Meat Grinder vs. Food Processor: Which is Right for You?

Meat grinders and food processors share many similarities, which is why many of you might wonder if you can get away with buying one over the other. The answer depends on what you’re cooking, how often and whether you’re using the fruits of your labor for monetary gain. In this guide, we’ll delve into meat grinders vs. food processors and the distinctions that set these two appliances apart to help you determine if one suits your needs more than the other. 

What Is a Meat Grinder?

A meat grinder is a kitchen appliance that allows users to efficiently mince, shred, cut, and otherwise change the shape, texture, and coarseness of meat and other food products.

There are two types of meat grinders: manual and electric for commercial and home kitchen use. They typically consist of a hopper, feed tube, auger, blade and perforated plate.

An operator will place a cut of meat into the hopper and use the feed tube to safely push meat through the blade. For manual grinders, operators need to turn the handle to process the meat. Otherwise, an automatic grinder will take care of this step for you. 

Typically, grinders will come with different sized plates to adjust the meat coarseness, which certain recipes might call upon. For example, ground beef coarseness might affect different aspects of a dish’s taste, texture, cooking time, juiciness and binding.

What Are Meat Grinders Used For?

It’s likely that if you’re wondering what’s the difference between meat grinders vs. food processors, you also want to know if you can use a meat grinder as a food processor and vice versa? 

Both meat grinders and food processors can be used to handle meat–to varying extents–but there are also certain things to consider when choosing between the two. To understand this fully, it can be helpful to distinguish a meat grinder’s specific uses:

• Meat for burgers, sausages, meatballs
• Vegetables and fruits for sauces 
• Bread crumbs for seasoning 
• Homemade pasta noodles
• Nuts for finely chopped toppings

Why Choose a Meat Grinder?

For commercial kitchens, professional chefs or even just serious home cooks, owning a meat grinder in addition to a food processor might be the way to go, especially if you’re preparing specific meat dishes like burgers and meatballs. A food processor will do the trick in a pinch. However, you’ll notice a difference in the texture and consistency, which can cause uneven cooking and an unappetizing consistency.

For the average cook, this might not justify the cost of buying an additional appliance that takes up even more of that precious countertop and under-counter storage space. However, if you stake your livelihood on the positive reception of recipes, that may make an argument in favor of buying a meat grinder.

Another point of consideration is meat grinders offer greater control over ingredient freshness and quality.

Meat Grinder Pros & Cons

What Is a Food Processor?

More versatile than a meat grinder, what can’t a food processor do? From chopping nuts and vegetables to whipping egg whites and cream, it would certainly appear to have no limitations. Food processors are especially useful if you’re wanting to make refrigerator and pantry staples from scratch. They also come with various attachments to perform almost any culinary task, saving a lot of time and effort in the kitchen. 

What Are Food Processors Used For?

To see where the use of meat grinders vs. food processors diverge, it can be helpful to distinguish between their functionalities. You’ll notice chefs reach for food processors in these culinary instances: 

• Chopping and dicing –Tedious and time-consuming, chopping and dicing of various vegetables, nuts, fruits, potatoes and herbs is a thing of the past with food processors.
• Pureeing – Soups, baby food, sauces, bean dips, nut butter, hummus, guacamole and more can all be tossed into a food processor for a creamy, smooth and consistent result. 
• Kneading – Give your hands a break with the kneading function on your food processor when making pizza, bread, scones and pasta dough.
• Blending – Food processors can also replace a blender to make smoothies and cocktails. 
• Emulsifying – What you’d normally have to buy from the store can now be made to order, like specialty vinaigrettes, mayonnaise, pestos sauces and chocolate ganache.
• Mincing – When a recipe calls for minced garlic or onions, you can save some time and a few tears by whipping out the food processor.
• Slicing – Slicing foods like potatoes, carrots, bananas, zucchini and other fruits and vegetables can be time-consuming–not to mention dangerous. It also can prove difficult to get the slices perfectly uniform and even, especially in settings where presentation is important. 
• Whipping – Food processes are also capable of whipping egg whites for baked goods or even heavy whipping cream to make homemade butter.
• Juicing – Want house-made juices that are fresh and healthy and made without added sugar and preservatives? Apple, orange, lemon and kale are just a few examples of juices you can squeeze fresh. 
• Shredding – Got a block of cheese that needs shredding but don’t have the time to do it by hand? Not a problem. Whether you’re a home cook or a professional chef, you can cut down on the price of your ingredients and save some money shredding your own cheese.

Why Choose a Food Processor?

A food processor can be thought of as the jack of all trades when it comes to commercial foodservice equipment and home appliances. So when someone’s asking themselves, “meat grinder vs. food processor?” you might choose a food processor if you want to perform several culinary tasks without cluttering the countertops or jampacking the cupboards. For this reason, food processors are ideal in kitchens with limited space. Although there is an initial upfront cost to consider, food processors can end up saving you a lot of money by replacing the need to buy several pieces of equipment. 

The counterargument is? Food processors are the jack of all trades but master of none. When it comes to food processors, they are highly efficient and suitable for doing several culinary tasks well. On the flip side, if you work in a commercial kitchen environment, you might consider purchasing equipment designed for one particular job, as they tend to produce higher quality and more consistent results.

At the end of the day, whether you choose to buy a meat grinder or a food processor comes down to preference, need and how often you perform each cooking technique. If you’re grinding meat everyday for commercial sale, it would make more sense to invest in a meat grinder. On the other hand, if you’re a home chef making pet food or the occasional meat dish, a food processor might be the way to go.

Food Processor Pros & Cons

If you’re interested in learning more about different kitchen appliance debates and differences, check out our articles on open vs. pressure commercial fryers and blast chillers vs. freezers. 

Please contact a local authorized service agent who can help with these specific units and all your commercial kitchen equipment needs.