Ground Beef Recall - Here We Go Again

On August 15, the U.S. Department of Agriculture stated that National Beef Packing Company has recalled about 60,424 pounds of ground beef after an inspection at an Ohio processing plant showed E. coli contamination. The beef was shipped nationwide to distributors for further processing and distribution. Winn Dixie and Sam's Club in Colorado have been notifying customers of the recall.

The tainted meat has been repackaged and sold under different retail names, however, each package should have the number "Est 262" within the USDA mark of inspection.

There have been 35 food recalls through July 2011 involving meat products. At this rate, 2011 meat recalls are on pace to increase almost 10% over all of the recalls that occurred in 2010.

Use a meat grinder and grind your own ground meat at home. Boycott E. coli.

Avoid Deadly Meat Recalls - Use A Meat Grinder At Home

It might seem unusual to consider obtaining a meat grinder for home use. After all, ground meat is readily available via supermarkets, delis, or through internet food delivery services. However, the last few years have witnessed more and more public notices and grocery store recalls of contaminated ground meat. In fact, per the United States Department of Agriculture’s web site, there have been 34 food recalls through July 2011 involving beef, chicken, pork, turkey and jerky meat and meat products. At this rate, 2011 meat recalls are on pace to increase almost 10% over all of the recalls that occurred in 2010.

Recently, a huge August 2011 recall of over 36 million pounds of ground turkey meat was ordered by the US Department of Agriculture. This was the third-largest meat recall in American history. The USDA linked the contaminated ground turkey, from an Arkansas Cargill, Inc. processing plant, to some 77 cases of salmonella and one death. Incredibly, Federal officials said they found the salmonella at the Cargill plant last year, and then an additional four times this year, at retail stores selling the Cargill turkey, but didn't mandate a recall until the outbreak killed the one person and sickened the 77 others. Apparently, per food safety specialists, meat plants can have 49.9% of tests come back positive for salmonella but still pass United States Department of Agriculture meat processing performance standards. A Cargill spokesman stated that the Arkansas plant had passed all United States Department of Agriculture performance standards. Somehow that fact is not very comforting.

Grinding meat at home with a meat grinder can avoid many of the dangers inherent in high volume meat processing plants. Most of the dangerous bacteria that cause meat recalls are mixed in with meat at slaughterhouses where animals are rendered and prepared for processing and packaging. High volume meat processing involves the slaughter and mixing of numerous different animal parts from many different sources. This raises the risk of E. Coli, salmonella and other harmful bacteria being introduced into the meat. Sadly, many meat plants also fail to maintain a clean environment. Lastly, as evidenced, by the Cargill turkey plant, apparently a meat processing plant can fail to produce clean meat 49.9% of the time and still receive a safe grade.

Using a meat grinder in your kitchen to make homemade ground meat negates these problems and issues. When grinding meat, choose whole, primal cuts of beef to grind. These cuts will be from one animal and one slaughterhouse reducing the risks of slaughterhouse processing and food borne pathogens. You can grind meat at home, under your own supervision, and ensure that no contamination occurs. Furthermore, it gives you an opportunity to look over the cut of meat, smell it and verify that nothing seems amiss.

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Basic Meat Grinder Functions And Features

Electric meat grinders use the same principles as manual meat grinders to grind meat. Whether electricity or good old elbow grease is used, meat grinders force meat through sharpened blades. Below are the standard features that electric meat grinders should have in order to produce ground meat.

Motor Housing: The large base of the unit which provides an outer shell and protection for the motor mechanism.

Operating Buttons: Typically should include on, off and reverse options. The reverse setting changes the direction of the feed screw, and the ground meat, and is used if the unit jams.

Food Pusher: Used to feed and push meat into the hopper tray opening which feeds into the grinder head.

Hopper Tray: Holds the meat that will be pushed into the grinder head.

Grinder Head: Contains the feed screw, cutting blade, and cutting plates for
grinding.

Locking Knob: Used to hold the grinder head tightly in place. Meat passes through the grinder head right before meeting the feed screw and cutting blade.

Feed Screw: Inside the grinder head. Looks like a big screw and rotates the cutting blade which grinds the meat.

Cutting Blade: .Inside the grinder head. Cuts the meat before it goes through the grinding plates.

Grinding Plates: Grinds meat into the different textures depending on the dimensions of the holes in the plate, whether fine, medium, or coarse.

Cap: Holds the cutting blade and grinding plates in place during
grinding.

Sausage Stuffer:. Attaches to the end of grinder where the meat extrudes and operates as a funnel to fill sausage casings when making sausage.

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May Is National Hamburger Month - Use A Meat Grinder

The weather is warmer, the start of summer is closer and the hamburgers are grilling. May is National Hamburger Month. For a great tasting hamburger, grind your own beef with a meat grinder. Great meat cuts to grind include beef sirloin, sirloin tip or top round. Grinding your own meat allows more control over the fats, salts or other additives that go into your food and ultimately in your diet. Plus, grinding whole primal cuts of beef will help you avoid the beef recalls that eminate from high volume meat processing plants (22 beef recalls in 2010 and 6 already through March 2011 - see this Meat Grinder Reviews article).

Watching Sausage Being Made - It Is Easy With A Meat Grinder

You have probably heard the saying, “watching sausage being made” used when referring to a messy, complex, or perhaps, less than clean or straightforward process. Think law making and politics. When it comes to actual food sausage making, however, Meat Grinder Reviews believes you should know exactly how sausage is made. Store bought pre-made sausage can be full of preservatives, excess sodium and other chemicals used to extend its grocery shelf life. Conversely, homemade sausage using freshly ground meat, all natural ingredients and a meat grinder allows you to control the sausage inputs and final product.

Homemade sausage starts with fresh meat. Sausage is traditionally made with pork, however, beef, venison, bison, chicken or lamb, or any combinations of these meats, can be used. Typically sausage is made with up to three parts meat to one part fat. Thus, the fat content of the meat should be about 15% to 25%. A certain amount of fat is important as the fat acts as a binding agent tying the meat together and preventing it from drying out. Herbs, spices, cheese, breadcrumbs or liquids can be added to the meat to give the sausage flavor and texture. Preparing the meat is simple. First, make sure the meat is cold. Then, cut the meat into 1 ¼ to 1 ½ inch slices or cubes, mix it with all of the spices or flavorings and then grind it in a meat grinder. Full steps for making homemade sausage are in this meat grinder article.

Why Buy A Meat Grinder?

A meat grinder may not immediately come to mind when considering and reviewing needed or desired kitchen appliances. However, meat grinders are becoming a more popular choice for use in home kitchens. Here are some of the main reasons that meat grinders are a popular choice for, and a valuable appliance in, home kitchens:

■Home chefs and gourmet cooks have added control over the ingredients that go into their dishes.

■Cooks that like to experiment with new ingredients and dishes will appreciate the additional control.

■A meat grinder allows more control over fats, salts or other additives that go into your food and ultimately in your diet.

■Meat grinders can save money. Buy larger, unprocessed cuts of meat and later grind and process them yourself.

■Meat grinders can be a hunter’s best tool and ally for processing game

■Lastly, after using a meat grinder, store bought burgers, sausage, ground turkey and other meats will never quite be as good as your own home made specialty combinations.

Turkey Burger Food Recall - Use A Meat Grinder To Make Your Own

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says Jennie-O Turkey is recalling abouy 55,000 pounds of frozen, raw turkey burger that may be contaminated with salmonella.

The turkey products being recalled are 4 pound boxes of Jennie-O Turkey Store labeled “All Natural Turkey Burgers with seasonings Lean White Meat". Each box contains a dozen of 1/3 pound burgers.

A use by date of “DEC 23 2011” and an identifying lot code of “32710” through “32780” are inkjetted on the side panel of each box. The turkey was packaged on Nov. 23, 2010 and distributed to retail establishments nationwide.

Do you like ground turkey? Do you want to avoid salmonella? Use a meat grinder to grind your own turkey burgers. Buy whole, primal cuts of turkey meat, grind it up, add spices, if desired, and hold the salmonella.