Does ground hamburger have to be ground twice?

[msgenie516]

Hi,

I just ordered a 1/4 HP All stainless LEM electric meat grinder from Amazon. I did some grinding a long time ago with my KitchenAid but it is 22 years old now and I thought I should give it a break, as it is acting up when kneading bread dough. I vaguely remember that the directions said to run the meat through grinder twice, but I'm not sure.

The grinder I ordered comes with both a fine and coarse blade. Which should I use to grind beef hamburger? And should I grind it twice? I plan on using beef chuck for the hamburger, as I would like some fat in the meat for juiciness.

Also, did I make a good choice with the grinder? I hope so! Thanks for your help! Genie

[Uncle Bob]

The vast majority of all types of ground beef/sausage found in retail markets have been ground twice...If you grind chuck, you may want to grind twice for a more even fat distribution throughout the grind...If grinding very lean meats (venison) you may want to weigh the meat, then the fat to get the lean to fat percentage you want...Grind the meat, then the fat...mix well...then grind a second time to evenly distribute the fat within the grind ~~ your 3/16 plate should work well for this. ~~ The 3/8 plate makes a good "chili" plate..~~ The "Kidney" plate is use for stuffing sausage ~~ At the end of the day it depends on what you want looks and texture wise....You decide, and have fun doing it. HTH

[Davwud]

I never grind twice and the answer is NO. It does not have to be ground twice.

Hamburgers, finer sausage, etc. on small.
Chili, coarse sausage meat on large.

Enjoy.

DT

[biondanonima]

It really depends on your preference. I like my hamburger ground once through the coarse die, my husband likes it ground twice, first through the coarse die and then through the finer one. Chacun a son gout.

[roxlet]

That's how my DH does it too.

[todao]

I don't know how you would "pulse" the LEM meat grinder or what difference it would make. It's a constant feed grinder. But I agree that meat should be ground once and that the coarse setting will probably give you the best results. Use the finer grinding head for sausage and similar products.

[morwen]

Agree with ipse and todao. Grind burger once but if making sausage, grind once through the large holes, switch out disks and grind a second time through the small holes. Remember to keep disks, blade, meat, and other ingredients cold, cold, cold!

[hohokam]

I'm also puzzled by the suggestion to run the grinder in 1-second pulses. Grinders aren't generally set up to run that way, and I would think that it would be pretty hard on the gears after a while.

I always put the feed tube, auger, blade, plate(s), and retaining ring/nut for my grinder in the freezer along with the cubed meat before grinding.

[biondanonima]

I think ipsedixit must be referring to grinding meat in the food processor, in which case pulses are good.

[ipsedixit]

Yes, that was my bad. I was thinking food processor, not grinder. Sorry folks.

[ipsedixit]

Do not grind your meat twice.

Use your coarse blade and pulse with about 1 second intervals.

This is what I do (posted previously). http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7717...