How to grind chicken without a meat grinder. Does this sound like a question you’ve been asking?
Say as an example:
Q: So, are there other ways to grind my chicken without a meat grinder?
A: Sure, yes. Easy ways infact.
Q: You sure about this?
A: Very
You should first be aware that it is possible to grind chicken without using any type of meat grinder. Yes. In this post, I will share the to secrets with you.
In my previous articles, I talked about can you use a meat grinder to stuff sausage and how to use hand crank meat grinders to grind meat.
These methods are all effective and simple to use both the manual and the electric versions. What if you don’t have any of these tools mentioned, how do you go about grinding your chicken meat?
It is not news that there are always alternative ways of doing things when the usual way is not available.
I have compiled those simple hacks you will find useful when grinding meat to make your delicious sausage or to grind your chicken meat.
Table of Contents
How To Grind Chicken Without A Meat Grinder
First Option: Using a Sharp Knife
In the absence of a meat grinder, you don’t have a choice than to use any available method to make it a reality.
One of the methods developed through human creativity is the use of a knife to chop meat into pieces. All you need is to get the right tools available.
Steps to Ground chicken using a Sharp Knife
- Get your wooden chopping board ready to place your meat (wooden tray like these ones preferably)
- Get the meat from the butcher or any store available
- Get your sharp knife ready too
- Your bowl shouldn’t be far from you.
- Place your meat on your chopper now
- Cut your meat at 90 degrees and ensure that you do not cut all the way to the end
- Do this repeatedly at a consistent speed
- Then turn over the meat and repeat the same process over and over until you get the meat texture you desire
- Don’t always forget to freeze the meat and every appliance to be used during the grinding process so that the work will be easy for you.
The chopping process
This is the time to start chopping your meat into pieces, ensure that you use a sharp knife (like this one on Amazon). Be careful with your hand so that you don’t injure yourself during the chopping.
Place the meat on the provided food in the tray, and start chopping gently. This is how you will continue to chop the meat into pieces until the entire meat is ground on the tray.
Collect the chopped meat and place it on the provided bowl. Wash with clean water and then prepare it for whatever you intend to do with it.
Second Option: Using a food processor
Another effective way you can grind meat without meat grinder is through the use of a food processor.
Remember, a food processor is a multipurpose machine as well as a perfect alternative for a meat grinder.
The Multipurpose Sous Chef Breville Food Processor is a beast at grinding not only chicken meat but most form of meat.
From trying to grind nut butter, carrots, to meat, this powerful processor will cut shred, dice and knead whatever.
Its consistency at grinding puts it at that top position of grinding effectively.
If you have a food processor like this, then you shouldn’t really worry about using a meat grinder to grind your chicken.
Steps to ground chicken using a food processor
As usual, just the way you will prepare meat for sausage using a meat grinder that’s how you will prepare it for a food processor.
- Purchase the chicken from a butcher or store
- Remove the fat, cartilages and other rough surfaces attached to the meat
- Wash the meat with clean water
- Get a sharp knife and cut the meat into smaller pieces, package into a container and place in a refrigerator to cool
- Bring out the cooled, sliced small pieces of meat and pour batch by batch into the food processor
- Turn on the food processor and start grinding until the right consistency is reached
- Collect the ground chicken in a container and it is ready for use.
Third Option: Using a blender
A blender is another machine that plays an effective role when it comes to ground chicken, all you need is to ensure that you are not grinding the bones along, although there are some chicken bones that could be soft enough to be ground using blender it is not advisable.
The Jawz High-Performance blender does an excellent job at grinding chicken meat. The blender with its 10-speed blending pulse and 3.5 feed horsepower is a great powerhouse at blending, and it will do justice to your chicken meat.
This method of grinding is similar to that of a food processor, and already, it is hard sometimes to differentiate between a blender and a food processor unless you are very conversant with both of them.
Steps to grond chicken using a blender
- Purchase your chicken from the butcher or store
- Cut it into small pieces and remove the bones
- Wash the chicken meat and place in a bowl or tray
- Neat the pieces of chicken by removing the unwanted parts before placing them in a refrigerator
- Cool the entire tools to be used during the grinding process including the blender
- Collect the meat and every other tool from the refrigerator
- Place the pieces of chicken cooled and pour and grind batch by batch until the entire quantity is exhausted.
- You are done using a blender to grind chicken without a meat grinder.
Fourth Option: Using mortar and pestle
While I was talking to a woman today, I asked if she does grind meat with mortar and pestle, she said no that she is only used to grinding meat with a sharp knife, that’s the first method above.
However, we both came to the conclusion that mortar and pestle can be used to grind meat since it has to do with a pounding. All you need is to make a provision on how it will not stress you while you pound.
My favourite mortar and pestle is the Chef Sofi Mortar and Pestle. If your mortar and pestle are similar, then you are good to go with grinding your chick meat.
Steps to grond chicken using a mortar and pestle
- Get your neat mortar and pestle of any material suitable for you
- Purchase the meat and cut with a knife into small pieces
- Get a tray and bowl available
- Cool the pieces of meat for some minutes
- Pour the meat in the mortar and start pounding it. Ensure the meat is cool throughout the pounding process to avoid slipperily.
- Pound to your satisfaction batch by batch until the desired consistency is reached
Fifth Option: Using Box Grater
If you don’t have a meat grinder, you don’t need to worry since there is a box grater available. All you need to do is freeze the chicken or meat and then get it grated using your box grater.
Are you interested in how to hack? Don’t worry, I will demonstrate with words in a minute.
Steps to grond chicken using a box grater
- Get your box grater from the store if you don’t have already
- Clean the grater and keep on a clean top
- Get your clean bowl available and wash your chicken in it
- Slice the chicken into smaller pieces and freeze a little in the refrigerator
- Remove from the freezer and start grating the normal way you grate okra and other ingredients alike.
- Be careful with your finger while your grate.
Sixth Option: You can pay a local butcher to grind for you
If you don’t have a meat grinder at home, there is no need to think too hard even if you still can’t carry out any of the suggested methods above.
The butcher will find a way to help you grind your chicken for whatever reason you want it for. How he or she did the grinding does not concern you unless for a safety reason.
How to easily find a butcher to grind your chicken for you
During Eid Adha Festival (Muslim Festival) I didn’t slaughter a ram so decided to buy a chicken since I will be eating alone with my mom.
I went to the meat market where lots of butchers can be found and then bought the chicken very close to where they (the butchers) are.
So, a butcher was paid to slaughter and chop and grind the chicken meat for me (For an extra fee of course). The same method can be used by anyone for any purpose the chicken will be used for.
Seventh Option: You can buy a ground chicken
Ground chicken is not that easy to get but if you are lucky to find, good, you can buy and use it for whatever you want to use it for.
Tricks to get a ground chicken
Ground meat is common in the market but not the ground chicken. One trick I can tell you about this is to make friend with someone that grind red meat for sale.
Tell him or her that you care for a special purpose. He or she will ask “what is the purpose?” ask if they can offer you special service occasionally so that you can call and pick your ground chicken meat.
If you are lucky, they will agree and then, you pay any amount agreed upon.
Why you should use a meat grinder instead of the other options
At first, a meat grinder is specifically designed to grind meat for various purposes you are intending to use it for. Definitely, it will give more accurate results when it comes to consistency. Here are the advantages of a meat grinder against the other options
- It is faster and more effective than a knife and mortar
- It grinds the meat neater and better than blender and food processor
- It comes with a lot of attachments that can be used to prepare varieties of sausages.
Which Minces meat Better: food processor or Meat Grinder
Both food processors and meat grinders are used for mincing meat, vegetable, and soup. The best machine for mincing meat is what you and I need to know.
Which is the better?
As for the meat grinders, they are specifically designed to finely break down all types of meat into smaller units while they food processors have the upper hand when it comes to loosely shred, grinding, mixing, and slicing meat.
If your aim is to loosely do the mincing of any type of meat, a food processor is the best machine for you but if you are targeting finely shredded meat, then go for a meat grinder.
Is grinding meat without a meat grinder like grinding with a meat grinder
The truth is that sometimes we resolve into doing things the hard way just because we don’t have a choice.
Grinding meat without a meat grinder is a bit tedious and less accurate compared to when you grind with a meat grinder.
Both manual and electric versions of a meat grinder will do faster and accurate job compared to some of the alternatives except the food processor and blender that will surpass the manual meat grinder in terms of speed.
Conclusion
In case you don’t have a meat grinder, there are always alternative ways to grind your chicken.
Remember, chicken meat is soft, and for that reason will be easily shredded using the entire methods featured above.
If you don’t want to use any of the methods but prefer to go the butcher to help you do the job, it is also not bad an idea.
You can pay the butcher to grind the chicken for you irrespective of the method he or she used.
Another way to get a ground chicken for the purpose targeted is to buy and already ground one.
If it is not easy to get the ground chicken, you can negotiate with a ground meat seller to offer you a special service.
These hacks work and you will be glad when applied.
What is your take on our new topic? I am excited to read your comments on the box.
Share your recent exploits with me.