We recently butchered our bull. In preparation for processing our home-grown meat, we had purchased a small but (supposedly) good quality electric meat grinder. Sadly, the third time we used it, grinding the meat from the bull into hamburger, the machine broke. So, Allen looked around in Gracias, and found a manual meat grinder in one of the hardware stores, for around $40.
Today we pulled out a large bag of the meat that we'd intended to grind (meat that we hadn't been able to grind, because of our broken machine), and had Josiah and Ben put it through the manual grinder. Because this meat was previously frozen, it has to be cooked before it can be frozen again. We're seasoning this meat to use in tacos. It will be nice to have some "convenience food" in the freezer for future use!
Today we ground, seasoned, and cooked about 15 pounds of meat for tacos. We're thinking of other things to cook in bulk when we do future batches of grinding - perhaps sausage, or meatballs! Yum!
Meanwhile, Allen, Bethany and Gus are cutting strips of beef to use as jerky. Jerky is totally a treat for us, and we're looking forward to having it around the house . . . for a week or so, LOL. Then it will all be eaten!
7 comments:
How long does it take for 2 boys to grind 15lbs of meat, and where can I find some willing meat-grinders? :>)
15 lbs of beef with a hand grinder! That's a lot of work! Too bad your electric one broke so soon. We have a Bosch meat grinder and have ground a lot of meat with it. If you need a recommendation for a good one :)
Heather - the boys double ground all of the meat, and it took them between 3 and 4 hours. Tough guys, don't you think?
Tonia - is your grinder an attachment to the Bosch mixer? I ask because I have the mixer, and I'd consider getting the grinder attachment if you recommended it. Dh, however, is almost set on getting a grinder with a wheel, that can be attached to a small motor by a belt OR turned manually. Thanks!
It is an attachment to the mixer. We usually grind 15-20 lbs of meat at a time, and it only takes about 30 min (I think, I'll have to check with dh since that's his department). And that double grinding it. I like it because I only have one machine for multiple uses. Space is a premium in my small kitchen. The down side is that if that one machine malfunctions all attachments are unusable!
Do your guys do all of the butchering? I imagine it must be a ton of work to trim and prepare the meat for the grinder! I'd be super excited to have all of that food ready to go in the freezer.
Do you have another bull to raise now?
Cindy - my oldest son and a group of young men do the rough, outside part of the butchering. Then the big slabs of meat come into the kitchen where dh and I and the girls cut and trim and grind. Well, that was the plan, until the electric grinder broke!
We have another full grown cow ready to slaughter, but we don't have enough room in the freezer for the meat at the moment!
What a lot of work! I like making "convenience" things like strips of steak in fajita (or other)marinade. That way, while it is defrosting, it is also marinating!
Good workout for the boys!!
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