Calculations (and my other newb questions)

[fivetricks]

Yup that's what I got as well Dave. I threw the additional 810 on the scale on it just seems like so much fat. That's why I came here.

 

[smokininthegarden]

I used to do it like smokinAL said, just buy a pork butt and grind it up. Nothing wrong with that.
But sometimes you get fatty ones and sometimes you get lean ones, I have had both. What I have been doing lately is buy the butt, trim off as much external fat as you can, then shoot for a 20% ratio, about 40 oz lean to 10 oz fat (3#)
Obviously, you can’t get all of the fat that is marbled into the “lean” meat so in reality this will give you
something in the neighborhood of a 25 to 30% mix.

Cal

 

[GaryHibbert]

If you have 2925 grams of lean and want a 70/30 mix, just multiply the lean meat by 30% (0.3).

2925 x .3 = 877.5

Gary

 

[indaswamp]

If you have 2925 grams of lean and want a 70/30 mix, just multiply the lean meat by 30% (0.3).

2925 x .3 = 877.5

Gary

Have to multiply the total weight by 0.3....

Example (and I will use 60/40 for easy math)
Say you have 15# of lean. Well you multiply 15# X 0.6 which is 25#
25# x 0.4 = 10#; or take 25# and subtract the lean 15# and you get 10#.

If I take 15# and multiply by 0.4, I get 6# which is not correct. Add 15# + 6# and you get 21#. 6# divided by 21# is 28.6%....not 40%.

 

[daveomak]

If you want 25% fat and you have 3000 grams of meat,
divide 3000 by 0.75 = 4000 grams of total product....
Now you know you need an additional 1000 grams of fat to get a total of 4000...

 

[indaswamp]

Yep. That is how I do it Dave.

 

[fivetricks]

Well, I ran a 5lb test batch this morning. What a nightmare.

I was loaned a grinder. It's hard to know what that biggest fault was. My inexperience, the poor quality of the grinder, or the poor butcher of the meat.

1. I prefroze everything. Meat, fat, parts, etc.
2. I spent a ton of time and was as meticulous as I could be separating the sinew out (although I was told by more than one person to not even bother, that the grinder would grind it all up).

3. The blade and the plate were properly positioned and as tightly assembled as possible.

What a nightmare. Wouldn't grind more than maybe a cup of meat at a time. Maybe. Ended up with over 2lbs of material that the grinder wouldn't cut. In a 5lb batch.

So now I've got 10 lbs of cubed meat sitting in the refrigerator waiting to go and no idea how to proceed. I won't do another grinding session like that. Damn near emulsifies the meat and I know it's not right.

So idk.

 

[motocrash]

Sounds like your knife and plate need some love.Here's a thread by @crankybuzzard that will enlighten you.
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/sharpen-your-grinder-blade-and-true-the-plates.175359/

 

[torp3t3d0]

Your knife is in backward....made the same mistake a few days ago...switched it and all was ok

 

[fivetricks]

I should've mentioned that I tried the knife in both positions. One was better than the other, but not by a lot lol

 

[daveomak]

Time to invest in your stuff... makes life a lot easier.... I touch up my blade and plate on every grinding session....

My grinder I've been using for years... My Kitchener Grinder

 

[fivetricks]

To be entirely fair, the grinder isn't mine lol. But I just returned from the store with the appropriate papers and will commence plate and blade sharpening post haste!

 

[motocrash]

To be entirely fair, the grinder isn't mine lol. But I just returned from the store with the appropriate papers and will commence plate and blade sharpening post haste!

It's probably never had it done,being on loan.You should notice a big difference.

 

[indaswamp]

How long did you leave the meat in the freezer? There is such a thing as too cold....

 

[fivetricks]

Def not frozen. Still very plyable.

 

[indaswamp]

I like to freeze so it has ice on it, but is not frozen solid like a brick. They fat is more important than the meat to get super cold...I like to put the fat on top of the meat in the freezer to chill, that way the fat gets cold evenly and you will not have a piece of fat that is still warm and not solid that might smear....

 

[motocrash]

What inda said.And I keep my grinder in the "garage fridge".