From burgers to meatballs, through sausages and sarmale, we use minced meat. We usually buy it commercially, ready-made. However, if you want to use quality minced meat, about which you want to know for sure what it contains, once and for all you will have to take the bull (or cow) by the horns and mince it at home.
“In the old days” they used hand-cranked meat grinders that you had to turn and turn. You can still see one of these grinders here and there today, but these days they use electric machines. And even though we have to clean up and wash them up a bit, we think it’s worth it.
1. The chopper must be washed and dried beforehand. In fact, cleanliness is the number 1 rule in any kitchen-related action. No matter how many times we repeat this, it will never be “too” clean in the kitchen.
2. Not many people know this, but before you start mincing it, it’s a good idea to leave the meat in the freezer for a while . Why? Because the fat in the meat tends to melt quickly in heat. If it’s cold, it melts better in the grinder. So leave it for about a quarter of an hour to freeze nicely. For the same reason, you can even put the metal parts of the grinder in the cold. Let’s say about half an hour or even a little longer, but in the refrigerator .
3. Cut the meat into cubes. Remove the skin and tendons. These not only make the texture of the meat unpleasant, but can even cause the meat grinder to jam.
4. Pass the meat cubes through the grinder, remembering to put a bowl in which to collect the “finished product”.
5. Another lesser-known fact is that running a few slices of bread soaked in milk (or water) through the food processor will help to clean the machine. The same goes for onions.
6. And with that we come to the last, equally important step: cleaning the meat grinder. Disassemble it and leave the metal parts in warm water to make it easier to wash them. Classic meat grinders, being entirely made of metal, were completely washable, but now, with this electricity…
