, you don’t need to sweat out yourself if you do not have enough space in your freezer for long term storage of the metal parts of your grinder.
- Instead, just store the metal parts in a dry place. And just before one or two hours before you are willing to use the grinder, chill the parts inside the freezer. Your grinder will give good performance in this method as well.
Using bleach sterilize the metal parts that you have oiled previously
- In a gallon of water add a tablespoon of bleach and mix it. By filling up a spray bottle with the solution containing bleach spray the solution on the metal parts. Because of the spraying of the bleach solution, the oil coat on the parts will come off.
- This bleach solution acts as a disinfectant. Rinse the parts with clean water to remove all the residue of the bleach solution.
3. How To Ensure Easy Cleaning Of Your Grinder
Why not we keep things simple and easy just by following some simple steps? It is obvious that you must clean your grinder. But what if you make the process less time consuming and hassle-free? Just follow the easy guidelines listed below and you will not be bothered any more while cleaning your grinder.
Use cold meat for grinding
- The cleaning up of the meat grinder can be made completely hassle free if you use cold meat and keep the metal parts of your grinder cold. Warm meat will tend to stick to the inner surfaces of your grinder making cleaning difficult to do.
- If you need to grind the same meat a number of times, you need to constantly keep the meat chilled. For doing so, take a bowl containing ice and then place another smaller bowl into the first one that contains ice. Grind the meat and make sure the pieces fall in the second smaller bowl. In this way your meat will stay constantly chilled.
Remove sinew
- Before you insert your meat inside the grinder make sure that you remove the sinew using a knife. Sinew results in the sharpness of the blades to fade away if not removed. It also creates a greater mess inside the grinder and better grind is also ensured.
Replace blades when required
- Dull blades will not only consume a lot of time, it will also create a mess inside a grinder that will surely be a hassle to clean. You should know that your blade has become dull once you see that the meat is being smeared around instead of getting grinded. That is the time when you must sharpen the blade or get a new one.
- Your blade will not get dull if you remove sinew every time you feed meat into the grinder. Instead, your blade will be getting sharper each time you use it for grinding.
Explore to know more about how to use meat grinder
Conclusion
To sum up, I hope this article has enlightened you regarding all the things you need to know about how to clean meat grinder. Each and every step has been mentioned and we have also cleared regarding the necessity and importance of the steps as well. Hence, wait no longer, and devour deliciously cooked meat in no time. Just ensure that you do it all in a healthy way!
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