Milt--

I'm posting this because your email is blocked from private messages.

In the "BARF--A Cautionary Tale" thread, now closed, you reported that grinding up chicken backs came out well. What size holes were in the grinder plate you used?

As you recommended, I'm about to buy a #32 hand grinder. It comes with a plate with 3/16" holes. I imagine that's a bit small for the first grind when bones are involved. What would you recommend? 1/2"? Larger?

I'd also like to use the grinder for a first pass at veggies, since a food processor is not efficient until they've been reduced to small chunks. For that I imagine the largest hole size available would be best.

As the plates for a #32 grinder come in at almost $50 each new, I'd prefer to buy as few as possible.

Thanks!

Dave, I would go with the plate that comes with the grinder. I use a 1/8 or 3/32. Don't buy a 1/2 inch plate. You can do the same with a chopper or chef knive. Thanks for the info on my email. I coudn't understnd why I wasn't getting any mail.

Happy New Year
Milt

Well, a #32 hand grinder makes pretty short work of chicken backs, although it helps to smash them up with a cleaver first. A 3/16" hole size produces something very much like gritty hamburger.

It will not, however, grind ostrich necks--well, it might if I had muscles like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but those bones are tough! Bigger plate holes might help, I suppose. But I think I'll look for some help from my butcher--have them order the ostrich necks and grind them for me.

I'll try turkey necks next--I don't expect any trouble.

BTW, Milt, if you pick up this topic again, what's a good brand of cleaver? And what does one look for?

Dave,

I like a good cleaver. Its not so much the brand as it is the weight and metal that the blade is made out of. For chopping through bones etc. you want a pretty heavy knife (the heavier the better,imo). I prefer the cheap carbon steel blades because they are much easier to put an edge on than a stainless steel blade. (You'll want to keep it sharp/safe)

I think I'm Hong Kong Fooy in the kitchen. I'll use two good cleavers simultaneously and you use a good grinder and we'll see who can make the most hamburger in 1 minute.
Kind of like that paul bunion(sp) vs. the chainsaw thing. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Hong Kong Fooy--LOL!

But I don't think you're going to turn chicken backs into hamburger as fast with two cleavers as I can with a grinder. Simple physics: for one thing, in the grinder the meat has only one way to go, rather than all over the chopping block.

But cleavers scare me, so even if they were faster, I'd stick with the machinery. <g>

BTW, ostrich necks do make a wonderful, rich soup if you cook them like ox-tails. And at $1.10/pound, they're a bargain!

Hong Kong Fooy welcome to the board you impress me with your culinary skills. You are a jack-of-all-trades, but in your business you have to be. Let me address you alter ego.

Jason you have forever distorted my image of cattle herding. ATV’s for herding what happened to horses. Hells Angels for cattle drives? Wishbone in a sidecar? It must be a California thing.

Dave more important then a cleaver you have to decide what you are going to chop on. Then we will figure out what you should use for chopping. I might even have an old cleaver that I can send you. I will look for it tomorrow. Tell me about the grinder. What have you ground so far?

Milt

Milt--

I'm currently using a cheap Chinese stamped cleaver on a small (approx. 8" X 15") butcher block. Obviously, I need a larger chopping surface; I can pick up rather large ones at Ikea or elsewhere not too expensively. A better cleaver of any sort would be much appreciated! But just a recommendation would be great, too.

I've so far ground chicken backs and vegetables. I know I could do the veggies in my Cuisinart, but I enjoy the upper-body workout the grinder gives me. Seriously! I don't have a lot of time, so this is good exercise. (Jason, that's the main reason for not using cleavers, besides the fact that I'm a klutz. And I realized that you can probably use two cleavers to keep stuff from wandering, if you're coordinated enough--so you might indeed beat me!)

What I didn't realize about a big grinder is that you get a lot more stuff pushed up against the plate, and so it's harder to turn.

I'll have to replace this grinder within a few months, I suppose, since it has no washer to keep the knife up against the plate as it wears. But I knew this--I just wanted to get started, and then, eventually, go mechanized.

I might be able to grind ostrich necks with:

1) larger holes in the grinder plate and a good cleaver that would enable me to chop them up, or
2) that bandsaw/grinder combo you mentioned (eBay).

There are two things keeping me from getting the bandsaw.

1) Most important, the mess of cleaning it every time I use it. My father once used a woodshop bandsaw to cut up frozen yellowtail into fillets and forgot to clean it. After a hot August weekend in a quonset hut, the stench was unbelievable!

2) I'm not sure a #12 grinder is big enough.

One more question: is a butcher likely to be reluctant to grind up meat with bones in his grinder? I suppose it causes more wear.

Dave, don't load the grinder up, put small pieces in and let the grinder do the work. Even with big hp grinders we feed slowly.Are you satisfied with the way its grinding? Do you have it bolted down? I have never seen a ostich necks but im sure a heavy clever will cut it.As far as your butcher grinding them for you.Did you buy it from him? If you did then its up to him. It does take a toll on the blades and he would have to clean the grinder. The other option is to have him cut it into small pieces on the band saw. Then you can grind it.I'm sending you an email.When do you think you'll be ready for the states arm wrestling championship?

Dave,

I will let Milt address the grinder questions.

Regarding a good chopping block. Like the cleaver the block should be as heavy as possible. This is going to make things both cleaner and safer. I use a 6inch section of a 18inch or more diameter hardwood tree.
Ash is the best, IMO.

You can buy these blocks in "Chinatown." You have to soak them in H20 for a while to close up the "checks" that occur during drying, but you will not find a better/safer chopping block. With a good heavy cleaver and a good heavy block, things won't be flying around too much at all.

One of the reasons (besides efficiency & my ego) I use two cleavers is in fact a safety measure. It's hard to chop your finger off when it is holding the other cleaver in the air waiting for the next strike. Otherwise, keep your free hand behind your back maybe. (free hands are foolish and they always find their way back into harms way, in my experience)

Milt, a good horse is like a good dog. YOU NEED TO WORK THEM. I'd rather spend my time working with the dogs. All but the "old school" cattlemen will tell you that they prefer an atv over a hay-burner any old day, there are many reasons. Number one on my list is that I don't have to spend time with my atv <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

jason had to search my memory and I know exactly what you are talking about. How much did you pay? After drying them out do you season the wood with some kind of oil? Good suggestion.