How to clean your grinder plate?

[TheBandit]

How do you clean your grinder plate? I made some sausage over the weekend and struggled to quickly get the 3 mm grinder plate clean. I tried several methods to remove the meat pieces stuck in the holes with some success although none of them are what I would call a quick cleanup. Here is what I tried:

• Attempt #1- Run some bread through the grinder. My thought was that the bread would push out the meat and then the bread would easily melt away when the holes were sprayed with water. This was not true. The bread did push the meat out of the holes, but them the bread was lodged in the holes and did not wash away with water.

• Attempt #2 - Use an air compressor to blow out the lodged pieces of bread. This saw limited success but was time consuming with all of the holes on a #22 grinder plate.

• Attempt #3 - This worked the best, but was also the most time consuming. Used a nylon brush pipe cleaner to clean out the holes.

Hoping there is a quicker way to get the small grinder plates cleaned.

[bocephus]

TheBandit I use a ice cubes, do not feed them to fast or they will stop your grinder. Adds a little moisure to the meat but not much.

[PapaSop]

Soon as I’m done grinding, right to the sink and spray them out. Let sit in warm soapy water and spray again. I have used ice cubes as well.

[Dave in AZ]

TheBandit i tried the bread. I also sprayed. Now I use crushed ice. Ice dulls your blades, so crushed ice works better, less dulling than cubes, easier on motor, doesn’t take as much.

Meat comes right out, holes have uce in them, 10 sec under water plates are clean.

Be sure to know your total water to add to meat, and use that weight of ice. Usually it’s 10% , so 100 ml = 100 grams per kg meat. Don’t add more water later or too much.

[processhead]

Like PapaSop , when the grinding is done, the plates and the rest of the grinder parts go to the sink for a spray-rinse with hot-hot water to knock off the bulk of the meat and fat.

At that point, the grinder parts are clean enough to wait for a final wash with hot soap and water later with the rest of the equipment.
The key is to knock off all the gross soil while it is wet before the emulsion begins to dry on the parts.

I don’t fool with the ice or bread run through the grinder.

A sprayer attachment on the hot water line of your sink is one of the single most valuable cleaning aids you can add to your setup, IMO.

[Tex_77]

I’d agree with processhead and PapaSop as soon as you are done with the equipment rinse off the big stuff with hot water and then allow to soak to hot soapy water while you finish everything else up. When you go back to finish cleaning use a sprayer and should clean right up, what doesn’t use pipe cleaners to get.

[Departing Contestant]

Blast the plate Ice cold water works best. Won’t cook the meat and make it swell and stick

[Cory Brown]

+1 on the ice. I have a counter top icemaker that makes less dense/hard ice. I use that ice.

[Jamieson22]

My sink sprayer must be pretty strong as it knows it all out without issue even if I let it sit a bit.

[Tex_77]

Departing Contestant Honestly probably the best thing to do, and Walton’s would love you for it, is to just throw the plate away and buy a new one.

[Departing Contestant]

Tex_77 89 really to conserve water, save the environment; knives, grinder knives and plates are all disposable

[Tex_77]

Departing Contestant correct go green! Walton’s top priority should be going green!

[buttheadrancher22]

When we’re done grinding we ron a peel potato thru grinder and use spray attachment with hot water cleans right up

[Departing Contestant]

Tex_77 88 excellent

[mrobisr]

I use what a couple others have said, pull plate use sprayer on sink then soak in soapy water and then scrub brush under water and it comes clean without problems.

[calldoctoday]

TheBandit Papa & Process have hit the nail on the head. I don’t mess with any of the other stuff though, not even the ice. If they really need more of a cleaning after the soaking, I have some small bottle/pipe tube brushes that will finish the job.