If you and your family enjoy weekly meatloaves, hamburgers, and kebabs made from freshly ground meat, you know the value of a good meat grinder. No matter how good a quality your meat grinder is, the blades are bound to go blunt overtime.
Not to worry, though, because blunt meat grinder blades don’t mean you have to replace the whole machine. By learning how to sharpen meat grinder blades yourself, your meat grinder will go back to functioning as flawlessly as it did when you first bought it.
However, this is a tricky task, and sharpening the wrong way can effectively ruin them beyond repair. Meat grinders are a long-term investment, and not maintaining your meat grinder properly can cause damage, wasting your money. This is why we have created a step-by-step guide on sharpening meat grinder blades like a pro!
The easiest way to prepare yourself and start any task is to gather all the supplies in one place. This saves you time from running in between tasks to go fetch the tools or other items you might need.
We have listed all the items you’ll need when sharpening your meat grinder blades:
Once you have all the supplies at hand, you need to find a clean and stable surface to work on. We recommend sharpening your meat grinder blades near the sink or on the kitchen counter because these areas are the cleanest and most stable.
An unstable tabletop will increase the potential risk of injury so make sure you check the stability and balance of the surface before you start sharpening the blades.
Now that you are all prepared, you can start by dismantling the meat grinder and separate the blades from the rest of the machine. This is a fairly simple task. Just follow the instructions manual that comes with the meat grinder on how to disassemble the machine.
It is important to be safe while doing this, so don’t forget to wear your safety gloves before you begin taking the meat grinder apart. If you don’t wear safety gloves, you will be exposing yourself to the potential danger of serious cuts and injuries from the sharp components of the meat grinder.
Also, be careful about storing the loose screws and nuts safely in a container. If they get misplaced, you will not be able to reassemble the meat grinder later.
Once you are done disassembling the parts of the meat grinder, it is best to clean them before sharpening the blades. Components of the meat grinder, including the blades can have a buildup of grease and residue meat from previous uses. Take the cloth you collected earlier, soak it in some warm water and wipe the parts until they are clean.
Place the mirror or glass sheet on a flat and stable surface to make sure the mirror doesn’t break. A stable and flat tabletop will also allow you a comfortable angle while performing the task. Take the sandpaper and cut it to a manageable size. An uneven size will make it difficult to use the sandpaper with the mirror.
Before you proceed to sharpen the meat grinder blades, make sure to test their sharpness for comparison. This way, you’ll know how much sharpening it requires.
Hold the blade that needs rubbing on the sandpaper. The angle should be 45 degrees when you start the rubbing. See if the edges of the blade are in close contact with the surface of the sandpaper. You will have to slightly rotate the blade’s edges to find an even sharpness.
Now that you have figured out the correct angle for sharpening meat grinder blades, you will need to continuously rub the edges of the blade on the sandpaper to sharpen it properly until you see a glazy shade on the edges.
You can pause and examine the sharpness every now and then to determine whether you need to continue or if you have achieved the desired level of blade sharpness.
Now that you have a satisfactory level of sharpness in your meat grinder blades, your main task is done. You can clean the surface to get rid of any water spills or sandpaper shavings. While you are at it, you might also want to mop the floor to clean up any spills.
You can now put the components of the meat grinder back together. Follow the guidelines in the instructions manual to reassemble the meat grinder and screw back the components securely. If you label the parts while dismantling, it makes the reassembling part even easier.
Meat grinders are used to mince meat and even harder items like bones. Therefore they contain some really sharp parts that are dangerous if not handled carefully. We cannot stress more the importance of taking the necessary safety precautions.
All you need is a pair of sturdy safety gloves to keep yourself protected against the sharp blades. Also, make sure that the gloves you are using are not slippery.
Another thing to be careful about is finding a stable surface to work on. A rocky and unbalanced table can cause all the items, including the newly sharpened blades, to spill over the floor, which may result in serious injuries.
A commercial-grade meat grinder is not just tricky but also risky to clean and sharpen. It is best to be safe and let a professional take care of it.
A great tip is to sharpen the meat grinder plates as well for added sharpness and better results.
Experts suggest sandpaper blade sharpening as the easiest method to follow at home. There are two other ways to sharpen them. You can use a knife or a sharpening stone to restore the sharpness of your meat grinder plates. These methods go way back. You can read up on them right here Trusted Source Origin of skillful stone-tool-sharpening method pushed back more than 50,000 years - Science Daily The authors speculated that the pressure flaking technique may have been invented in Africa and used sporadically before its later, widespread adoption in Europe, Australia and North America. North American archaeologists have shown that Paleoindians used the pressure flaking technique to fashion stone points likely used to hunt a menagerie of now-extinct mammals like mammoths, mastodons and ancient horses. www.sciencedaily.com !
Make sure to look out for rust before you sharpen the plates and blades. You can use some grease to clean it off before getting on with the sharpening procedure.
Sharpening your meat grinder blades may seem like a daunting task; however, once you figure out the correct way to do it, you can manage it with ease. If you want to buy a meat grinder, you can look for meat grinders that allow both meat grinding and sausage stuffing!
We highly recommend the Powerful STX Turboforce Classic 3000 Series Electric Meat Grinder & Sausage Stuffer that features high-quality blades and free meat claws.
Sometimes neglect and inadequate care can damage your meat grinder. You can consider some high-quality electronic meat grinders, as well as some of the best manual meat grinders to replace your old ones with.
Our favorite manual meat grinder is LEM Products #10 Stainless Steel Clamp-on Hand Grinder, which is rust-resistant and easy to use!
We hope you found this guide useful. Don’t forget to share your favorite tips and insights on how to sharpen meat grinder blades with us.
