Historical information

A meat grinder, commonly known as the meat mincer, is used for chopping meat into fine pieces. Alternatively, it can be used for the mixing of raw or cooked meat, fish and vegetables. It is the best way to process meat, and is a widely used piece of equipment by butchers and in the home..

Butchers have been known to use either mincing knives or meat cleavers in the kitchen for years to produce a quantity of minced meat. This was a slow and laborious process. The advent of the meat mincer has not only made the mincing process easier but also faster.

The meat mincer has slowly evolved over the years into what it is today.

The first meat mixer or meat mincer was invented in the 19th century by a German inventor named Baron Karl Drais. Although some versions of the device date back to much earlier. The oldest form of meat mincer was hand cranked which forced meat through a metal plate with several small holes in it, which resulted in long and thin strands of the meat. The meat was fed into the funnel that was placed at the top of the mixer. This meat would pass through a hand cranked screw conveyor that would squash and mix the meat before passing it through the metal plate. Needless to say, this was again a slow and laborious procedure to follow to produce large quantity of meat.

With passage of time, this hand cracked machine became powered by electricity. The meat mincer has a great adaptability and efficiency now. The huge variety in mincer plates allows a butcher to produce different types of minced meat in any shape desired.

However, traditional manual meat mincers have not really changed a lot. They are manually operated and made of cast iron, as earlier. They are similar to the original mincer designs, dating back to the early 1900s. Some butchers still prefer using a variety of mincer knives.

Adapted from:
https://brennan-group.com/blogs/news/history-of-the-meat-mincer

Significance

The development of the meat mincer enabled both butchers and home cooks to process and grind meat effectively.

Physical description

Clamp on meat mincer with handle for rotating the mincing apparatus inside.

Inscriptions & markings

None.