Anyone use the kitchenaid grinder attachment? I want to start making some of my own sausages since local availability is shit.
Seems to have a pretty shitty review score on kitchenaid's website which is concerning.
Or does anyone have any experience with the all metal models that fit the kitchenaids?
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Like pic related?
I've used it to grind walnuts, it works just fine.
the grinder is top notch
the stuffer takes getting used to
I personally like using a standalone pump stuffer.
Hijacking to ask what kitchenaid attachments are worth it? I just got the mixer a week or so ago
I've been making sausages for a while. I have experience with the one in the OP pic. I've never used the metal one posted later.
The grinder works great, though it is a little small.
It's awful for stuffing or doing a 2nd grind that some sausage recipes require. The diameter of the feed tube is just too small.
I would highly recommend getting a separate stuffer like mentioned.
The only attachments I've used are the grinder/suffer and the pasta roller. I like them both.
pasta roller and grinder
rest are gimmicks
Be careful you don't try to grind too much at once and don't go over setting "4" or you can easily burn up the motor. Admittedly, I probably tried to grind too much without a break when I tried to grind 10lbs straight through and burned up the motor around 7lbs. My warning is don't go over 5 lbs without a break.
Buy a hand grinder. it takes like 2 minutes to grind 5# of meat. Spend the money on a stuffer, unless you buy a good stuffer it takes 3 hands to stuff sausages.
I've ground 40+ lbs through mine before with no break.
The trick is simply the speed. It should be on the lowest or 2nd lowest setting the whole time, like it says in the instructions. This isn't just for motor safety, it's because excess speed generates more heat from friction in the grinder. If you're making sausage then heat is your enemy. You need to keep everything as cold as possible in order not to fuck up the emulsion of the meat and fat.
i have that one. Its ok for only a few pounds of meat. Large batches will burn up your motor
i have the grain grinder. And the slicer/shredder. Good for potato chips
This.
I've used the grinder in the OP on a 16lb turkey I sliced up. Worked flawlessly, love it. Keep it at 2 speed (who the fuck needs to make it go faster? I was almost struggling to keep up with loading and pressing the meat down at speed 2). Grinding was by fucking far the quickest part of my process
>clean and gut turkey
>cut meat off bones
>cube the meat to 1inch cubes
>grind
>patty up and freeze
I bought a 1500 watt 3 plate all metal grinder off amazon for $50.00. That's a helluva lot more power than your kitchenaid. I've ground 20 lbs without a break no problem. The only drawback is the components are aluminum so you have to handwash, dry thoroughly and coat with vegetable oil when done. But that's much cheaper than the attachment and a lot more power. I own a kitchenaid too for my baking, but they want too much money for that grinder.
They make all metal grinders for the kitchenaid since kitchenaid hasn't changed the dimensions of that accessory hub in over 40 years.
they do, but if you're doing a lot of grinding I'd still rather have a 3rd party one.
There are two issues with the KA:
1) Like someone else mentioned, the diameter of the feed tube is small. You have to cut your ingredients into a lot smaller pieces than you would with other grinders, and it sucks for regrinds and stuffing.
2) The KA uses proprietary blades and plates. There are only 2 sizes of plate available, and if you need a spare or replacement you must get them through KA. Pretty much all other grinders have a "#" size. I.e. "#32". Those are an industry standard. They're available in many more sizes, and they're available from any number of vendors, all interchangeable.
True, but your two issues are satisfied with 3rd party grinders designed for kitchenaid hubs. pic related doesn't use proprietary dies (I think they are #5's).
They are better than kitchenaids and are perfect for the guy that might grind hamburger once a month and makes sausages a couple of times a year.
This wouldn't be my first purchase though, as I would get a piston style sausage stuffer first.
If you're only grinding hamburger once a month and sausage a couple times a year then the plastic KA one is just fine.
If you want anything better than that then I'd forgo the KA attachment period and get a stand-alone grinder in a larger size. #5 is both tiny and rare.
>I want to start making some of my own sausages
I've never felt the need to buy casings and go that extra step of labor, though I do own a kitchenaid.
I use my food processor. I pulse it, keeping an eye on size of grind. I _might_ have to scrape, but usually not (my processor is cuisinart).
For my processor, I just keep it cold, start with uniiform chunks, and I use a bit of thoughtfulness about grinding seasonings first, like herbs or spices, the garlic or onion, get it perfect, remove it, then I pulse the meat in batches, then spoon a bit of the seasoning down the chute the last couple of pulses to blend with the blade. Remove. Next batch.
I make filling for pot stickers with a pork loin, huge batch at a time, with ground lemongrass, garlic, cilantro, ginger. Freeze them, drop into a small skillet to steam and then crisp up right from the freezer. I make a lamb+beef+pork gyro meat to pat out into burgers or fill a meatloaf tin to bake and then slice to heat to order. I make chicken meatballs with basil or artichokes, which I turn into meatballs. So...it's not exactly sausage, but it works. I haven't done it in a while, but I've made breakfast sausage with pork loin when I had a sage plant, but not recently. The only sausages I can't buy near me? Probably lamb merguez (which they sell at whole foods), but the gyro is close enough in flavor profile. I can get everything else I want locally.
the kitchenaid grinder is only $40 dude
You don't think it's worth the extra $10 to get a design you can get spare parts for anywhere, much more power and larger size capacity?
how long do you think that pos is going to last?
Are you also saying you cant get spare parts for the kitchenaid?
And actually the kitchenaid grinder is $36
>how long do you think that pos is going to last?
I have no idea.
>Are you also saying you cant get spare parts for the kitchenaid?
You can, but it's about WHERE you can get the parts from. As I mentioned earlier in the thread the KA uses proprietary parts that you can only get through KA. Pretty much every other grinder uses an industry standard system with interchangeable parts. For example, a "#32" blade, plate, worm, locking collar, etc, from any maker will fit any other maker's #32 size grinder.
>And actually the kitchenaid grinder is $36
That's about what I paid for mine.
If you paid $36 for a standalone grinder its going to be a cheap POS and likely not worth the money.
see
It works but it's hard on the motor.
Run it slow and keep an eye on how warm the case is getting, give it breaks if you need to because I find it gets pretty warm even on 1.
This guy is pretty handy if you're doing large quantities of potatoes or apples, etc. Really easy to make shredded hash browns, curly fries, zucchini/squash noodles, with it. Would buy again.
youtube.com
Its good accessory if you dont plan on using it alot. If you plan on making large batches of sausage often, then buy a dedicated meat grinder, sausage maker. Also i dont think the meat grinder attachment comes with the sausage making attachments.
>If you paid $36 for a standalone grinder its going to be a cheap POS and likely not worth the money.
I didn't. I paid $36 for the KA.
>burn up yer mohder, ya
There's an idiot that posts that for every motorized sausage grinder review, not just the KA.
I've been grinding with it just fine, no huge amounts, like 5kg tops, if you already have a kitchen aid I don't see any reason not to use the grinder.
i had no problem finding aftermarket plates and cutters for mine