How to choose an electric meat grinder for home cooking?

Modern electric meat grinders are radically different from those simple but practical mechanical devices that were in use several years ago. However, now there was another problem - to choose the suitable unit, capable to quickly grind products to the necessary state, from all variety of variants. A good meat grinder is not so difficult to find, modern manufacturers are trying to supply consumers with quality goods.

The main thing is to choose the best option, ideally suited to specific requests. Even at home you need to determine the required basic options and additional functions of the device, only after that you can go to the store in search of specific home appliances.

First of all, you need to understand that electric meat grinders are divided into two groups:

1. Solo. This is a classic device designed specifically for processing fish and meat in minced meat. Modern products are often equipped with special nozzles, allowing the appliance to serve as a juicer or grater.
2. Combine harvester. If you choose this multifunction device for your home, you do not have to worry about buying a grater, a blender, a mixer, a juicer and a freezer.

Despite such an obvious advantage of the combine, it is worth considering that, due to the design features, the processing power of the ingredients may not be sufficient. Also, one should not forget about the impressive size of the device and its rather high cost.

Basic characteristics of the functional device

The understanding of technological parameters will help to make a choice correctly. If they are neglected, then the electric meat grinder will bring a lot of trouble.

• Power. It is initially recommended to evaluate what kind of work is expected to be transferred to the device and what its volume will be. If you are cheaper and buy a device with a minimum power factor, it simply will not cope with duties and will quickly fail. It is necessary to proceed from the following formula: a 1000 W electric meat grinder capable of processing about 1-1.5 kg of meat or fish per minute. This is averaged indicator, which can fluctuate slightly when trying to load too large or very small pieces of a product into a meat grinder.

Advice: It is not necessary to chase the maximum power, the difference of several hundred watts only affects if the electric motor has too much load. At home, this happens infrequently, only if one attempt to perform an unusually large amount of work or poorly clean the blanks from the veins and bones.

• Materials. In the case of the body of the device, the use of plastic is considered optimal, but only if it is food grade. The load on the case is not so impressive as to make it out of metal. But the internal parts can only be metal, with a rare exception.
• Screw. This is a removable part in the form of a spiral on which attachments and knives are fastened, before placing them in the meat grinder. Rotating, this element pushes the product mass to the outlet. Every time before starting work, you need to make sure that it is positioned correctly and during its regular operation its surface has not been damaged. Today for the house you can choose a model with two augers at once. One of the metal for meat and fish, the other of plastic - for berries, vegetables and fruits.
• Knives. It is highly discouraged to use items purchased separately, it is better to use knives native to the device. They should be made of very strong and high-quality steel, then they will not need too frequent sharpening. By the way, this manipulation is better to trust professionals, you can independently inflict irreparable harm on important details. Some meat grinders for home are accompanied by self-sharpening knives, which greatly facilitates the operation of the household appliance.
• Lattice .In the set, there are usually several variants of gratings with holes of different sizes. This allows you to receive minced meat and other products of different consistencies. Before operating the device, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with the purpose of the parts, otherwise there is a risk of damage to both the components of the structure and food.

Before choosing an advertised and beautiful electric meat grinder, you need to make sure it's safe. For this, it must be included in the network, there should be no cod from the current supply. The auger must be inaccessible after starting the device in all its elements and attachments. In some devices, even there is a function that blocks its operation, if the elements are not installed correctly.

Important and useful additional options for

You can choose a suitable electric meat grinder, based only on the basic parameters, but the operation process will be noticeably simplified if you take into account additional moments.

• Reverse or reverse scrolling. A simple press of the button will cause the auger to work in the opposite direction. This is useful if the work has risen because of a dense vein that does not allow stuffing. If there is no function, the meat grinder will have to be dismantled to restore its functionality.
• Motor protection. The presence of electrical, mechanical or thermal blocking allows you to suspend the operation of the mechanism when it operates at the limit, which prevents serious damage. The engine simply shuts down so that it can be restarted in a few minutes.
• Tray or loading platform with inlet. The presence of the extended part allows you to control the degree of loading of the device, to prevent the loss of pieces from the inlet pipe. As a material, you can choose food plastic, it is cheaper or lighter metal, but prone to scratches, cracks, with regular use quickly fails. Metal is also used in meat grinders at home, but it is recommended to take it only when the product is used too often.
• Pusher. The main thing that it was easy, then there will be no problems with its constant application.

• Nozzles for sausages and sausages. Allow to correctly and quickly fill a natural or artificial shell without risk of damage. Today, cooking home-made sausages is gaining popularity, so the nozzles are quite in demand.
• Citrus juicer. Contrary to popular belief, not every electric meat grinder is equipped with a device for making fresh juice, so you will have to pay special attention to this moment.
• Graters, shredders, vegetable cutters. These are the elements in the form of drums, having holes of different shapes and sizes. The processing of components is carried out very quickly and qualitatively, in this the classic meat grinders are not inferior to combines. Nozzle for baking and homemade noodles. In the kit there are not so often, but to find the suitable elements separately is even more difficult. For lovers of homemade cookies and pasta are a great help. These are nozzles with an original shape, implying the removal of sausages that need to be cut later. If you want, you can choose the device, which independently divides the dough into individual products.

In addition, in most modern meat grinders and home combines, there is an option to form cutlets of the same size, which further reduces the time and energy costs for the cooking process.

Nuances that affect the selection process

After determining all the main and additional points, you can go to the store. Already on the spot, before choosing a suitable electric meat grinder, it is recommended to pay attention to a few more nuances:

1. Compactness, appearance, version of the product. Household appliances should be not only functional, but also convenient, otherwise the device most of the time will stand on the shelf.
2. Presence of trays for storage of nozzles will save a place and time for searches of all necessary elements.
3. The length of the cord should be sufficient to place the device in an easy-to-use place.
4. It is equally important to choose the appropriate outlet and tray height. Perhaps you just have to select suitable bowls for the finished product.
5. Any electric-type grinder is a fairly heavy object, but here too, various options are possible. It is not necessary to purchase a practically non-removable product, if the main time it will be carried out in a box.

Just before buying, you need to check the quality of the product. Do not be afraid of its strong noise, until you come up with meat grinders working without sound. Considering the fact that it will only make noise for a few minutes, it will not be a big problem in the process of operation. The main thing is that during the operation of all mechanisms, there is no cracking, knocking and other suspicious sounds.