Homemade Sausage Making

Just out of curiosity. When I bone and cut up my pork butts, I always throw the fat meat and any lean meat with any grissle in one pile bowl and the lean and clean meat in another bowl. Then I grind the fat/grissle meat through a fine like 3/16" plate and the lean/clean meat through a 3/8-1/2 plate. I use this procedure with smoked and fresh sausage. How do you guys grind meat?

V465

Depends on what I'm making. Have done the reverse of this as well.

Most of the time I grind my meat together with the fat, using 3/8-1/2 plate.
Lately I was thinking to grind the fat with smaller plate too.

But........I like to clean my meat from the gristle/tendon/sinew.

Some of the sinew must be stripped away because it simply won't grind. But some of it is needed to bind the mince when it is cooked.

Yep, That is the way I do it. Fat, fatty meat one batch small grind, meat larger plate size according to what I am making.

That is the best way to do it if you want to disguise or hide the fat. Some products are intended to show the fat.

I have found that I dont need to trim away the gristle tendon and sinew if I run it through the 3/16 plate. I find that either of my grinders will grind the knarly stuff if the plates and knife are sharp and tight. Two different times I ran the fat meat through a 1/8" plate and it made the sausage real grainy. Might have needed more time in the mixer to bring out the protein and help it bind. I'm not going to try it again with the 1/8" plate.