Best Commercial Meat Grinder Reviews

How We Chose These Meat Grinders

Meat grinders, though seemingly straightforward, are intricate machines with multiple settings and configurations that affect how you use them. To determine the top meat grinder options, we focused on key purchasing considerations, such as power type, usage, and hub size.

Power Type

When selecting the perfect meat grinder for your commercial kitchen, one of the primary considerations we focused on was whether it is electric or manual. Understanding the power type is crucial. It directly impacts how efficiently your meat grinder operates and the effort your staff needs to exert during the grinding process.

• Manual meat grinders: These grinders require a hand crank to manually grind the meat as you feed it into the hopper. While this method demands more physical labor and typically produces less output, it adds a personal, homestyle touch to your meat products.
• Electric meat grinders: These grinders automatically grind meat once placed in the hopper, offering greater control over the grinding process. The adjustable settings ensure consistent grinding results, enable you to work more efficiently, and ultimately save time in your kitchen operations.

Usage

Usage determines how much output a meat grinder is designed for, making it essential to match the grinder's capacity to your business's specific needs. We found it imperative to lay out the main usage types, ensuring each kitchen can find the right fit.

• Light-duty: For businesses with low-volume meat grinding requirements, light-duty meat grinders are an ideal choice. Use them if you don't plan to grind meat every day or if you only process ground meat on a case-by-case basis.
• Medium-duty: Medium-duty meat grinders are suitable for most standard commercial kitchens. These grinders can handle daily use and process larger quantities of meat, making them a versatile option for businesses with moderate output levels.
• Heavy-duty: For businesses with high demand and large-scale meat processing needs, heavy-duty meat grinders are the most advanced units available. These grinders are built to handle heavy demand, making them the preferred choice for businesses with extensive commercial meat processing requirements, like butcher shops.

Hub Size

The hub of a meat grinder is where the meat exits the machine at the end of the grinding process. These hubs come in different sizes, which can significantly impact the consistency of your meat. While there is a range of hub sizes to choose from, we decided to evaluate the most commonly used options.

• #5 hubs: As the smallest size available, #5 hubs feature a 1/8" plate. They are best suited for smaller quantities of meat and producing fine grounds, making them ideal for recipes that require a finer texture.
• #12 hubs: Moving up in size, #12 hubs feature a plate that is 3/16". These hubs produce medium-sized grounds that are perfect for standard hamburgers and ground meat, providing a balance between fine and coarse textures.
• #22 hubs: For those looking to prepare coarse grounds, #22 hubs are the way to go. With plates that are 1/4" in size, these hubs are ideal for creating coarser textures that are great for different types of sausages or recipes that require a more substantial grind.
• #32 hubs: These hubs are designed for high-volume grinding, especially coarse grounds for dishes like chili or meatloaf. #32 hubs feature plates that are 3/4".
• #42 hubs: These hubs are best suited for handling larger, chunkier grinds and pieces of meat, making them perfect for processing tough cuts or large quantities of meat efficiently. They feature a plate that is 1/2".

From grinding beef for burgers to creating custom sausage blends, a commercial meat grinder can handle a wide range of tasks depending on your menu and business needs. Using our suggestions, you can outfit your kitchen with the right unit for the job to maximize the quality of your prepared meats.