More Grind Notes

I went to the Restaurant Depot to pick up more chicken.  With 3 dogs on RAW, we go through just over 4 lbs of food RAW food a day.  In addition to the chicken leg quarters that I was seeking,  I also found some chuck tender roasts on sale for 2.89/lb.  I have only been feeding poultry to my dogs this past month, and I wanted to add some other protein.  I also thought that I would use this to make hamburger for our own consumption.

I don't have too many misfires in the kitchen, but this one was a giant failure (though Mark and Reade did not label it so much as this).  This meat choice grind made a lousy hamburger to my taste.  Not enough fat (even though I added cream soaked bread), and the flavor was just blech!  I'll use this to feed the canines.  RD had frozen vegetable packages at a good price, so I bought 5lbs of mixed vegetables to grind up with the chicken. I chose a cauliflower, bean and broccoli blend along with a corn, peas and carrot blend.  I might have made a mistake on the corn mix.  We'll see if any has a problem.  Overall it is not that much added.  Because I did not include any organ meat in this batch, I will have to supplement.

Processing alert:  The Weston did seize up with the frozen vegetables. As the metal auger, knife and extruder absorbs the cold, they ended up freezing between the blade and the extruder.  When the vegetables were mixed evenly with the meat, this was not a problem. GTK!  This was not a shortcoming of the grinder.

To make storage of food a bit easier, I used Arrow freezer containers.  These are high quality, and because they are square (footprint), they store easily in the freezer.  I had 3 that I've had for probably 10+ years, and they still work well.  But I needed a bit more with this foray. I did not get the larger 1/2 gal container as larger containers take longer to thaw (though I'm secretly wishing I had!).

Each will hold 2 lbs if using a tamper to pack down the contents..  The perfect tamper is the plunger that came with the Weston.   They can be defrosted in the microwave, and are dishwasher (top rack) safe.   I see lots of 'warnings' about defrosting RAW in the microwave as enzymes are destroyed.  I'm not sure if it is opinion or fact.  Where possible, I will thaw in fridge.  My dogs do not require any warming of their food.  They just inhale it, even if there is some frozen chunks in it. As I was putting the beef into these containers, I offered some to my cats.  They enjoyed the beef quite a bit.  They turn their noses up at the ground chicken.  Geez.....they must imagine themselves great bison hunters!

I use my Brother P-Touch label maker to mark the containers.  I use this for my canning goods as well as for file labels and all manner of other things that could benefit from being marked.



Regarding sausage. . .  My first batch had ginger in it.  It did not sit well to our tastes.  Nixing the ginger and adding a bit more cayenne AND some ground hot peppers from the garden, kicked everything up a notch WITHOUT overpowering the heat buds.

I do love my grinder.