Cuisinart Electric Meat Grinder Review

We purchased the Cuisinart Electric Meat Grinder so our reviewer could put it to the test in her kitchen. Keep reading for our full product review.

While a meat grinder isn’t a must-have for every cook, I was curious whether the Cuisinart Electric Meat Grinder would be handy enough in the kitchen to make it a wishlist item. I've used meat grinders before, so I knew I needed to stock up on meat to grind and looked up sausage recipes for more thorough testing. Then I got creative. After a lot of burgers, meatballs, and sausage, I know how this thing works and whether you really need it for your new meal prep ideas or recipe and party food brainstorms. Read on as I get to the meat of the matter.

Setup: Assemble and go

Putting the grinder together was fairly simple. Pieces don’t fit right if they’re aligned the wrong way, so it’s more of a matter of deciding which components are required for which purpose.

For grinding, along with the feed screw and the screw-on ring that holds it all in place, I needed the cutter and one of the two grinding dies. For sausage making, I swapped the cutter and die for the plastic sausage spacer and one of the two plastic sausage tubes. After assembling it a few times, it was easy to remember how all the pieces fit, but if you end just using it a few times a year, it would be wise to keep the manual around to make sure everything is in its proper place.

Design: Compact build from inexpensive materials

While it isn’t ready for a runway appearance, the brushed metal body, shiny grinding attachment, and black pusher and accents give it a high-end look that will fit in pretty much any kitchen. It looks good enough to leave out if grinding will happen several days in a row.

When it comes to countertop appliances, this one is rather compact, which is great since it’s likely it will spend quite a bit of time in storage. After all, it’s not like a coffee maker that gets used every single day. One of the best things about this grinder is the pusher, which is made from sturdy plastic and designed to hold the loose pieces when the grinder is in storage. You'll love that it keeps all the parts neatly together, and the lid keeps everything dust-free in storage.

The grinder and its accessories are made from a variety of more inexpensive materials where high-end materials aren’t necessary. One thing I initially thought was odd was the plastic gear on the feed screw. After some thought, I realized that the plastic equipment would sacrifice itself rather than burning out the expensive motor. A screw holds the gear on, so it should be simple to replace if need be.

The only parts you can expect to wear out over time are the cutter and the grinding plates, but they should last quite a while before any maintenance is needed. It might be possible for you to sharpen the cutter with the right tools manually, but replacing them could be easier. Then again, if you like to experiment a lot in the kitchen and end up using this grinder enough to dull the cutter and it dies, it might be time to upgrade to a more heavy-duty machine for your extensive meat-prepping needs.

The cord storage on this appliance is one of the best designs I’ve seen. The cord snakes under the machine. There's also a hole where the cord stores neatly out of the way so there’s no chance it’s going to flop around and get tangled with other items in the pantry.

Features: Not completely fond of the pusher

So one of the worst things about this grinder is also the pusher. The pusher lid provides a wide, smooth surface to push down on when grinding meat or making sausage, and it worked well enough when grinding meat that didn’t require a lot of pushing. However, when I was making sausage, the pusher and my hand got greasy. Eventually, the pusher lid slipped off and wouldn’t stay on because everything was so slippery. Once that happened, I had to use the pusher without the lid, which wasn’t particularly comfortable. If the lid screwed on instead of just pushing on, it would have been a huge improvement.

Since foods can possibly get stuck inside the grinder while you're in the process, the on/off switch has a reverse function. It turns the feed screw in the opposite direction to free the jam and then goes forward again. I never needed to use it, but it’s good to know that it’s there if you ever need it.

Performance: Good enough

While this isn’t the most robust grinder on the planet, and occasionally it seemed to struggle a bit when faced with a very cold piece of dense fat, it never stalled or overheated. It was able to keep up with the speed we fed the machine, and it was often ahead of me when we had to grab the pusher to send meat into the screw.

I ground beef cubes to make meatballs, and then pork strips for the sausages. The grinder worked well with both types of meat. I was really pleased that very little meat was left in the grinder, so there wasn’t much waste. When I made sausages, a little more meat was left behind, but it wasn’t wasted since I had enough to make a small burger for perfect sampling.

If you like to prep a lot of meats in one go, you're in good hands. I managed to grind 12 pounds of meat in one session without any issues. After the initial grind, I divided the meat into two batches to make two types of sausage. I stuffed those sausages into their casings, one batch after the other, just stopping long enough to clean the machine so the flavors wouldn’t mix.

Stuffing sausages into casings was a bit more work than doing the initial grinding, but it wasn’t much trouble. You may find that the process goes easier here with two people working, one feeding the machine and the other making sure the sausages are filling evenly, but it is easy enough to do on your own.

One thing to note is that this grinder is rather loud—it’s comparable to the noise that some blenders or juicers make. It was less loud when it was working and more audible when it was first turned on and there was no food being processed.

A meat grinder is obviously designed for processing meat, but I decided to see what else the Cuisinart Electric Meat Grinder could do to make it more useful in the kitchen. First, I sent mozzarella into its maw. I cut the cheese into sticks, and the grinder had no trouble pulling them in and sending them out in their new form—I didn’t even need to use the pusher. The resulting ground cheese wasn’t as attractive as traditionally grated or shredded cheese, but it was fine for melting on top of pizza or burgers, and it was fast and easy.

Next, I tried vegetables. Onions came out with a lot of juice with smashed bits of onion and some tiny chunks, while potatoes were just a bit more solid with very small chunks, some smashed bits, and less juice. While the results weren’t as pretty as diced vegetables, anything going through the grinder would be perfect for recipes where precise cuts aren’t needed, like salsa, sofrito, relish, fritters, hash, or for being mixed into meatballs or meatloaf. While I liked the meat grinder well enough for just meat, the fact that you can use it for other things elevates it a little closer to must-have status.

Cleaning: Easy enough

The Cuisinart Electric Meat Grinder disassembles well enough that every nook and cranny of all the pieces can be inspected and cleaned. The feed tube is wide enough to shove a sponge through and turn the corner into the grinding area, leaving no site untouched, so you can be confident that there is nothing left behind.

The cutting plates are steel, so rust is possible. You should handwash, dry, and oil-coat them to prevent that appearance. Other pieces can be hand washed and left to air dry. The plastic pusher is top-rack dishwasher safe, but it’s just as easy to wash by hand while washing the other parts.

Price: Relatively inexpensive

There are plenty of more expensive meat grinders, but the Cuisinart Electric Meat Grinder is very affordable at a typical retail price of just under $100. It’s a great starter grinder for cooks who aren’t sure they want to invest in something larger and more expensive, and it’s easier to operate than a manual grinder.

Cuisinart Electric Meat Grinder vs. Metal Food Grinder Attachment for KitchenAid Stand Mixers

For folks who already have a KitchenAid stand mixer, the Metal Food Grinder Attachment for KitchenAid Stand Mixers is a no-brainer. It harnesses the power of the food processor while it takes less storage space than the average standalone grinder. Plus, it’s about half the price of the Cuisinart Electric Meat Grinder.

However, the Cuisinart is a good choice for anyone who doesn’t have a KitchenAid stand mixer. It’s a handy kitchen device that provides a finished texture different from knives or food processors. Plus, the fact that it can be used for foods other than meats makes it stand out in versatility and experimentation that the Metal Food Grinder Attachment for KitchenAid Stand Mixers might be unable to execute.