Forcemeat

[ntbsnthlrchn]

I'm not sure quite where to put this so I'll put it in the general forum, hope nobody minds...
I'm thinking of making, or trying to make a "forcemeat" type recipe (don't ask why....) and everything is supposed to be ground very finely.
http://www.answers.com/forcemeat?gwp=11&ver=1.0.8.207&method=3

Any ideas on how I could grind it? I have looked into using a grain mill, and posted a thread about it. Looks like that's no good for meat &/or veg, though. I am supposing a meat grinder would not grind finely enough.

I looked at a bunch of food processors at a local store here, but it doesn't look like they are capable of processing something really thick. I ruined my blender trying to process thick stuff just about a month ago, and had to buy a whole new one.

 

[Andy M.]

If you have a meat grinder and run it through several times, that will result in a finer grind each time. Some meat grinders come with several grinding tools of various grind textures.

 

[auntdot]

We have several grinders including the KA attachment and a traditional hand crank job (like to make sausages, but don't do it very much recently).

But now when we finely ground meat, even for hamburgers, often just reach for the food processer. If one adds only a relatively small amount at one time and carefully pulses it, you can get the texture you want. Just do not overload it or be prepared for another trip to the store for another one.

 

[ntbsnthlrchn]

bump?
Any other way to grind stuff really finely?

 

[amber]

Short of what was suggested, (meat grinder, and food processor), I guess you should take your meat to a butcher.

 

[Andy M.]

I don't mean to be a wise guy but you've been given several workable solutions:

Manual meat grinder
Meat grinder attachment for a KA mixer
Food Processor

All three are viable solutions. If you don't have or cannot buy the necessary equipment, a sharp knife and a cutting board will get the job done.

Was there some problem with the solutions given?

 

[ntbsnthlrchn]

I was looking for ways to make "forcemeat".... Apparently it should be ground very finely.... Maybe I should have restated the question.
I'm just calling it forcemeat, which is not ground meat or something. It's like a turkey stuffing, with bread and some meat, herbs etc. all ground such that it looks homogeneous.(see the wikipedia article I linked to in the OP)

So I need a way to grind something that is quite thick into an an apparently homogeneous paste. I have looked at food processors and some heavy duty blenders at canadian tire around here, but they all look way to wimpy to handle mixing stuff that is sort of bread dough consistency. As mentioned I already broke a blender trying..... So what I'm hearing is use a meat grinder or a food proccessor? I can buy a hand-cranked meat grinder just locally for 50$, but I think I would have to put it through a huge number of times to get it to grind finely.... I know you can get "food grinder" attachemnts for a motor base, but the base costs a fortune, and I have no other use for it.
I also looked into grain mills, and according to this forum that wouldn't work very well, though I know there are a few different kinds mills, one of which might work.... I though of a peanut butter grinder/"nut mill", but would that work? They are hard to find.

I have already looked at alternatives to forcemeat.

 

[Andy M.]

A meat grinder is made for grinding meat. Nut grinders, blenders, grain mills are not.

Meat grinders often come with different sized disks to provide different textures. I think your best bet is to grind and re-grind in a meat grinder. One force meat recipe I looked at specifically called for "chicken ground three times". That's because each grinding subsequent to the first makes a finer texture!

Also, many of the recipes call for a liquid such as milk. Mixing the ground meat with the liquid will make it looser and you could puree it to your heart's content in a food processor.

The problem is, if you're starting with whole pieces of meat, you need something that was made to break down the fibers. After that is done, a FP will be able to handle the texture and make it into as smooth a texture as you want.