How to Grind Meat in a Vitamix or Blendtec

BLENDTEC vs VITAMIX MEAT GRINDING BLEND OFF

In this Blendtec vs Vitamix blend-off, get ready for the quite a showdown and see these two high-powered blenders go head to head.

We show how both of these blenders can replace a meat grinder in your kitchen – even if you’ve never owned one and never planned on grinding your own meat at home!

CAN THESE BLENDERS GRIND MEAT?

These commercial blenders feature powerful motors, with Blendtec’s blade tips reaching 310 mph and Vitamix spinning at approximately 250 mph at their highest speed.

The Blendtec motor is very powerful. Models range from 1560 watts, 3 peak horsepower such as the Total Blender Classic to 1725 watts and 3.8 peak horsepower with their Professional 800 model with sound enclosure.

The Vitamix motor is less powerful with 11.5 amps, 1380 watts, and 2 peak horsepower the newer Legacy and Ascent Series have a 2.2 peak horsepower motor.

When the powerful stainless steel blades spin this fast in such a SMALL SPACE, this is easily the same strength as a meat grinder!

There’s no reason to buy pre-packed, nitrate-laden foods if you can avoid it.

Once you start making your own fresh and lean Breakfast Sausage, there will be no reason to go back!

Your Vitamix or Blendtec will make it easier to avoid processed meats due to their  meat grinding capacity.

HOW TO GRIND MEAT IN A VITAMIX

All Vitamix models grind meat using the manual settings.

1) Cut your meat into 1 inch cubes. Keep chilled just until ready to grind.
2) Start on Variable Speed 1, turn the machine on, and increase to Variable Speed 6.
3) Remove the lid plug
4) Add the meat a couple chunks at a time in 10-15 second increments.
5) If using spices, scrape ground meat into a bowl, add spices and hand mix to distribute.

The meat will be 100% ground to a fine consistency, with any fat evenly distributed.

It’s perfectly ground, however there is no way to control the consistency of the grind.

What’s really nice about the Vitamix is the extremely secure gripper lid with large lid plug opening to fit the meat (or other ingredients) through.

We prefer using the wider 4 inch base of the Vitamix 64 oz compact container. Because it’s easier to get the meat out after blending than with the 3″ wide standard jars.

The Vitamix can grind all types of meat, such as boneless skinless chicken breasts, turkey, pork, and beef.

HOW TO GRIND MEAT IN A BLENDTEC

All Blendtec models grind meat by simply using the Pulse feature.

1) Cut your meat into 1 inch cubes. Keep chilled just until ready to grind.
2) Place up to 1/4 to 1/2 pound of the meat cubes in your Wildside jar (less if using the Fourside Jar). If not using spices, skip to Step 5.
3) If using spices (only use up to 1/4 pound of meat) and add the seasonings.
4) Top with the remaining meat cubes (up to 1/4 of a pound).
5) Use the PULSE button until it’s ground to a consistency you like. For some this will be fifteen 1 or 2 second pulses, while others will prefer 20 pulses or even more.

Pulsing will evenly distribute the seasonings throughout the meat when blending.

Be careful not to over-blend, as the heat from the blades may melt some of the fat, which you don’t want.

Some pros of using a Blendtec to grind meat is that it is very easy to remove the meat from the blender jar and you can blend the entire mixture at once – seasonings included.

Some cons (to some) is the fat isn’t 100% evenly distributed throughout the meat.

SO WHICH BLENDER IS BETTER? Blendtec vs Vitamix

In this Blendtec vs Vitamix blend off – it’s really tough to decide who does it better!!

Both blenders can be used to grind meat and make fresh ground meat mixtures, that is certain.

The Blendtec however, is easier when it comes to getting the meat out of the container.

Also you can incorporate the seasonings at the same time so there’s one less dish to clean and slightly less work to do.

While using the Blendtec, we occasionally noticed that chunkier bits of fat didn’t evenly distribute throughout the meat, as seen when making Alton Brown’s healthy pork breakfast sausage. However, we appreciated this, as it allowed us to easily remove the extra fat (although some may prefer to keep it!).

NOTE: To alleviate this we recommend chilling the chunks of meat for at least 3o minutes before blending, and we recommend blending in batches if you’re doing a large amount.

The Vitamix rapidly and consistently pulverizes the meat, with any fat 100% evenly distributed.

With Vitamix, we did find it slightly harder to get all of the ground meat out of the container, whatever was underneath the blades.

We then had to add any seasonings in a separate bowl and combine by hand. For this reason we’re going to have to go with the Blendtec.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Making homemade sausages and ground meat is a nutritious way to reduce processed foods, like hot dogs, packed with nitrates and sodium.

Both blenders can easily and proficiently grind meat – no need to buy a separate meat grinder appliance!!

With Blendtec, you can control the grind consistency, but it may leave a few fat chunks.

You can also grind everything at once, allowing you to add seasonings and prepare sausage patties for immediate cooking.

With Vitamix you get a complete ground consistency, and must add seasonings after and hand mix.

Why Purchase Through Blender Babes

Blender Babes is proud to be an affiliate of Vitamix and Blendtec blenders. Your blender purchase made using the links from our website and Vitamix Promo Code 06-007974 or Blendtec Promo Code BBGIFT gives you free shipping AND $50 in Exclusive FREE GIFTS* from Blender Babes! It’s how we keep our content free and we are so grateful for your support! ♥

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