How to Clean a Meat Grinder (and Why the Dishwasher Is Not an Option)

Unplug the grinder, push a slice of bread through the head to clear the last of the meat, strip the head down, hand wash every part in warm soapy water, rinse with clear hot water and hand-dry immediately, then lubricate the knife and plates with food-grade silicone spray before you put it away. Grinder parts are not dishwasher safe. That is LEM's own instruction, in capitals, in the manual it ships with its #8 — and the reason is discoloration and corrosion, not inconvenience.

The ten-step routine

1. Clear the head with bread. LEM's manual: “Meat remaining in the Grinder Head may be moved through by passing a slice of bread through the Grinder Head.” It pushes the last of the trim out instead of leaving it to dry in the auger flights.
2. Switch off and unplug. Step one in the manual's own numbering.
3. Take off the meat pan and the stomper. They are the parts most often left in a sink and forgotten.
4. Remove the head. On LEM's #8 that means unscrewing the star bolt and pulling the head straight out.
5. Unscrew the retaining ring and strip the head. Ring, plate, knife, auger, bushing, washer. Lay them out in order so reassembly is not guesswork.
6. Hand wash in warm soapy water. Do not soak. A nylon brush gets the plate holes and the auger flights; a wooden skewer clears a stubborn hole.
7. Rinse with clear hot water. The manual says clear hot water, which rinses soap residue and speeds the drying that comes next.
8. Hand-dry immediately. This is the step people skip and the one that ends knives and plates. LEM says hand-dry immediately and do not soak.
9. Lubricate the knife and the plates. LEM: “We advise you to lubricate the Knife and the Grinding Plates with silicon spray.” Food-grade silicone, LEM's own lubricant spray or mineral oil all appear in its guidance; the point is a thin barrier against moisture.
10. Reassemble loosely or store the parts dry. LEM asks that the appliance be stored upright to extend the life of the motor, in a secure, dry place.

Clean immediately after use. LEM prints that in capitals too, and it is the difference between a fifteen-minute job and a scraping job.

Why not the dishwasher

Because the maker says so, and it says why. LEM's #8 manual states that grinder parts are not dishwasher safe and that discoloration may occur, and it repeats the instruction twice: once in the safety list and once in the cleaning section. The combination of high heat, long dwell time and strongly alkaline detergent is hard on the aluminum, the tinned cast iron and the plating that grinder parts are made from, and it is hard on the lubricated bushing.

If your grinder's manual says otherwise for specific parts, follow your manual. What you should not do is assume stainless means dishwasher safe. Stainless resists corrosion; it is not immune to it, and the knife and plate are the parts that matter most.

Rust, and why the silicone spray step is not optional

Grinder knives and plates are typically carbon or lightly plated steel precisely because that is what takes and holds a keen cutting edge. The trade is that they corrode. Water left in a plate hole overnight will leave a rust bloom you then have to clean off a food-contact surface, and repeated cycles pit the face where the knife meets the plate — which is where cutting performance lives.

So the sequence matters: rinse hot, dry by hand straight away, then put a film of food-grade silicone on the knife and plates. LEM also uses lubricant on the auger bushing, telling owners to remove the bushing, lubricate it with food-grade silicone, its own spray or mineral oil, and reinsert it — and it notes that bushings and washers are wear parts that need changing for the unit to work properly.

Sanitising is not the same as washing

LEM puts a warning in the manual that goes beyond soap: “Always be as thorough as possible when cleaning and sanitizing components. Any parts exposed to raw meat may harbor or develop bacteria possibly causing illness or death.” Washing removes the fat and protein; sanitising addresses what is left. Penn State Extension's guidance on processing wild game and Ohio State Extension's venison factsheet both treat clean equipment and a maintained cold chain as the two controls that matter at home.

The practical version: wash first, because sanitiser does not work through grease; keep a separate brush for grinder parts; and do not put a clean plate down on the board you were trimming on.

Dried-on meat, and the grinder you forgot about

If meat has dried in the auger flights or the plate holes, soak is exactly what LEM tells you not to do. Work warm soapy water and a stiff nylon brush instead, and use a skewer or a plate-hole brush for the holes. Patience beats a long soak, which drives water into the bushing and under the plating.

If you find the grinder put away dirty from last season, strip it completely, wash, dry, and then look hard at the knife and plate before you trust them with food. Pitting on the cutting faces is a replace, not a clean.

Storing it until next season

Dry, upright, out of reach of children — LEM's three storage instructions. Keep the knife and plates oiled and, if you can, in a wrap or a box rather than loose in a drawer where they bang against each other. Leave the ring finger-tight rather than torqued: LEM warns that over-tightening the ring causes needless wear on the knife and plate, and that running the grinder empty can damage the head and auger.

When cleaning is not the problem

If the grinder mushes after a clean, the issue is upstream of the sink: warm meat, a backwards knife, sinew on the knife, or a dull knife and plate. LEM's troubleshooting says that if meat is mashing rather than extruding in strings you should chill it to 40 °F, check that the plate and knife are installed properly, and know that a dull knife or plate will also cause mashing. Our clogging and mushing guide works through all six causes, and sharpening grinder knives and plates covers what to do with a pair that has gone dull.