Do I need to freeze my meat before grinding it?

By Dominic Trimboli

When it comes to grinding meat there’s dozens of tips that people will give you to get started, but there is one tip more important than all the others.

Do you need to freeze your meat before grinding it? Well, you don’t have to, but it sure makes everything a whole lot easier!

Read on for tips on how to keep your freezer empty and your full stomach!

Why should I freeze my meat before grinding it?

Whether you’re creating your own ground beef mix or preparing the filling for snack sticks partially freezing your meat first will make everything easier.

When grinding meat, it warms up throughout the process and your grinder gets warm from all the work it’s doing. When meat warms up, the fat content starts to get soft and smear into a sticky, gluey substance. This slows down your grinder and gunks up the grind plate. Unfortunately, that leads to uneven grinding, poor texture and sometimes can even dry out your ground meat.

When you freeze your meat, you’re making life easier in more ways than one. First, frozen meat is easier for the grinder to tear apart and will grind faster than room temperature meat. Your fat content will stay solidified when frozen, allowing your grinder to perform more efficiently and evenly. Because your meat is ground more evenly, the texture will be better and the final product will be much juicier. Finally, freeze your grinding plates and you’ll be able to grind efficiently for even longer than before.

One word of caution before we wrap this up, DO NOT add ice to your grinder to cool it down when you’re grinding meat. This will not work cool down your grinder the way you want, and will only serve to ruin your meat by adding water to it.