Can You Grind Meat In A Blender?
One of the simplest pleasures of enjoying warm weather is cooking burgers on the grill. For this, most people tend to purchase ground meat at their local grocery store, pick up pre-portioned ground beef burgers, or even meatloaf mixture to whip up a ground meat dish with ease. But what if you want to grind your own meat combinations and don't own a meat grinder?
Thankfully, there is another solution. Though using a meat grinder is the traditional way of creating those perfect patties, you can also use another common household appliance: the blender. Despite people only reaching for their blenders to make smoothies or sauces, they come in handy in more ways than you think, like in this case. Grinding your meat allows you to control exactly what goes into it, whether you're preparing homemade turkey burgers or even want to make sausage. Plus, if you own a blender, you won't be limited to what's only available at the store.
How to grind meat in a blender
If you want to grind meat in a blender, this is absolutely possible. However, you'll have to make sure your blender is efficient enough to handle something as thick as fresh meat. In other words, keep the blades sharpened, and make sure the blender is powerful. Otherwise, it might not do a strong job.
After all, some meats are easier to blend than others. Therefore, you might want to start with more breakable meat, such as chicken or turkey, before diving into beef. Once you're confident in your blender's abilities, you can move on to other meats. Make sure the meat is cubed before blending. You never want to put a whole chicken breast or chunk of beef in at once. Instead, start small by only adding up to 8 ounces of meat at a time. Raw meat is easier to blend than cooked, but it will work in both cases.
The benefits of grinding meat at home
Although it might be easier to pop into the grocery store and pick up some pre-ground meat, there are actually several benefits to using your blender to grind meat. The biggest is that you're able to control exactly what type of meat you want to grind. So, if you're making meat patties that contain both chicken and chorizo, you have total control over grinding these meats to set up your perfect flavor. On the other hand, if you want juicy burgers but with a little less fat, you can blend 80/20 beef with 90/10 beef to get a perfect combination.
Beyond that, you can also infuse the meat with fresh herbs as it blends, which will break down any herbs and give the meat an overall stronger flavor than if you just loaded it with dried seasonings. Plus, you dictate the quality and freshness of the meat when you grind it yourself.