These days, meat grinders have become a very popular kitchen appliance.

But you need to keep in mind that while you deal with raw meat – cleaning the components is very important to avoid germs and bacteria that come from residue.

Basically, cleaning your meat grinder is similar to other cookware as usually you clean in the kitchen. It’s also important to store the part of the meat grinder after its job done which also ensures it’s well maintained.

However, you can also follow certain things to make cleaning easy while you use it and save the spend time in the kitchen.

Let’s watch a video on How To Clean A Meat Grinder

Hand-Washing Your Grinder (Step-by-Step)

1. Clean it immediately after use

Well, meat leaves oil and grease in the grinder as the meat is processed in it.

You should not wait too long to clean your meat grinder because the oil and stray bits of meat will dry and crust over if you don’t clean it immediately after your job is done.

This will be easier to clean if you deal with it quickly after every time you use it.

2. Try Feeding Bread Slices into The Grinder

After you have done grinding your meat and want to disassemble the grinder – make sure you have feed two to three slices of bread into your meat grinder as you did with your meat.

These slices of bread will absorb the oil and grease as well as if there are any stray bits left in the grinder, lingering in some places – then these bread slices will take care of them too.

3. Disassemble the Grinder

If you are using an electric meat grinder – then, unplug the machine first. And now make apart all its parts. Though the process of disassembling a meat grinder may vary depending on the type and the model you have but in general, meat grinder consists of:

• A feed tube, a pusher, and a hopper. (Basically, it’s a piece from which the meat is put into the meat grinder.)
• A blade
• A screw (it’s something that forces the meat to go through the meat grinder)
• A die or plate (this is a metal piece contains various types of holes and the meat comes out from here.)
• And lastly, a cover for the plate and blade.

4. Soak The Components

Add some dish detergent to a fill bucket or sink with warm water. Now put all the parts you have disassembled into the water mixer and let them stay for around 15 minutes to loosen up the oil, grease, or meat.

• Don’t soak any motorized parts into the water – if you are using an electric model grinder. Instead, use these 15 minutes to wipe down the outside of the meat grinder with a damp cloth and use a fresh one also to dry it

5. Scrub The Pieces of Equipment

To make a better cleaning to the blade, screw, and cover – using a sponge would be a better option. Stay focused while cleaning the blades as they are sharp and cut your finger so easily if mishandled.

Again, to clean the inside of the feed tube, holes of the plates, and hopper – try to use a bottle brush to make the job done.

After you have finished your cleaning – rinse each part of the meat grinder with clean water as well.

6. Let The Parts Dry

Now you need to use a dry towel to wipe down the parts of the meat grinder and remove excess water.

Now let the pieces of equipment air dry – you can lay them on a wire rack or on a fresh towel.

Don’t rush at this process and make sure that the pieces of equipment are totally dry and ready to place them into their rightful place in a meat grinder.