Home Cooking - the mechanics (how do you chop it all up?)

[Deborah Brown]

When I cook for my doodles, I cook a large amount at one time in my crock pot.  The easiest meat for me has been ground turkey but I'm trying to get away from poultry.

If you cook other meats, how do you chop it all up?  I just cut up 16 pounds of pork with my electric knife and it took forever.  I am looking at meat grinders online but it appears you have to cut the meat into small chunks before feeding the grinder so I don't know if that solves the problem.  I need some type of meat "chopper" that can cut meat into small cubes.  Any ideas?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I cook first and cut later. It's so much easier to cut up cooked meat than raw meat. I cook whole chicken breasts and refrigerate, then cut it up before mixing it with whatever else is going in the food. I think you may lose less of the nutrients cooking it whole, too, but I'm not sure.

[Deborah Brown]

That's what I did tonight.  Cutting raw meat is the worst.  It either has to be partially frozen or cooked.

I'm just hoping for a short cut.  :)

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Deborah ~ have you thought of using the old vintage hand turn meat grinder. My mom had one and I happen to find one at an antique store some years ago.  Mine is a Russell & Erwin No. 1.  I not only use it for meat, but also zucchini, etc. Mine has the latch on top, so it is easy to open up the bowl part and clean and I even put it in the dishwasher.  If you are interested, there are a couple on ebay!  I have thick granite countertops, so I attached mine to work bench in garage and put a large plastic cutting board under it.

[Deborah Brown]

Linda, do you have the chop the meat up before putting it in the grinder?  Yours looks like it has a pretty big feeder hole.  What do the numbers mean?  (Russell & Erwin No. 1)

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

I believe the No. 1 is the largest feeder whole.  I see several on ebay, but some are no 2 and smaller.  Not all have the latch on the top like mine does.  I cut the zucchini length wise in 6 inch lengths.  You would have to make the meat chunks fit in the hole.  The top of hole is 2" x 3" and of course the strip of meat could be as long as you want.  My husband sharpens all our knives monthly (he is the cook in the house), so cutting meat is a snap here.

[Deborah Brown]

Is the manual grinding difficult?  Can I reasonable person grind 15 pounds of meat without their arm falling off?  (better to know ahead of time!)

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

I think I could do it.  But, just another thought - you could ask the butcher to grind it you purchase the meat.  I would think, even places like Albertsons, Safeway etc would grind it for you if you are purchasing it from them.  

[Deborah Brown]

Today I bought the pork sirloin at Costco for $1.49/pound.  I don't know if I'd get that price elsewhere but, yes, it is an alternative.

I'm looking at the kitchenaid grinder attachment for the mixer.  I think I can get it cheap on ebay.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Costco grind hamburger, so I would think they could grind your pork sirloin.  Have you ever asked them?? Just curious.  I think I will ask here. Good luck on your endeavor!  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Most of the homemade dog food recipes I've seen also call for each ingredient to be cooked separately and then measured out and mixed together.

[Deborah Brown]

I cook some ingredients separately and some together in the crock pot.  But I combine it all and then divide into serving size containers.  I generally cook every 10 days.

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

I also find that breaking the meat apart after cooking is a lot easier!  Have you ever though about using a food processor?  That may break it up too much though…but maybe just a few quick pulses?