 Recently
I had the chance by Pleasant Hill Grain to try out a home meat
grinder called the Maverick. I was excited to have this opportunity
because I love the idea of making and preparing your own foods
at home. But what I am more enthusiastic about is the ability
to control the quality of your own food.
Using a meat grinder like the Maverick can do
exactly that. This grinder can take solid chucks of organic all
natural beef and turn it into perfectly organic ground beef. When
I used it for the first time, I used the meat for a meat loaf
(which turned out perfectly). The same applies for chicken. Organic
meats are so expensive in the stores, however if you can get them
directly from a butcher or farmer you can grind your own meat
and have it available for whenever it is needed. Whatever you
do not need, simply keep in the freezer.
Ease of Use
The Maverick is very easy to set up. It is lightweight
and fits comfortably on any countertop. Assembly is not difficult.
If you are unfamiliar with how meat grinders should be assembled,
just read the instructions and you will have it assembled in no
time.
It is important before using the machine that
you wash each of the pieces thoroughly to remove any of the greasy
coating found on the high carbon steel pieces.
Once it is assembled all you need is to make
sure your meat is slightly chilled and cut into cubes. Make sure
your meat is not frozen solid or too tough, cut too large and
that you do not try to feed the meat through too fast. All these
can cause damage to the grinder. You need a bowl to catch the
newly ground meat as it passes through the grinder.
Simply drop the chunks of meat into the long
tube and push down with the feeder to help aid the meat to prevent
it from getting stuck. Once the grinder comes in contact with
the meat, it does what it is designed to do – it grinds
the meat to the right grind based on the plate size.
Size and Weight
The Maverick measures 13.5" in height and
7" in width and 8.6" in depth. The size is very practical
and suitable for any size kitchen. It weighs only 8 pounds and
is easy to pick up and move to an under counter cabinet or to
a shelf in the pantry.
Functionality/Features:
The Maverick is simple to operate. It has an
on/off button and a reverse button as well. The reverse feature
is used for when the meat might get stuck in the grinder. This
can occur for a few reasons such as if there is too much build
up. With any meat grinder you use it is important that you do
not over load the grinder beyond its capacity. The Maverick is
not for extremely high commercial or heavy duty use but can grind
23 pounds of meat in just 10 minutes which is perfect for regular
household use. For example when I made our meatloaf, I only needed
2.5 pounds of meat.
Level of sound: The maverick does not
have a loud motor and the sound is fairly quiet compared to most
other grinders.
What’s Included:
The grinder comes with the following parts:
Plates and Blades: 3 high carbon steel plates and blades
are used for the grinding process. You will receive 3 dies which
will dictate the size of the meat grind that comes out. The diameter
sizes of the plates are 2 7/16th inches across. The finest size
is 1/8”, the next size is 3/16” for medium and for
a coarser grind you would use the die with the largest holes which
is 5/16”.
Sausage stuffer: The sausage stuffer is made of plastic
and can be housed in the pusher. The sausage tube can be used
to create perfect homemade sausages. As the meat is ground it
will be pushed through the tube into the casing where it is then
dispensed into the casing.
Meat holder plate: The meat holder is made of plastic
and sits on top of the grinder. You can use this to set your meat
there for easier usage when you start grinding your meat. I found
it just was helpful to use this holder as it saved time and mess.
Cookie Making Die: This meat grinder also comes with
a cookie making die. Simply use just as you would as the other
dies and instead of meat you would have your own cookies. Make
sure to use the Separator when assembling the cookie press, unfortunately
in the assembly instructions this is not mentioned, but should
be.
For more information, see Pleasant
Hill Grain for the Maverick
food grinder as well as commercial
meat grinder options.
Liz Trementozzi Krause
Note: This review is my own
opinion based on personal research and review. If there are changes
I'll update this page. I have done my best to give you all the
information you need to make an educated decision for your purchase,
and I hope you have found it useful. Make sure when clicking through
to the merchant, to confirm you are ordering the right product
with the advertised features.
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