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What Is The Best Manual Meat Grinder?
When selecting a manual meat grinder, it is important to consider the cost, performance, maintenance needs, and cleaning ease. With those factors in mind, while sifting through multiple options, we chose the Kitchen Basics 3 in 1 Manual Meat Grinder and Vegetable Mincer as our top pick.
This Kitchen Basics 3 in 1 Manual Meat Grinder gives the user multiple versatile options including mincing, grinding, and pureeing. Additionally, it is easy to clean and comes at a great price to fit your budget.
Quick Navigation
- What A Manual Meat Grinder Can Do For You?
- Important Features Of A Manual Meat Grinder
- How to Choose the Best Manual Meat Grinder?
- Manual vs Electric Meat Grinder-Which one is the Best?
- Quick Comparison: Top Manual Meat Grinders
- Best Overall: Kitchen Basics 3-in-1 Manual Meat Grinder and Vegetable Grinder/Mincer
- Best Budget: Gideon Hand Crank Manual Meat Grinder with Powerful Suction Base
- Best Stainless Steel Manual Meat Grinder: LEM Products Stainless Steel Clamp-On Hand Grinder
- Best 22 Manual Meat Grinder: Weston #22 Manual Tinned Meat Grinder and Sausage Stuffer
- Best 32 Manual Meat Grinder: Weston #32 Manual Tinned Meat Grinder and Sausage Stuffer
- Best Heavy Duty Manual Meat Grinder: LHS Manual Meat Grinder Stainless Steel Blades Heavy Duty with Powerful Suction Base
- Best Cast Iron Manual Meat Grinder: Walter Drake Silver Manual Cast Iron Meat Grinder
If meat is a large part of your menu and diet, you may be interested in purchasing a manual meat grinder or an electric one. Meat grinders can make quick and easy work of many recipes and grow your menu to add new tastes and even healthier meals.
Imagine making your own beef jerky, delicious meatballs, barbeque pork or chicken sandwiches, juicy hamburgers, and more with fresh ground meat right from your own kitchen.
A manual meat grinder can be a great handy kitchen appliance that lets you explore new ways to eat your favorite foods, such as grinding cheese in with you hamburgers instead of adding it to the top of the patty.
Additionally, a meat grinder can help seasonings be added to your meats and meals more evenly as it is all combined during the grinding process.
If you have ever had a hamburger with one overly-seasoned spot while the rest of the burger was bland, you will see the value in feature alone. It can also be used to grind vegetables together.
One recipe that I believe a meat grinder would be excellent for is homemade dressing (or stuffing, depending on where you live) at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
As I generally cook for a large group of family members, finding a bowl big enough to mix all of my ingredients is a pain and I often fear my seasonings are not spread evenly enough. Putting the ingredients through a meat grinder could help solve this problem.
If a meat grinder is a purchase you are considering, keep reading for what options are available and how to choose the best one for you and your needs.
Quick Comparison: 5 Best Manual Meat Grinders
| Ranking | Product | Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kitchen Basics 3-in-1 Manual Meat Grinder and Vegetable Grinder/Mincer |
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| 2 | Gideon Hand Crank Manual Meat Grinder with Powerful Suction Base |
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| 3 | LEM Products Stainless Steel Clamp-On Hand Grinder |
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| 4 | Weston #22 Manual Tinned Meat Grinder and Sausage Stuffer |
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| 5 | Weston #32 Manual Tinned Meat Grinder and Sausage Stuffer |
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What a Manual Meat Grinder Can Do for You?
A manual meat grinder needs to be a rugged, well-built appliance that is up to the challenge of grinding not only meat, but gristle, sinew, and small bones.
You’ll need to have a feed chute which is large enough to grind bigger pieces of partially frozen meat or fully frozen meat without jamming up or clogging.
Your manual meat grinder could be made of stainless steel, aluminum, or industrial grade plastic, as long as it’s up to the task of processing the amount of meat needed in a timely manner without clogging or glitching.
In the review section, we’ll discuss which grinder is best suited for what particular task, from the needs of the hunter to the requirements of the home cook.
Important Features of a Manual Meat Grinder
There is a perfect manual meat grinder out there for all different uses. First, there is the hunter, who might bag several deer each year.
They’ll need a strongly built grinder with the capacity of handling a large amount of meat an hour.
Home cooks will be happy with a meat grinder that can be used for daily lightweight grinding jobs. Second, any grinder you choose should be easy to maintain.
It’s a well-known fact that most meat grinders have the reputation of being very difficult to keep clean between uses, and almost impossible to keep sanitized.
A good meat grinder should have the ability to break down well enough so that a good soapy wash and sanitizing with some diluted bleach can be performed.
It’s imperative that manual meat grinder owners know how to perform correct food safety practices when handling and cleaning a meat grinder.
Additional Features
Your meat grinder may also be able to perform other tasks, other than grinding big pieces of meat into much tinier meat pieces.
It may be able to process sausage, make pasta, baby food, puree or mince vegetables to make baby food or even whip up some gourmet pet food (bone meal included of course).
It should be able to take over the task of the mincing knife, for example. It should be adept at handling frozen meat.
It should be reliable, and not break easily. You’ll want your grinder to take a licking and keep on ticking!
Related: Best Meat Slicer Buying Guide
How to Choose the Best Manual Meat Grinder?
If you are in the market for a manual meat grinder, you may have realized that not everyone uses one and not every store carries one.
When you find a store that carries one, you will likely find that most store clerks cannot answer your questions about them. That is because these are not necessarily common items and the clerks probably do not have much experience in selling them.
As such, it is very important that you are educated on what to look for when shopping for one.
Being aware of your options and knowing what to look for before going in or searching online can eliminate the need for questions, or at least most questions. Always do your research before shopping, or even browsing, to prevent overwhelm and confusion.
Performance – How Well Does It Grind Meat?
If you are going to purchase a manual meat grinder, you want to purchase one that is going to do what it is supposed to and do it well. Having a manual meat grinder that does not grind meat well will be a waste of time and money.
What Meat Grinder Size Do You Need?
Manual meat grinders are available for different amounts of meat. Consider how much meat you will need to grind with it so you will know which size to look for. You do not want to purchase one too small or way too large for your needs.
Materials and Durability:
The manual meat grinder could be made of metal, plastic, or a combination of the two. The blades usually come in carbon steel and stainless steel. All metal manual meat grinders will, of course, be stronger and carbon steel blades will be a little sharper.
Cleaning, Maintenance, and Care:
One of the worst things to do is purchase an appliance that is too difficult to clean or maintain. Be sure that you find one that can be easily cleaned so that you can get all of the nooks and crannies. Also, check to see if any parts need to be oiled or need any extra care before getting it home and being surprised.
Cost:
A budget is a crucial part of all purchases. Even if you have some money sitting in the bank, you want to be sure that you decide what amount you want to or can afford to spend before shopping. Going into a purchase without a budget in mind can have you later regretting the amount you spent. Carefully consider your budget before shopping.
Warranty:
Manufactured products break down- that so just how it is. Some, however, break down much faster than others. It is important to check the warranty on a product before you buy it so you will know how long you have to get it fixed or replaced before the warranty is up. You should find a meat grinder that has a warranty of at least one year.
Manual VS Electric Meat Grinder- Which is Best?
If you are trying to decide between purchasing a manual meat grinder and an electric one, you might be struggling to make the right choice.
Though neither is the wrong choice as they both have benefits, one may be a better choice for you and your needs. To make an educated decision, it is important to learn the similarities and the differences in the two.
While both grind meat, the two do it in different ways. The manual meat grinder uses only your power to grind the meat. This alone comes with both benefits and issues. First, it does not require a plug or use energy, and it can be moved around if need be.
Unfortunately, a manual meat grinder can leave the meat you are grinding exposed to the elements for too long, meaning it can bacteria has a longer period of time to grow on the meat.
Also, since you may get tired of having to hand crank meat every time you want to add meat to your meal. Manual meat grinders are smaller, cheaper, easier to clean, and easier to fix if it breaks.
Electric meat grinders have their own set of pros and cons. On the positive side, a manual meat grinder takes much less time, which leaves meat exposed to the elements for much shorter periods.
They are more powerful and have a more extensive grinding capacity.
The downsides are that they use electricity meaning that they will affect your energy bills, they are larger, so they take up more space, they must remain stationary so they can be plugged in, they are heavier and more expensive.
Sadly, they are also more difficult to clean and repair if something gets broken. Considering all of this information, your needs will be the determining factor in which one to purchase.
Do you grind a lot of meat at once? If so, it is probably a better choice for your time, health, and energy to purchase an electric one.
If you only grind smaller amounts of meat at once, a manual grinder is probably good enough. Consider your needs before purchasing.
7 Best Manual Meat Grinders Are:
1. Best Overall: Kitchen Basics 3-in-1 Manual Meat Grinder and Vegetable Grinder/Mincer
What You Will Love: It has both a fine and a coarse mincing plate, and can create homemade pasta.
The Kitchen Basics 3-in-1 Meat Grinder weighs 2.1 pounds, measures 7.7 x 5.4 x 5.2 inches, and is remarkably inexpensive.
It is equipped with a coarse and a fine mincing plate, and 2 stainless steel screens.
Just turn that ergonomic hand crank, and you’ll easily grind meat, beans, vegetables, or garlic – even crush nuts!
Perfect for grinding 1 to 10 pounds of meat.
When it comes to kitchen tools, devices, and appliances, the more one can do, the better. Having versatile options in one appliance frees up time and space.
That is exactly what this Kitchen Basics 3 in 1 Manual Meat Grinder does. It not only does the stated meat grinding, but it can also puree baby food, cut pasta noodles, and so much more. The sharp stainless steel blades can cut through 1 – 2 lbs. of meat at a time.
It comes with a 3 size sausage stuffer, and an ergonomically designed handle to prevent fatigue when cranking the meat through. There are suction cups on the bottom to hold the grinder firmly in place.
It is also easy to clean, dishwasher safe, and fairly priced. However, it is not for heavy duty use, so limit the amount of meat you grind at one time.
Pros:
- Grinder is compact and fits easily on a kitchen shelf
- Rubber bottom grips well and stops the grinder from sliding around
- Rapidly grinds 5+ pounds in one session
- Ergonomic handle
- Creates two types of pasta
- Suction cups to hold in place
- Fair price
- Dishwasher safe
- Fine and coarse mince plates
Cons:
- Clean-up is hard – Tube grooves get clogged and it’s hard to get the meat out
- Doesn’t come with an instruction manual
- Push stick is too small for the intake opening
- Not for heavy duty use
- Large pieces may clog it
2. Best Budget: Gideon Hand Crank Manual Meat Grinder with Powerful Suction Base
What You Will Love: This manual meat grinder has a very powerful suction cup base, which can be activated with a simple turn of a knob, and removed swiftly and easily.
The Gideon hand crank manual meat grinder weighs 2.5 pounds and its dimensions are 10.9 x 6.7 x 6.1 inches.
It’s constructed of stainless steel and heavy-duty plastic and comes with top quality stainless steel screens and blades, plus 2 mincing plates, one coarse and one fine.
This grinder is used for creating sausages, meatballs, gourmet burgers, and more.
This lightweight compact manual meat grinder can be quickly disassembled.
It has a very powerful suction base which keeps the grinder firmly attached to table or counter top.
The Gideon Hand Crank Manual Meat Grinder is easy to clean and store. The compact design attaches to the counter with the turn of a knob but can just as easily be removed and put away. It is set at a reasonable price for most budgets.
As a manual meat grinder, it is not good for high volumes of meat. Also, if you put too large of pieces of meat through this grinder, it may stop up. Chopping larger pieces into smaller ones can help prevent this
Its fully enclosed blades eliminate any chance of injury. This grinder is dishwasher safe.
Pros:
- Absolutely no leakage and a simple clean-up
- Great for grinding burgers, especially if blade is really cold
- Comes apart easily and can be either hand washed or cleaned in the dishwasher
- Made from heavy duty plastic and stainless steel blades
- Extremely powerful suction base
- Compact and portable
- Easily store away
- Fine and coarse mincing plates
- Dishwasher safe
- Fair price
Cons:
- Very hard to remove the plates at the front of the grinder after use
- The fatter the cut of meat, the harder it is to push the hand crank
- Suction power isn’t strong enough and it doesn’t stay on counter or table
- Not good for high volume
- Larger pieces may need to be chopped down into smaller pieces before grinding to keep from stopping up the grinder
3. Best Stainless Steel Manual Meat Grinder: LEM Products Stainless Steel Clamp-On Hand Grinder
What You Will Love: This manual meat grinder is both easy to clean and rust resistant.
This LEM stainless steel grinder weighs 8 pounds and its dimensions are 11.5 x 8.3 x 5.3 inches.
It has a quaint old-fashioned look, rugged stainless steel construction, and is simple to clean as well as rust resistant.
Comes with 2 stainless steel plates – fine 3/16″ and coarse 3/8″, a stainless steel knife, and 3 stuffing tubes – 7/8″, 3/4″. and 1/2″.
It also features a very wide clamp opening which aids mounting on tables or countertops.
This LEM Products hand grinder is made with a smooth turn handle, making it easy for most any user. There are both coarse and fine stainless steel plates along with a stainless steel grinding knife.
It can easily clamp onto the side of a counter but can be easily removed as well and stored away. It is easy to clean, and rust resistant thanks to the stainless steel features. It comes with three stuffing tubes for making stuffing sausages.
As this unit is intended for low duty grinding, do not try to grind too much meat at once. It is an expensive item, especially taking into account the reviews of the product breaking within a few months.
Pros:
- Requires very little strength to grind
- Well made, convenient to clean, and easy to assemble
- Doesn’t clog up and no difficulty cutting through tendons
- Easy to clean
- Stainless steel features make it rust resistant
- Coarse and fine plates
- Stainless steel grinding knife
- Easily attaches and removes from kitchen counter or table
- 3 stuffing tubes for sausages
- Compact for easy storage
Cons:
- The cutting knife doesn’t ride smoothly on the plate
- Clearance between the body and the auger shaft is too large, resulting in the tinier meat pieces wrapping around auger instead of being forced toward cutter head
- Meat comes out all mushy, not ground
- Intended for low duty usage
- Expensive
- May break within months
4. Best 22 Manual Meat Grinder: Weston #22 Manual Tinned Meat Grinder and Sausage Stuffer
What You Will Love: This manual meat grinder comes with 2 steel plates and a steel grinding knife for efficient grinding capabilities that are tough enough for meat that includes bones.
The Weston #22 Manual Tinned Meat Grinder is made of cast iron with a durable handle, 2 steel plates, and a steel grinding knife. It comes with a sausage stuffer with 14 mm, 19 mm, and 24 mm sausage stuffing funnels.
Though it is much better for low volume grinding, it is said to be strong enough to grind bones in when you desire. Many people enjoy using this grinder to make meals for their pets.
The sausage stuffer can help you make professional looking sausages that taste just as good as store bought. The hopper opening size is 4†x 5â€.
This manual meat grinder is not easily clamped down on a countertop. Users state that it must be either bolted down or screwed down to a surface, so you may want to find a spot out of the way or hidden to attach it.
The price is higher than some other manual meat grinders and may be too high for some budgets.
Pros:
- 2 steel plates
- Steel grinding knife for efficient grinding
- Sausage stuffer with three different size funnels to help you make professional looking sausages
- Strong enough to grind bones
Cons:
- Must be screwed or bolted to counter
- Not good for high volumes of meat
- Price may be high for some budgets
5. Best 32 Manual Meat Grinder: Weston #32 Manual Tinned Meat Grinder and Sausage Stuffer
What You Will Love: This manual meat grinder has an ergonomically designed crank handle that can ease the pain and fatigue caused by manual grinding.
The Weston #32 Manual Tinned Meat Grinder and Sausage Stuffer was designed with the user in mind. It can be easily disassembled for easy cleaning.
The bottom has damage preventing rubber pads to help minimize any effects on your countertops. It can bet both temporarily and permanently placed. To temporarily place it, you can use suction cup feet which will have to be purchased separately.
Otherwise, it will need to be bolted or screwed down. The hopper opening is 5″ x 6″, and it adjusts for coarse to fine grind control. It comes with two steel plates that measure 4.5 mm and 10 mm, and a steel grinding knife.
Though a downside of manual meat grinders, in general, is the fact that you must do the actual grinding, this unit has an ergonomically designed crank handle can make the tiring process of manually grinding a little less so.
It is cast iron and comes with a 14 mm, a 19 mm, and a 24 mm sausage stuffing funnel. The price might be a bit expensive for many budgets.
Pros:
- Ergonomically designed crank handle
- Can be easily disassembled for cleaning
- Has damage preventing rubber pads on the bottom
- Can be permanently or temporarily placed
- Hopper opening of 5″ x 6″
- Adjusts for coarse to fine grind
- Two steel plates and steel grinding knife
- Sausage stuffing kit with three funnel sizes
Cons:
- Might be too high for some
- Suction cup feet for temporary placement must be purchased separately
- Permanent placement requires it to be bolted or screwed down which may mess up your countertops
6. Best Heavy Duty Manual Meat Grinder: LHS Manual Meat Grinder Stainless Steel Blades Heavy Duty with Powerful Suction Base
What You Will Love: This manual meat grinder has a large hopper that fits bigger amounts of meat than some others.
The LHS Manual Meat Grinder is designed with heavy duty plastic, stainless steel, and a suction base to keep it in place. There are two blades- one for coarse cutting and one for fine cutting.
The ergonomically designed handle helps minimize the effect on the wrist and the fully enclosed blades make it safe for even little fingers. It is both easy to assemble and easy to clean.
The hopper is large enough and the design tough enough to grind large amounts of meat, garlic, fruits, vegetables, peanuts, and more, and it is budget friendly.
I could only find two potential downsides to this product. The first is that some people have a hard time separating the grinder to clean it, though most say it is easy to do.
The second is that it may not stick to all surfaces, but that has only been on a couple of reported occasions thus far.
Pros:
- Large hopper
- Heavy duty plastic and stainless steel
- Powerful suction base
- Coarse and fine cutting discs
- Ergonomically designed handle
- Fully enclosed blades for safety
- Can handle large amounts of food
- Great price
Cons:
- Some may have a hard time taking it apart to clean
- Suction cup may not stick to all surfaces
7. Best Cast Iron Manual Meat Grinder: Walter Drake Silver Manual Cast Iron Meat Grinder
What You Will Love: This manual meat grinder is small, measuring at only 9″ long but can grind up to 2 lbs. per minute.
The Walter Drake Silver Manual Cast Iron Meat Grinder is made with a durable hand crank and easily clamps onto a counter. The cast iron body is great for durability.
This small kitchen device is easy to clean and runs about half of the price of most others. The cause of the lower cost may be due to the lack of sausage stuffer as the addition of that extra utensil makes other manual meat grinders worth the higher price.
Another downside to this meat grinder is that it only comes with one disc instead of two or more for versatility. If you are looking for a regular, basic manual meat grinder, this one is a good choice for you.
However, it is not a good size for any large types of meat or thick chunks of meat. Us this one strictly for small amounts of meat you want to grind. If you generally need to grind a lot of meat and other foods at once, you should probably look at other options.
Pros:
- Small yet efficient
- Durable hand crank
- Easily clamps onto counters
- About half the price of other models
- Cast iron frame
- Nice, basic grinder
Cons:
- No included sausage stuffing kit
- Only one disc for grinding instead of two or more like other models
- Small size
- Not good for large amounts of meats or large chunks of meat
Adding a manual meat grinder to your kitchen appliances can be a very good idea for those who eat a great deal of meat, like to combine many ingredients and flavors, and want to take more control over what goes into their diet.
If you will only be grinding small amounts of meat at a time, a manual meat grinder can work out well for you. To minimize the risk of bacteria entering your ground food, have an airtight container close by and waiting so you can immediately transfer it.
Before starting your hunt for the best manual meat grinder for you, make sure you have completed enough research to make a confident purchasing decision.
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