I always thought of grinding meat at home where not only I can have a clean and hygienic environment but also total control of the fat control, texture, and cuts.
An added benefit is the availability of fresher meat at a lower cost than at the supermarket!
Is it possible to grind meat in a Vitamix?
For the uninitiated, the Vitamix is a popular high-powered blender that can crush even the toughest ingredients into a smooth puree.
When it comes to super-sharp knives, the Vitamix is one machine that people are divided on.
On one hand, the powerful machine is the perfect way to make soups, smoothies, and other things requiring super-sharp blades.
On the other hand, while there’s no doubt the Vitamix is a powerful machine, many home cooks are worried that using a Vitamix to grind meat is a little overkill.
“Yes and no,” said a spokesperson from the Vitamix Corporation. “The Vitamix is a powerful machine, and can shred meat when used properly.
“However, there are a few things to keep in mind when grinding meat in order to get the best results.
The idea that a Vitamix could be useful in a kitchen other than just for pureeing soup is pretty crazy, until you read Tim Ferriss’ latest book, The Four Hour Chef , which suggests using a Vitamix to make everything from peanut butter, to mayonnaise, to ground meat.
You might be thinking what if you don’t have a meat grinder at home.
No worries!
I have a perfect solution for that as well.
You can use your Vitamix blender for grinding meat.
It is a versatile kitchen appliance that served just the purpose of a blender when it entered the market decades ago.
It has now evolved much and can also be used for numerous other applications.
This incredible has replaced many kitchen appliances which helped in creating more space on the kitchen counter and storage cabinets.
You just need to get the Vitamix!
| Image | Product | Feature | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Twinstripe Fav
|
Vitamix Professional Series 750 Blender
|
Automated Blending, Low-Profile 64-ounce Container, Hardened Stainless-Steel Blades | Check On Amazon |
 |
Vitamix Explorian Blender, Professional-Grade
|
Variable Speed Control, Pulse Feature, Low-Profile 64-ounce Container | Check On Amazon |
 |
Vitamix 5200 Blender Professional-Grade
|
Hot Soup, Hardened Stainless-Steel Blades, Self-Cleaning | Check On Amazon |
|
Vitamix E310 Explorian Blender
|
Pulse Feature,The 48-ounce container is ideal for blending medium batches for small family meals | Check On Amazon |
 |
Blendtec Classic Fit Blender with FourSide Jar
|
Professional-quality, Blendtec blenders are built to the highest professional standards, Includes the Blendtec four-sided jar with vented gripper lid | Check On Amazon |
With powerful stainless steel blades that spin at about 250 miles per hour, the Vitamix can grind meat successfully.
The Vitamix motor comes with 11.5 amps, 1380 watts, and 2 peak horsepower which helps it to produce a wonderful end product.
It can grind both raw as well as cooked meat.
It can also give you the consistency of your choice, from meat suitable for soups and stews to process cooked meat for chicken salads and hamburgers.
Once you start grinding meat on your own, there is no going back! You’d switch the supermarket one with this fresh hygienic meat any day.
How To Grind Meat In A Vitamix
All Vitamix blenders grind meat using the manual settings.
To grind raw or cooked meat in a Vitamix, you’ll need-
- Raw or cooked meat
- Knife
- Vitamix blender (Of course!)
The steps that you need to follow-
- Cut the meat into cubes of 1-inch size. Make sure to have chilled the raw or cooked meat before grinding.
- Set the container of the blender on the motor base and secure the lid in place.
- Turn the speed of the machine to “Variable Speed 1†and start the appliance. Gradually increase the blender’s speed to “Variable Speed 6â€.
- Add the meat to the blender one chunk at a time. You can add maximum 3-4 chunks at a time. After adding, blend each portion for 10-15 seconds.
- If you have to add spices, scrape the ground meat into a bowl then add the spices. To mix them together, use your hand or spoon.
The meat will be finely ground to the consistency you need.
Any fat present will be evenly distributed.
The Vitamix can grind all types of meat, including turkey, boneless skinless chicken breasts, beef and pork.    
A remarkable feature about the Vitamix blender is its extremely secure gripper lid which has a large lid plug opening to fit the meat (or other ingredients) through.
Difference Between Meat Grinder and Vitamix
Is the meat ground by the meat grinder the same as the Vitamix?
Can we adjust the consistency of the meat using the blender?
How effective is the Vitamix?
To answer all these questions, let us see a comparison between meat ground with a meat grinder and the Vitamix. For this purpose, we will consider sausages, mincemeat and hamburger patties.
Sausages-
The Vitamix will effectively grind sausages. When sausages have a smoother consistency, they look as well as taste better so you can use the method that I described above.
Use variable speeds from level 1 and work your way to level 6. Add meat chunks every 10 to 15 seconds. Take care of the size of the chunk. The recommended size is 1-inch cubes.
Once the meat is ground, take it out in a bowl and add the spices.
Mincemeat-
Generally, the mincemeat is desired to have a coarse texture that has meat and fat nicely separated. You can use this mincemeat for various purposes.
You get a juicy result with a texture like that. Vitamix is not the best appliance to get the perfect texture.
When the meat is ground in a blender, the meat gains a steady texture due to the fat which blends in with the meat. Due to this, the meat won’t cook well and can come out hardened.
You can solve this problem by grinding meat when it is semi-frozen.
This results in a nice separation between meat and fat.
You can get the desired texture by using the value speed method.
Start at “Variable speed 1†and raise it until you get the coarseness you want.
When using mincemeat in pies or pasta dishes, make sure it is juicy and has a nice texture so that you can saute it easily.
Hamburgers-
Hamburger patties require the same texture as that of mincemeat.
The meat and fat should be nicely separated so that when the meat is fried, it comes out juicy.
Although, Vitamix grinds your meat effectively but you can see the difference between the burger patties ground on a blender and those made using a meat grinder.
To get the best results from the Vitamix, properly use a combination of pulse function and variable speeds method.
So you can buy a meat grinder especially for grinding meat or just use your Vitamix food processor for the same purpose.
The blender also serves additional purposes such as slicing, mixing, blending, crushing, and many more such services.
Tips For Grinding Your Meat
You know the numerous benefits of Vitamix.
Grinding meat has been an addition.
Though the procedure to obtain fresh and hygienic ground meat is quite easy, you should follow some tips for better results.
Clean Everything Properly-
You probably already clean everything before cooking food. It becomes more essential when you are dealing with raw meat.
Hence, before you get started, clean up everything from your work surface to your equipment and even the vessel you will use for keeping ground meat.
To clean properly after grinding, first, grind a slice of bread before using water.
The fluffiness of the bread will make the bits of the leftover meat in the grinder stick to it. This will fry up the inside of the blenders’ container.
Freeze Everything-
As advised earlier even, you should freeze your raw or cooked meat before grinding it. It will be easier to slice and then cut into cubes.
Make sure to cut the meat before passing into the blender.
Freezing will also prevent the fat from melting easily.
Usually, if there is fat in the meat that you’re going to grind, it melts in your hand and thus you won’t get good meatballs.
What’s more interesting is that if you also freeze your container of the blender, the blades, and the plate half an hour before grinding, you’ll get better ground meat.
Woah!
Store The Ground Meat In The Freezer-
After grinding the neat, you can form patties for your hamburgers and store them separately.
You just need to insert some parchment paper between them.
Put these patties in ziplock bags and add a tag to them to remember the date of freezing.
If you know how you would want to use the ground meat, you can season it accordingly and then keep it in storage.
Pro-Tip!
If you wish to obtain a juicy, fresh, and tender ground meat at home, add a pinch of baking soda to the meat in the container!
This tip surprised me as well but adding baking soda raises the pH of the meat which makes it more difficult for the proteins to bond.
Final Thoughts-
Making homemade sausages and fresh ground meat at home has been a very healthy and nutritious way to avoid processed foods.
These packaged food items such as sausages, hot dogs, and mincemeat are a nightmare as they are filled with nitrates and sodium and are not even hygienic.
If you do not consume meat daily, then investing in a meat grinder doesn’t seem to be a wise decision. Instead, you can use your Vitamix blender to grind meat for numerous purposes such as sausages, mincemeat, hamburger patties, etc.
The Vitamix is a widely-used kitchen appliance. It’s popular for a reason, since it will blend almost anything with ease.
But, it is not a meat grinder.
In fact, the blades in a Vitamix are so powerful that they can cause serious finger injuries if you try to grind meat in one.
The Vitamix blender is a versatile kitchen appliance that uses its powerful steel blades to rapidly and consistently pulverize the meat. Any fat present in the meat gets evenly distributed.
You can easily ground all types of meat including turkey, boneless skinless chicken breasts, beef, and pork.
Happy Cooking!