Can I Use A Meat Grinder To Rice Potatoes? -

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Of all the versatility of meat grinders, I find its ability to rice potatoes really fascinating; so if you’re wondering if your meat grinder will be able to rice your potato, the answer is a huge YES. Meat grinders (Such as this Heavy-Duty Electric Meat Grinder) can undertake most tasks like grinding of vegetables, pellets, peanut etc due to the way they are built and designed.

Ricing your potatoes gives you the option to make several potato recipes such as garlic mashed potatoes, and it also gives you a fuller taste of potatoes. Here are some of the benefits of ricing your potato:

Benefits Of Ricing Your Potato

It Prevents Over-Mashing

When potatoes are simply mashed without ricing, it results in excess release of gelatinized starches which some have compared to glue and wallpaper paste; this makes it extremely starchy than you would have liked – you don’t get this problem when you rice your potato.

It Preserves The Integrity Of The Starch

Ricing your potato provides a gentle touch to the swollen starch in them, thereby providing a very even mash than when they are only just mashed.

No Lumps Guaranteed

If you are looking for a means of avoiding lumps, ricing your potato is the way to go. Ricing potatoes gives you a very smooth blend all-around regardless of the species.

Provides You With Light Potatoes

Anyone with a liking for light potatoes will find ricing potatoes very rewarding. When you rice potatoes, you get the lightest version of potatoes you can lay your hands on anywhere. Simply put, a riced potato is a light potato.

You don’t really need a potato ricer to enjoy these benefits as long as you have the appropriate meat grinder (not all meat grinders are appropriate to rice potatoes). However, if you are among the lucky persons whose meat grinder can rice a potato, follow the step by step guide on how to rice your potato using your meat grinder.

Things to keep in mind when buying a meat grinder to rice potatoes

Size/capacity: Since you’ll be using your meat grinder to rice potatoes, ensure to pick one that is big enough to accommodate your potatoes and that which can function effectively.
Power supply: You need to consider the outputs of the motor as well. A model of 400 to 800 watts for mini or midsize models is good. While for extra-large models, go for 800 – 1200 watts. The one I recommended above is pretty okay and those the work perfectly.

Pro Steps To Ricing Potatoes Using A Meat Grinder

The following steps will be more straightforward if you own an Heavy-Duty Electric Meat Grinder, let get acquainted, shall we?

Step 1: Get Out The Attachment From The Pack

You probably didn’t realize, but your KitchenAid grinder has an attachment specifically for ricing potatoes (check your manual for more details). Bring out the attachment and attach it accordingly. You might need to wash it before use.

Step 2: Attach Your Grinder To A Suitable Spot (For Manual), Or Plug It In (For Electric Grinders)

Position your blender on a suitable spot, and endeavour to plug it in if it’s electric. Try running water through your grinder before ricing your potato; it will help to reduce the number of potatoes sticking on plates during the ricing process. Ensure you use clean water. Get your bowl and position it under the outlet of your meat grinder

Step 3: Pour In Your Potato And Start Ricing

As soon as you have attached the right attachment on your meat grinder, start the process of ricing your potato – it might be time-consuming depending on the size of your potato you intend to blend. Continue the ricing process until you are true with your potato.

Continue with your recipe after the ricing process, and I can assure you that there will be no lumps – unlike when you simply mash it.

What Can You Substitute For A Potato Ricer?

If you are a fan of potato gnocchi, then you don’t really need a potato ricer to rice your potato – a Grater would do a very good job in that regard. The only persons who might have a problem with this method are core traditionalist, but that shouldn’t bother you, or anyone else for that matter. Here are other methods of ricing potatoes without a ricer:

How To Rice Potatoes Without A Ricer

If you don’t have a ricer or a meat grinder, you can still enjoy the satisfying taste of riced potato apart from using a Grater – follow the simple steps below;

Step 1: Wash, Peel, And Boil Your Potatoes

After purchasing your potatoes from the market, wash them, peel, and boil them – then allow them to cool for a while.

Step 2: Get Your Food Mill Ready

A food mill is another safe option if you don’t have a fine Grater at home. First, put the medium-sized or small disc into the food mill, then place it over a bowl large enough to contain your riced potatoes.

Cut your potatoes into sliced bits, and ensure they fit perfectly into your food mill – don’t overload your food mill – take your time to achieve the best result. As you turn your handle clockwise, exert some sort of downward pressure to properly get your potatoes through the grinding mechanism of your food mill until the potatoes reach the bottom.

Just so you know, don’t use large hole Graters or plates for your food mill as it might deny you the smooth texture you desire, and when using a food mill, turn the handle in an anti-clockwise manner to allow the shaft to accommodate more potatoes. Do ensure to take extreme caution to avoid any sort of injuries.

What Else Can I Do With A Meat Grinder?

Aside from ricing your potatoes, here are other uses of your meat grinder you might not be aware of:

Good Sausage Maker

I don’t think there is any meat lover who doesn’t like sausages. Sausages are excellent in many ways, and there are wide ranges of recipes you can make with them. As long as you have a meat grinder, you can plan tweaked sausages with various meats of various coarseness or texture.

At that point, you can prepare the sausages and serve them to get the applause or criticism of your companions and outsiders alike. Note that not all meat grinders come with a sausage attachment, which leaves you with the option of buying a separate attachment for your personal use. (Check out this Metal Food Grinder Attachment for KitchenAid Stand Mixers Includes 2 Sausage Stuffer Tubes)

Burger Patties

in the same way, you can make a sausage with a meat grinder, you can make burger patties as well – you can make the patty of a burger with a meat processor. Simply put your preferred meat in line with the measure of fat you need.

You can likewise add a couple of drops of oil and flavours. Meat grinders also give you full control of the coarseness of the crushing according to what you need your meat to look like in a patty of a burger. Choose the shape of the patty once it emerges from the machine and ensure you fry it before including it in your burger.

Cookie Dough

Another way your meat grinder can come to good use is when it’s being used to grind your cookie dough when making homemade cookies.

Everybody loves to eat treats and cookies, and more often than not, we get it from the pastry shops only to realize that it wasn’t really prepared to our taste and liking.

With a meat processor, you can get ready tasty, and sound cookies as you can grind all the ingredients in with the cookie dough in your meat grinder, which makes it a perfect substitute for a blender in this situation.

Grinding Vegetables

I know one of the odd items you are likely to find in the home of a vegetarian who stays alone is a meat grinder, but I hope they have a change of heart, especially when meat grinders have been known to do a very good job in grinding vegetables.

Some professional chefs have been known to prefer meat grinders over a regular vegetable grinder due to the quality it gives to the grinding. When grinding vegetables, meat grinders also grants you the option of throwing in other spices as you might see fit without you having to grind them separately.

What Is The Difference Between A Potato Masher And A Ricer? (In Terms Of All-Round Performance)

To answer this question without being biased in any way, you should understand that the goal of grinding potatoes is to use the softest touch possible – any rigorous effort will burst the swollen starch of the potatoes, which will, in turn, the potato’s gel into a sticky mess.

Any research will tell you to pick the ricer over the masher any day, any time. However, that being said, here are some of the major difference between a potato ricer, and a potato masher:

Potato Texture

During my research on this subject, I observed that potatoes that passed through a masher were not as smooth as the potatoes that passed through the ricer. The potatoes that passed through the ricer were in many ways fluffier than those of the masher.

It is certain to have bumps in your mashed potatoes after mashing. However, you should note that some persons who have used the generic food mill have applauded the smooth nature of the potatoes as well, so you don’t really need a potato ricer if you have a food mill.

Effort

A masher would require more effort than a potato ricer because you will require more strength to ensure you cover every area of the bowl you are mashing in – this isn’t the case for a ricer though – you just have to stir your ricer in a circular motion, and it will do the ricing almost effortlessly on your part.

Time Consumption

Potato ricers are known to be time-consuming, but when you consider the effect it will have on your potato grounded recipe, then you might agree with me that it’s definitely worth the wait in every way. Mashers might take lesser time to get the job done, but they only end up giving us lumps we don’t appreciate.

So there you have it. Remember – if you have a good food mill, a ricer might not be necessary.

What Is The Best Tool To Mash Potatoes?

Having focused more on a potato ricer, food mill, and a masher for getting the best out of your potato, let’s consider other options you might choose to have at your disposal.

Immersion Blender

Some persons who have used an immersion blender have considered it a great option if you intend to mix your potatoes with other forms of vegetables such as spicy leaves, or turnips.

Regardless, you still stand the risk of having too much starch released in your potato except you incorporate other ingredients just like the ones I earlier suggested. An immersion blender will give you an even blend on your potato mix, but just don’t overdo it. Click here for more.

A Tamis

This might sound quite odd to the ears especially when you consider the fact that you can’t use a tamis alone.

However, if you ever wondered what the silkiest potato tasted like, then make it a reality by passing your grounded potato after grinding it via a ricer or any other means you could lay your hands on, through a tamis.

It is usually a painstaking process, but there’s a lot to gain from the entire experience as you will be left with the smoothest potato ever – it’s definitely worth it.

A Fork

Using a fork to marsh your potato is strictly for those who feel that smooth potatoes are for babies, and would therefore require some lumps in their potato from time to time, to remind them of their adulthood.

But in my opinion, I feel using a fork should sort of being the last resort if you don’t have the other options as spelled out in this article. Any fork will do, just ensure it doesn’t slip from your hands during the process.