A meat grinder is an integral attribute that can be seen in any modern kitchen. With the help of this mechanism, it is easy to make minced meat necessary for preparing a variety of tasty and healthy dishes. Unfortunately, over time, a meat grinder, like any other household appliance, can fail. Long intensive use can dull even the most expensive cutting elements. After reading this article, you will learn how to sharpen a knife in a meat grinder. After all, for this it is not at all necessary to contact the workshop.
How are the cutting elements of the meat grinder arranged?
To figure out how to grind meat grinder knives , you should understand the principle of their work. Inside any device there are two types of cutting elements. One of them is stationary. This knife is a round piece with small holes. The second has blades with sharpened edges. When the product being fed under pressure abuts against a non-rotating knife, part of it is pressed through the auger into the holes. At this time, a rotating knife cuts off small pieces. The quality of the minced meat directly depends on the sharpness of the cutting parts.
Preliminary preparation
Before sharpening a knife for a manual meat grinder, it must be prepared. The quality of work will depend on this. Indeed, in case of violation of sharpening technology, you can easily spoil the knife. Before starting the process, it is recommended to lubricate the blades with ordinary vegetable oil. The same needs to be done with the grinding tool. These simple manipulations will protect the knife from the possible appearance of fragments due to improper rotation of the working blades. Five minutes later, when the knife and grinding tool are slightly dry, you can proceed to sharpening.
Sandpaper sharpening
This is one of the most popular and affordable methods to quickly grind a meat grinder knife at home. When choosing the thickness of emery, it is necessary to take into account the thickness of the knife itself. Thin small knives are perfectly sharpened with weak paper, while thick metal blades will require a large fraction of grains.
Taking a knife in one hand and paper in the other, you need to alternately wipe each blade of the knife with an emery until it becomes sharp.
Sharpening with a grindstone
This second most popular method is as effective as the previous one. For those who do not know how to grind knives for a meat grinder, you can try to do this using a grindstone. In this case, you can go in two different ways. The first involves the rotation of the knife, the second - the movement of the stone.
Those who want to use the first method, need to acquire a fine-grained grinding stone, the area of which is three times the diameter of the knife. Otherwise, the sharpening process will be very long and not too effective. Putting the knife in the middle of the grinding tool, make sure that its blades fit snugly against the surface of the stone. Holding the knife lightly with your finger, you need to twist it, gradually increasing the speed of rotational movements. It is recommended that you interrupt this procedure from time to time to check the uniformity of the blades. Sharpening is considered complete after all irregularities and notches disappear on the knife. It should be borne in mind that this technique is effective only for not too dull blades.
Now you need to figure out how to sharpen the knives for the meat grinder by rotating the stone. This technique applies even to very blunt blades. In this case, it is recommended to use a fine-grained whetstone, the dimensions of which are comparable to the diameter of the knife. Sharpening is ensured by friction of the blades on the surface of the tool.
Sharpening using a special machine
This is the most convenient method, but, unfortunately, it is not suitable even for beginners who have no idea how to grind knives for a meat grinder. The machine used for this has a smooth abrasive surface that resembles a regular disc. Before sharpening, a special paste is applied to the surface of this tool, which contains small abrasive particles. After it dries, the disk is completely ready for use.
In order to sharpen the knife, you need to carefully press its blades to the included machine. During operation, you need to take small breaks to prevent overheating of the metal.
In conclusion, it should be said that this technique has several significant drawbacks. It can only be used by those who have basic skills. A person who has never previously sharpened knives for a meat grinder is unlikely to be able to properly grind them on such a machine. The second disadvantage of this method can be considered the high cost of the grinding machine. Therefore, before acquiring such a machine, you need to carefully consider how appropriate such a purchase is.