Long before the invention of electric meat grinders, hand meat grinders or manual meat grinders have been doing the job of grinding meat quite effectively. A hand meat grinder can easily handle occasional meat grinding or regular small-batch meat grinding. Thus, you can also save electricity bills.
Hand meat grinders are traditional meat grinding tools of simple design and limited features. Thus, many people underestimate it. But hand meat grinders are still convenient.
See also: Wikipedia Meat Grinders Work
Here is how a manual or hand meat grinder can work well for you:
Performance
Hand meat grinders have sharp cutting blades and plates. They are used for mincing beef, lamb, pork, fish, and chicken. You can also cut and grind vegetables with manual meat grinders. Therefore, you can make burger patties and sausages with the help of a hand meat grinder. Besides, some hand meat grinders are powerful enough to grind small soft bones.
However, the performance depends on the users as well. You need to manually operate the meat grinder. You have total control of how much pressure they are going to apply. The cutting blades and plates should be sharpened for seamless grinding.
Design
Hand meat grinders have simple designs and features. They have robust stainless steel or cast iron body. The meat grinders have no switch like the electric meat grinders. There is a crank for grinding meat. Since it has no motor, it is also compact and takes very limited space of the kitchen.
Accessories
Nowadays, manual or hand meat grinders also come with different accessories and add-ons, like electric meat grinders. These accessories may include coarse and fine plates, sausage stuffing tubes, funnel attachments, and cutting knives.
Durability
Hand meat grinders are made of materials like stainless steel, cast iron, aluminum, and plastic. The stainless steel and cast iron manual meat grinder can last for decades with proper care and cleaning. Hence, it is far more durable than electric meat grinders.
Cuts Costs
As you can see, hand meat grinders do not need any electricity, so you do not have to pay an extra bill. And, it is quite long-lasting. So, you do not have to spend extra money to repair it or buy new meat grinders.
It is also true that hand meat grinders are not the best for grinding meats in a short time. It requires time and physical labor. However, hand meat grinders are still useful. Besides, people look for manual meat grinders instead of electric meat grinders because they serve their job pretty well.
