Kitchenaid Food Grinder uses

I was the lucky recepient of a Kitchenaid mixer this year from my boyfriend for Christmas.

He also bought me the food grinding attachment.

I have NO idea what I should do with the attachment and I don't want it to go unused.

Any ideas?

Make sausage if you have the stuffing attachment which I think comes with the grinding attachment.

Not to overstate the obvious, but the grinding attachment works quite well for grinding meat. To be more specific:

1. buy a chuck roast, cut it into chunks, freeze for twenty minutes, grind meat, mix in seasonings and shape into patties for better tasting hamburger than the pre-ground "chuck" you buy in the store. If you doubt this, notice that ground chuck costs less than a chuck roast.

2. buy boneless pork shoulder, cut into chunks, etc., and make your own bulk sausage. If you're feeling more adventurous, buy the sausage stuffer attachement (Amazon, $10) and some sausage casings, and stuff your own sausage. No nitrates, no additives, just a great tasting product and you control the fat content.

3. grind chuck roast, pork and veal and make a killer meatloaf.

4. grind lamb shoulder and make lamb sausage.

If you need more ideas, there's a book called the Mixer Bible that includes a number of recipes that require the food grinder attachment.

Have fun with your new toy.

I'll third the recommendation for grinding your own hamburgers. I usually use an equal mixture of chuck and sirloin, and the results are far better than anything you can produce with store-ground meat.

Ir's great for chopped liver. No need to take off the tough ends and it grinds perfectly without worrying about pate.

I got one free with my new KitchenAid and in looking and the material that comes with it, I think there is pasta discs so you can make spagetti. I'm not sure how it works but in the manual it says to put walnut size pieces in the chute so I don't think you have to roll them first. I've been thinking about it but haven't done anything yet.
Paulette

My first time making pasta I accidentally used the grinder attachment instead of a pasta extruder (this was a long time ago!) but got some really nice spaetzles instead.

sausage is easy to make. All you have to do is grind up meat and add in spices and veggies to your liking.

- While making sausage, i keep a hot cast iron pan on the stove top....i'll take my spiced up concoction and make tiny little patties (like the size of a silver dollar, tops) and cook it up. pop that little meat nugget and adjust your spices accordingly. Once you have the right taste down, write down the recipe, and encase it. wonderful sausage.

- The next best thing that i do is make burgers. Go to Northwestern Cutlery and get a hamburger press. Take some sirloin steaks and ground them with either bacon or pork fat - about a 3-1 or 4-1 ratio of meat to fat - whatever you feel like. Add your favorite spices, veggies, peppers, cheese or whatever and then press them into patties. At this point you can either cook them up or freeze them (i suggest packs of two). As your increasing veggies (like onions, red peppers, etc) increase your "binder" as well. Your binder can either be fat or evaporated milk - and it'll keep the patty together better.

Some quick advice:

meat grinds the best and stays the most tender when it's extremely cold. It's also safer that way. It is a little bit of a process - and i take breaks to put meat at different stages back into the freezer. So, cube it, put it back in the freezer. Then when almost frozen, grind it. Spice it up, back in the freezer. Once extremely cold again, encase it. My rule of thumb is that the meat should be cold enough that it gets your hands uncomfortably cold after a few minutes.

Ice - at the end of the grind - will help push out the remaining meat and help start the cleaning process by getting the internals nice and wet.

Putting your grinder parts (i don't know the ins and outs of kitchen aid grinder, but almost everything but my motor detatches on mine) in the freezer before a grind helps keep the meat really cold. Obviously only put in parts that are solid metal with no intricate moving parts or anything.

have fun.