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Cleaning has been subjected to become a part of the world we’ve gotten accustomed to which oftentimes, it is being carried daily. Generally, cleaning can’t be taken away from us as humans. It is a part and parcel of our being from time immemorial.
Cleaning isn’t restricted to one section of the home. We clean virtually almost everything if not everything, and even down to our bodies. We ain’t going to exclude the kitchen. Our utensils and household items are cleaned for a healthy living.
Nonetheless, the aspect of the kitchen equipment that requires cleaning to which we’ll be looking at is meat grinder plates. Meat grinders are used in grinding meats to any texture of our choice. One good thing about using a meat grinder is that you get to use the ground meat instantly.
Unlike those at the shopping mall that could have been there for days. If we do not clean the plates, germs and bacteria will linger on them, causing them to have an awful smell. However, there is the aspect of cleaning that we mustn’t neglect which we’ll discuss here.
Expert Steps To Take When Cleaning Meat Grinder Plates
Step 1: Cleaning With A Piece Of Cloth
You necessarily do not have to wash your meat grinder plates with water and sponge if you do not want to. You can easily clean the plates with just a piece of cloth and little water.
However, this can only be attained if you pre-clean with something different first before applying this step of using just water and cloth. What could it be? Cleaning by depositing a few slices of bread into the meat grinder. Pushing a few slices of bread down will get most of the meat particles out thereby making it less difficult to be cleaned.
After grinding the slices of bread, detach the meat grinder plates. I’ll explain how to carefully detach and reassemble plates after cleaning. Take a bowl and fill it with water. You can fill the sink with water if you can’t get a bowl. Soaked the cloth into it and wring out the water from it. You don’t need too much water. Use the piece of cloth to clean the meat grinder plates gently then you keep it aside to air dry.
Step 2: Washing With Hands After Use
A lot of persons do not know the advantages of washing meat grinder plates with their hands. Not like it is bad to use a dishwasher (we’ll elaborate on that soon), but using your hands to wash your plates makes it squeaky clean like a brand new set of plates.
The best time to wash meat grinder plates is after use. Leaving the meat residue for days isn’t advisable. Why? This is because one finds it hard to wash the plates due to the residue that must have remained stagnant to the bodies of the plates. So, washing immediately is the best.
Under this, we’ll be discussing a few steps on how to achieve this effect.
First, you have to carry out this step before embarking on the journey of detaching the meat grinder plates. I stated it in the first step, but I will have to state it here again. This involves grinding two or three loaves of bread right inside the machine. Sounds crazy? I admit. But there’s a reason attached to this. The essence of grinding those loaves is to remove all the tiniest pieces of meat that must have been stuck in the machine.
Detach the meat grinder by removing the meat grinder plates. This is such an easy method so you necessarily won’t have issues trying to detach the meat grinder plates from the grinder. In detaching the plates, you should be extra careful about it so you don’t get to harm yourself in the process.
Also, there’s something called patience that will be needed from you to apply. Sincerely speaking, detaching meat grinder plates can be exhausting taking longer to achieve. At such, you must be patient enough to get them out successfully. Aside from this, meat grinders are known to be extremely sharp that when not properly handled with care, they can cause one to have injuries.
After doing that you take them aside and go prepare water and a sponge. Fill the sink or a bowl with water, pour any dish liquid soap into the water. Then, dip your sponge into the water, allow it to absorb a little, wring out little water, and commence washing. Please wash extensively to ensure that there isn’t any meat residue found on the plates.
PLEASE NOTE;
After washing, you can then keep them in a cool place from the reach of children to dry up. When it is has dried up completely, you’ll need to couple them back into the machine.
In one of our previous posts, we talked about the steps on how to and assembly meat grinder plates back to the machine. For the sake of those who wouldn’t have the time to check through, let me quickly summarize the procedures on how to assembly meat grinder plates with ease especially if yours do not come with numbers or a means of identification.
So how do you quickly assemble meat grinder plates?
Before washing the plates, get a pen and a paper so you could number the plates all by yourself as you bring them out. Or better still, you can get something to stick to the plates.
With this, it becomes a lot easier for you to reassemble them back with less difficulty. So all you need do at that point would be to simply place them back where they rightly belong. The moment you do that, kindly place it back where you do keep your meat grinder. Please do endeavour to let the plates dry off properly before storing them.
Also, you can use water and baking soda to wash meat grinder plates that have grease in them. Only if the grease cannot be taken off through cleaning. Lastly, clean gently and not aggressively and in the process of cleaning, you can check the plates to see if they need sharpening or not.
How To Clean Meat Grinder Plates – FAQ
Can You Wash Meat Grinder Plates In a DishWasher?
Such a question has been asked repeatedly without any in-depth explanation if one should use a dishwasher to wash meat grinder plates or not. Well, I won’t give you a Yes or No answer just yet till I’ve successfully explained some things you need to understand first, then I’ll answer the question above.
First, aluminium and dishwasher do not get along. They do not correlate with one another and they never will. When you place a meat grinder plate into a dishwasher, there are bound to be serious complications. Quite a number of issues are going to come up which in the long run will cost a lot to the extent of damaging your meat grinder plates.
Secondly, issues like the meat grinder plates turning dark or some parts of the meat grinder getting spoilt. Well, depending on what was used to make the meat grinder machine. For instance, some made with cast iron may (under probability in terms of quality) not be darkened. Worst case scenario, some parts of the meat grinder machine may develop issues over time if you keep using the dishwasher.
Thirdly, you can take off parts of the meat grinder to wash in a dishwasher. That is, detaching the entire meat grinder and taking some of its parts into the dishwasher while taking the meat grinder into a bowl or a sink to wash. It’s quite safe and there won’t be complications. Well, this could be seen as a stressful thing to do. At such, people go for washing the meat grinder machine with their hands only.
So in answering the question above, I’d say Yes and No. You can detach the meat grinder machine and throw the parts into the dishwasher and wash the rest with your hands. Mind you, you should grind in it few slices of bread first before you proceed with this.
Having said all that, my suggestion for the best way to wash a meat grinder for you would be by washing with your hands. This is because, rather than washing some parts of the meat grinder in a dishwasher and the other part in a bowl or sink, it would be better off to wash all parts of the meat grinder with your hands.
Why Does My Meat Grinder Get Clogged?
One of the greatest problems of the meat grinder is clogging. Often times, hundreds and thousands of people complain about this same problem over and over again. Meat grinder gets clogged for two specific reasons which we are going to talk about right here and now.
Reason 1
Meat grinder gets clogged due to excessive usage. Foremost, one should understand that not all meat grinders are manufactured to function the same way. Why some may be stronger and better in terms of quality and durability, others aren’t. So what Mr A’s grinder would do for him won’t necessarily be the same with what Mr B’s grinder will do for him. That is why it is important to understand the meat grinder machine you’re buying and to always read the manuals attached to them.
What am I saying in essence? Why some may be used to grind fat, bony meat, and bony chicken, others won’t. For this reason, people tend to use grinders that aren’t strong enough to grind fat, grind bony meat, and bony chicken. And when this is done, the meat grinder gets clogged making it prone to complications and not able to grind very well.
Reason 2
Meat grinder gets clogged due to blockage from the meat grinder plates. This is why we keep hitting on washing the meat grinder plates or machine immediately after use. By so doing, you’re getting the meat particles that could have blocked the plates from the previous grinding making it impossible for the meat grinder to grind with ease.
So these aforementioned reasons are the main reasons why meat grinder machines are getting clogged on a daily basis. Let’s quickly look at ways to stop your meat grinder machine from getting clogged incessantly.
Expert Ways To Stop Your Meat Grinders From Clogging
1. Cut Off Fat From Meat And Chicken Before You Proceed To Grind Them In A Meat Grinder Machine
If you purchased such meat and you would love to grind it with your meat grinder machine, cut off the fat from the meat and sinew before you proceed to grind them in the machine.
2. Cut The Bones Too If Your Grinder Does Not Have What It Takes To Grind Bones
As earlier mentioned, there are some meat grinding machines that can be used to grind bones effectively. If yours isn’t of that range, simply de-bone the meat or chicken and cut the bones before you grind. If you don’t, the meat grinder machine will get clogged and it won’t be good at all.
3. Cut The Meat Into Smaller Portions
Don’t just throw the meat in the meat grinder machine after cutting off the fat from it. Use a quality sharp knife and cut them into smaller portions before grinding (See our Cuisinart Advantage Knife Set review)
4. Always Clean Your Meat Grinder
Cleaning is one of the prerequisites needed to maintain a meat grinder machine from getting clogged always. If you don’t clean your machine properly, expect to see it get clogged.
5. Clean Blades Or Plates
It is no longer new that blades or plates do get rust leading to the meat grinder to become less effective. So ensure you take time to clean your blades or plates properly after use to avoid rust.
Things To Avoid When Cleaning Meat Grinder Plates
Cleaning meat grinder plates are essential but there are certain things one must avoid when cleaning them so as not to cause harm to yourself or in a way cause some damages to your meat grinder machine.
They are;
- Avoid cleaning aggressively so you don’t inflict pain on yourself.
- Avoid using sharp objects to remove meat particles
- Avoid soaking for days whenever you want to clean meat grinder plates.
How To Clean Meat Grinder Plates – Conclusion
The cleaning of meat grinder plates and meat grinder machines itself is paramount. With these detailed explanations on how to clean and carter for our plates and meat grinder machines, you’ll find it easier to maintain your meat grinder.
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