# Jammed meat grinder



## gaengshadow (Sep 20, 2018)

Recently purchased the stainless steel grinder from smokehouse chef for my KitchenAid. First grind (burgers) went like a dream

Ran into some issues grinding pork for sausage however. Maybe five minutes into the grind meat/fat started spitting out from the space between the locking ring and grinder plate. Now I can’t unscrew the ring to take the grinder apart (and getting a good grip on it has been a helluva challenge) 

Anyone have any tips on how to fix this?


----------



## bmudd14474 (Sep 20, 2018)

I would use a big pair of pliers but wrap a towel around it then grip with the pliers and go from there.


----------



## gmc2003 (Sep 21, 2018)

I agree with Brian, wrap a towel around it first. It pliers don't work then you can do the same with a vice. 

Chris


----------



## nanuk (Sep 21, 2018)

I have found when I was doing commercial grinding, that if the ring was not tight enough, it would cause that, as it is no longer cutting the sinew, and it has to go somewhere.

Did you notice the meat/fat looked smeared and pasty?

We used a big bar to tighten ours.

For smaller ones, "hand tight" may not be tight enough, and once sinew gets between the blade and plate, it will no longer work.


----------



## crazymoon (Sep 21, 2018)

GS, I agree with Bmudd, Get a large pair of channellocks and a towel!


----------



## InThePittBBQ (Sep 21, 2018)

A rubber strap wrench will back that right off without damaging any finish and get a much better bite all the way around just make sure the arrow is pointing in the right direction when you apply force to turn it.


----------



## biteme7951 (Sep 21, 2018)

Refrigerate the assembly then place just the nut portion in some hot water to expand the threads. works great on canning jars with stuck rings so worth a shot.

Barry.


----------



## chilerelleno (Sep 21, 2018)

InThePittBBQ said:


> A rubber strap wrench will back that right off without damaging any finish and get a much better bite all the way around just make sure the arrow is pointing in the right direction when you apply force to turn it.


Winner, winner, chicken dinner!


----------



## gaengshadow (Sep 21, 2018)

InThePittBBQ said:


> A rubber strap wrench will back that right off without damaging any finish and get a much better bite all the way around just make sure the arrow is pointing in the right direction when you apply force to turn it.



Think I’m gonna see if lady love can grab a strap wrench while I’m at work so I can get this handled when I get home


----------



## gaengshadow (Sep 21, 2018)

nanuk said:


> I have found when I was doing commercial grinding, that if the ring was not tight enough, it would cause that, as it is no longer cutting the sinew, and it has to go somewhere.
> 
> Did you notice the meat/fat looked smeared and pasty?
> 
> ...



So I’m curious about this. Someone on another forum suggested I tightened it too much (but I’m more inclined to believe folks here)

The meat did look smeared and pasty


----------



## browneyesvictim (Sep 21, 2018)

The kitchenaid grinder I had came with a spanner wrench designed for that ring. The same tool is the plunger. This one you show is a different model, but just asking if maybe you are overlooking that you may already have a spanner wrench that came with it?

Another option to try is to reverse rotate the direction of the grinder with a wrench on the shaft. Might unload the pressure at the ring and blade.


----------



## InThePittBBQ (Sep 21, 2018)

chilerelleno said:


> Winner, winner, chicken dinner!



I use a strap wrench to snug up my retainer on the LEM 22 & 32 grinders I use to make sausage with, you get loose threads packed by a 1 or 1.5hp motor after a couple hundred pounds of meat run through there may as well have welded it in place lol.


----------



## gaengshadow (Sep 21, 2018)

browneyesvictim said:


> The kitchenaid grinder I had came with a spanner wrench designed for that ring. The same tool is the plunger. This one you show is a different model, but just asking if maybe you are overlooking that you may already have a spanner wrench that came with it?
> 
> Another option to try is to reverse rotate the direction of the grinder with a wrench on the shaft. Might unload the pressure at the ring and blade.



Unfortunately this grinder only came with a thick plastic pestle shaped stamper


----------



## gaengshadow (Sep 21, 2018)

Strap wrench did the trick. Thanks y’all!


----------



## InThePittBBQ (Sep 22, 2018)

That was packed in there pretty good, does the grind plate normally sit that far forward when it's locked in tight?


----------



## uncle eddie (Sep 22, 2018)

InThePittBBQ said:


> A rubber strap wrench will back that right off without damaging any finish and get a much better bite all the way around just make sure the arrow is pointing in the right direction when you apply force to turn it.



Yup - winner if the refrigerator hot water trick doesn't work.


----------



## bmudd14474 (Sep 22, 2018)

Glad to hear it worked out for you


----------



## dward51 (Sep 22, 2018)

Check the flatness of both your grinder plate and knife.  A lot of them are not flat from the factory. If either, or even worse both surfaces are not flat, you will end up not actually cutting the meat and fat and end up smearing it.

You need a hard stable and very flat surface.  A granite or similar counter top is good, and a small piece of 3/8" or thicker plate glass is perfect.  Use a Sharpie pen to color in the cutting surface of both the grinder plate and the knife.  Then you want some wet/dry "sandpaper" in a extra fine grit. The 1000 grit automotive wet dry silicone carbide type (black grit side) works well.  Gently move the marked side of the plate in a circular motion on the cutting side of the silicone carbide paper using your stable and very flat surface as a backer for the sandpaper.  The Sharpie ink should be sanded away evenly.  If it is and the entire surface is bright and shiny, it's flat.  Do the same for your grinder knife.  The knife only needs the thin cutting edges trued. 

If the two surfaces are both flat, you get the best "grinding" (actually it is a cutting) action and minimal smearing.


----------



## nanuk (Sep 23, 2018)

dward51 said:


> You need a hard stable and very flat surface.  A granite or similar counter top is good, and a small piece of 3/8" or thicker plate glass is perfect.  Use a Sharpie pen to color in the cutting surface of both the grinder plate and the knife.  Then you want some wet/dry "sandpaper" in a extra fine grit. The 1000 grit automotive wet dry silicone carbide type (black grit side) works well.  Gently move the marked side of the plate in a circular motion on the cutting side of the silicone carbide paper using your stable and very flat surface as a backer for the sandpaper.  The Sharpie ink should be sanded away evenly.  If it is and the entire surface is bright and shiny, it's flat.  Do the same for your grinder knife.  The knife only needs the thin cutting edges trued.
> 
> If the two surfaces are both flat, you get the best "grinding" (actually it is a cutting) action and minimal smearing.



This!

Just one thing I was told, was to use a "Figure 8" motion so the torque you inadvertently apply to the metal is reversed for a more even polish, and try to apply even pressure.

if you are just going to check for flatness, you may want to just use a finger gently in the center hole to move the metal, and after just a few orbits, check with a magnifying glass to see where the marker is removed and where it isn't.


----------

