Can You Put Bones in a Meat Grinder? No, and Here Is What to Use

No. Do not put bones through a home meat grinder. LEM's own listings for both its MightyBite #8 and its BigBite #8 say the grinder is not for bones, and the manual that ships with the #8 asks for meat that is free of “gristle, sinew, silver skin, and bone” before it reaches the head. No plate size, motor rating or reverse switch changes that. Bone-in work is a saw job: a 22-inch hand butcher saw for most seasons, and an electric bandsaw only if you are cutting a lot of bone-in portions year after year.

That answer holds even at the top of the range. The 1.5 HP #32 machines on our commercial-grade grinder page are rated for 17 and 18 pounds of meat a minute, and neither maker claims bone. More motor moves more meat; it does not change what a knife and plate can shear.

What actually breaks

A grinder shears meat by wiping a rotating knife across the face of a perforated plate. Bone does not shear. It chips, and then the chips sit between two hardened steel faces that are designed to run in contact. Three things follow:

• The knife and plate go first. Chipped cutting edges and a dished plate face mean mush rather than strands from then on, and the pair has to be replaced together — LEM's advice is to change plates and knives simultaneously.
• Then the gearbox. A bone jam stalls the auger against a motor that is still trying to turn it. Weston's Butcher #22 manual publishes an all-hardened-steel gear transmission, which is a reason to like the machine and not a licence to stall it.
• And the warranty. Using an appliance outside its stated use is the textbook definition of misuse. LEM's warranty language excludes damage from misuse; MEAT!'s lifetime warranty excludes ordinary wear and commercial use. Putting bone through a machine the maker says is not for bones is not a claim you want to have to argue.

Why people ask in the first place

Usually one of three reasons, and they have different answers:

That middle row is the common one. Most home processors bone out entirely and never need a saw, which is why our meat saw roundup opens by asking whether you need one at all. If you do want bone-in shanks, a saw is cheap and a grinder repair is not.

What to use instead

A hand butcher saw is a stainless serrated blade in a tensioned frame, and the three specs worth checking are blade length, whether the frame holds tension under load, and whether replacement blades are sold. A 20-inch saw is easier to steer on a kitchen counter; a 22-inch is the general-purpose length; 25 inches gives the longest stroke for elk or beef. Our bone saw vs bandsaw comparison covers where the electric machine starts to earn its footprint.

The raw pet-food question

This is the version of the question most often asked about bone, and the answer is still no for a home grinder. Commercial raw pet-food production uses purpose-built bone grinders with hardened cutting sets built for the job; a household meat grinder sold for venison and sausage is not that machine, and its maker says so. If raw feeding is the goal, buy ground product from a producer who grinds bone on equipment designed for it, rather than taking a #12 head apart in the middle of a batch.

Chicken bones are the usual follow-up. They are softer than venison leg bone, but “softer” is not the same as rated, and the machines on this site are not rated. We will not recommend running them through a grinder whose maker excludes bone.

Keeping bone out of the grinder in the first place

Most bone in ground venison arrives by accident, not intention: a bullet-shattered rib fragment, a sliver left by a saw cut, a piece of knuckle that came away with the trim. Three habits catch nearly all of it.

• Bone out, then trim on a clean board. LEM's manual wants meat free of gristle, sinew, silver skin and bone before grinding, and the trim table is where that happens.
• Treat the wound channel as a separate pile. Penn State Extension's guidance on processing wild game is to trim away damaged tissue; that is also where shattered bone hides.
• Run your fingers over every piece going into the lug. It takes seconds per handful and it is the only inspection step in the whole process.

Then keep the rest of the routine tight — chilled meat, a sharp knife and plate, a steady feed — and the grinder will do the job it is rated for. Our how to grind deer meat guide covers the sequence from trim table to lug, and meat grinder sizes explained covers which size keeps up with your season.