3 Things You Don’t Know About A Cast Iron Meat Grinder:

Is it me, or you who also think that a cast iron meat grinder is the best choice while buying a manual grinder?

Unfortunately, we are both wrong. There are several misconceptions going on in the meat market that indulge a buyer like you and me in making an incorrect buying decision.

Usually, people go mad behind these cast iron meat grinders as they look like antique sets and the antique lovers just go for them because of their cheap prices.

The classy advertisement techniques of the manufacturers are also responsible for these decisions of ours. But not anymore. If you are planning to buy a cast iron made meat grinder then drop the idea immediately. Instead, you can go for cheap electric meat grinders if you are short in the budget but do not fall prey even for a ‘good cast iron meat grinder’ marketed by the manufacturer.

Here are 3 things which you hardly know about a cast iron made meat grinder, except you are a user of it.

1.   Meat grinders are rust prone:

Cast iron made meat grinders are largely made of iron, carbon, silicon. Other secondary stuff like sulfur, manganese and phosphorus can be also found in the composition of cast iron.

Though those meat grinders are highly marketed as uneasy to rust and highly durable, the truth is far different from it. Rusting or oxidation is very common to cast iron meat grinders. When the humidity is higher than 65% the iron in the grinder combines with the oxygen in the presence of the water vapor and form rust.

The worst part is the intensity of forming rust increases from product to product as not all the manufacturers use the same composition. However, the Weston Manual Tinned meat grinder (size 32) is exceptional in the market.

If you have this meat grinder then probably you are safe from this nuisance as this cast iron meat grinder is one of the top rated manual meat grinders by the users.

2.   Graphitization makes your grinder brittle:

As I have said earlier cast iron made products contain carbon in them but in the form of graphite. Now when your grinder comes in the contact with salt water which is very usual in your kitchen; the process of graphitization starts.

As a result of this process, the stable graphite crystals remain in their place but the less stable iron convert to insoluble iron oxide.  Naturally, the strength of the iron fades and the product becomes brittle. Certainly owning a meat grinder made of cast iron will not be durable.

3.   Exhaustive care should be taken:

Naturally, with the risk of oxidation and graphitization process you need to take care of your meat grinder very well as one moment of negligence can lead to harmful effects on your meat grinder.

So from using, cleaning to packing you need to be careful always. Undoubtedly having a cast iron meat grinder is a headache.

Bottom line:

If you need a cast iron made meat grinder so bad then opt for the Weston meat grinder otherwise opt for an electric meat grinder of low price like STX-300-MF meat grinder. It will be a good decision as investing on a meat grinder is a lifetime decision.