Okay Kids, here's the dealio. From a big box store I picked up a 3.5 LB lamb roast, a 3.5 LB pork roast, and a 3.5 LB beef roast, thereabouts. They were actually heavier than that but I forgot the exact ounces. For a single bloke, it is a HUGE pile of meat. I froze them. Then partially thawed them. In their partially thawed state I cut them into manageable chunks ground them all using an attachment that comes with the mixer. The mixer is not a KitchenAid™, it's another European type and its grinder is heavier.
Either way, if I hadn't the grinder then I'd have used the cheese grater with the Cuisinart and worked in batches. Same deal really. It helps for the meat to be nearly frozen. It was fierce I tell you. I never ground that much meat before. It took up the entire work surface, which is considerable. I mixed all three types, still mostly frozen even after being ground up, and if not actually frozen, it sure was cold. I seasoned the whole pile with liberal cranks of freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt flakes, and I doused the whole pile with Worcestershire sauce. That was it. Didn't want to overdo it. Then I formed them into patties. The whole lot. Used wax paper as dividers. Stacked 6 patties to a group and re-packaged them using a FoodSaver™
Either way, if I hadn't the grinder then I'd have used the cheese grater with the Cuisinart and worked in batches. Same deal really. It helps for the meat to be nearly frozen. It was fierce I tell you. I never ground that much meat before. It took up the entire work surface, which is considerable. I mixed all three types, still mostly frozen even after being ground up, and if not actually frozen, it sure was cold. I seasoned the whole pile with liberal cranks of freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt flakes, and I doused the whole pile with Worcestershire sauce. That was it. Didn't want to overdo it. Then I formed them into patties. The whole lot. Used wax paper as dividers. Stacked 6 patties to a group and re-packaged them using a FoodSaver™
Now I have about 100 of these things. OKAY FINE! Now I have five of these things, or so, with 6 meat patties each. I can open a package, remove 2 patties, and reseal the package. That's like a whole month's worth of 2 mixed meat patties a day if I were to carry on like that daily which I do not. The thing is, I do not have to keep them in patty form. They can be re-combined into nearly anything, meatballs, meatloaf, and um ... uh ... probably some other things, like maybe chunky meat to go with beans or fried rice or pretend gyros or whatever.
I'll probably get sick of it. But for right now it's amazingly convenient.
Same thing with the potatoes. These were from the 10 LB bag that was all boiled at once in salt water then frozen just to prevent them from turning. That worked out great. I can reheat them in the microwave and change their form from boiled potato to something else.
I wouldn't serve these for a dinner party but for everyday use the preparation has been fantastic. Take it as a bachelor survival tip.
2 comments:
As someone who has that same European mixer with that same attachment it does a fine job of mincing meats. I make my own hamburger now and it is far better. Actually got the idea from one of your earlier postings. This one looks like a great idea as well.
An idea is you can mix and match the meats to give you a variety to mess with when you get some of your great (weird?) ideas. Opens up more possibilities.
I LOVE the FoodSaver.
Mine's an old one, but it still works well. Being the lone meat-eater of the family (though son eats fish/seafood), I run into similar issues. Recently, there was a one-day special on a big, "variety-pack" box fresh meat at a local supermarket: wicked, wicked good deal, price-wise. I went there and bought one, brought it home, and spent a decent amount of (but not too much) time on dividing all the varieties up and packaging them according to how I'm likely to use them. Thanks to the FoodSaver, I know they will all keep fabulously for months in either the deep freezer or regular freezer. It's enough meat for me for many moons, without waste, without my eating too much and, again, at an impressively low price per serving. Yay!
As I started: I love the FoodSaver. I'd give up a number of other small kitchen appliances before I'd part with that one.
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