I know that meat processing plants are now under attack for Covid contamination, not shutting down and then the fear that if they shut down America will starve. This has nothing to do with that situation.

A couple of years ago, the price of ground beef, even the cheap fatty stuff, hit over $3 a pound and it just started to get too expensive to afford. Therefore, we decided to look into replacement ground meats for our foods, with the added bonus that other meats were healthier. But you go and try to buy ground turkey, chicken or pork in a one-horse town at an affordable price. Just ain't happening. So we decided to invest in the KitchenAid Mixer (the wife wanted it more to start making bread) but we also got the grinding attachment. It's rather expensive (we dropped $50 at Wal-Mart for it) but it pays for itself in the long run. Now we could grind up our own selections without paying the $4-$5 a-pound grinding convenience fee. Now when turkeys go on sale for under a buck a pound, I pick up a couple and grind them up. I like a mix of white and dark meat, for added flavor, and you can pick up the cheaper pork cuts and use them for your ground pork. As an added bonus, this goes much easier when you have 2 people working together, one doing the cutting and one doing the grinding so this turns into a cooking date / quality-time activity a couple can do together outside of the bedroom.



In prepping your ground meats, you can set yourself up some time-saving before you put it initially into the freezer. I do have standard selections of straight ground meats for future use, but I also combine my meats for specialized meals (Hamburger patties, meatballs and even meatloaf) and have them pre-formed to reduce cooking prep time on the back end. This recipe will work for any of those choices.

Amount of ingredients is proportional per 1 pound of meat. Mixing meats is recommenced for additional taste sensations. For larger portions of preparation, increase proportionally.

Ingredients

1 pound of ground meat (chicken, turkey, pork or beef)
1 egg
1/2 cup of standard breadcrumbs
1/2 cup of Panko breadcrumbs
1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan (highly recommended over pre-grated options)
2 TBSP of Olive Oil (makes meatballs more moist and yummy)
2 TBSP of Worcestershire sauce
2 TBSP Soy Sauce
1 TSP Garlic Powder
1 TSP Onion Powder
1/4 TSP Black Pepper

Finely diced Green Pepper and Onions can be added to the meat if so desired. Finely diced is the key. Anything too large and it will affect the bonding of the meat, especially when cooking.

Add other additional seasonings to taste. If you want spicy, add paprika, cayenne, etc.

Mix well, form into patties, balls, or loafs, then freeze. Individual patties can first be put into standard sandwich bags then mass frozen in quart freezer bags to save the cost of using unnecessary expensive freezer bags. Expect that meat will last at least 6 months.

Feel free to share your experiences and enjoyment.

Happy Eating!

Just went shopping today and OMFG have meat prices gone through the roof since I last left the house...

$8-a-pound for the 70/30 ground beef...

Was able to get a bunch of pork that was getting ready to pass the sell-by expiration tomorrow at half price and that still was well above its value. Just spent an hour grinding up the meat and got 14 meals worth...still at over $2 a meal for meat that shouldn't have sold for more than $1 a pound...full of fat and bone laced thru...

When I was growing up we always had a meat grinder for leftovers..
whatever was for dinner magically transformed into lunch the next
day, it was wonderful.

Now, if I had an extra freezer...

Great thread! Outstanding post construction!

I used to have a hand grinder for venison and small game.
Do you hunt? I don't anymore. Gave all my gear to the my boys years ago.

Luckily our meat costs locally have remained ... almost...normal.
Problem is the selections are low and the coolers are often rather empty now.

With such a fine looking grinder have you ever looked into curing your own sausage?

During hunting season in my hometown there were butchers who specialized in game meats. They also bought and sold game meat from hunters who didn't want it. Do you have anyone like that in your vicinity who might have some game meat for sale that you could get and experiment with? I'm curious what combinations you would come up with?

I buy a lot of lamb and I noticed Walmart now sells bison meat.
Local Froogles carries duck and OX tails. I've also seen ostrich seasonally.
I picked up a butt shank (bone-in) ham for $1.02 @ lb last Friday.
A HUGE (for me) chunk of ham for a mere $8.
Gunna bake it in my special apple cider recipe then use the bone and fat in homemade tater soup. I fry the skin up crispy with some eggs fer breakfast.

I haven't gotten the sausage attachment, but it might be something I'd consider in the future. I've done up full turkeys, when the price drops below $1 a pound. My walmarts don't do the exotic meats like bison...hell, I can't even get Veal out here in the middle of nowhere...but if they do offer it, I'd jump on it.