The Easiest Way to Grind Meat Is to Use a Mixer.
I have always preferred shredded meat to sliced or diced meat. I choose shredded chicken for tacos and shredded pork for banh mi, and shredded chicken salad is by far the best way to prepare it – even though shredding the meat is undoubtedly more work than slicing it, but it doesn’t have to be. if you use a mixer for work.
I remember the first time I shredded chicken with forks, I thought, “Oh, this isn’t that bad,” until a few minutes later my palms began to show reddened indentations in the fork handle. It’s not that the grinding process is complicated or particularly difficult to understand, but if you need to do it for more than two pieces of meat, it can be frustrating. Throwing it in a stand mixer is totally worth it instead.
I first learned about this method a couple of weeks ago from a similar video about making shredded chicken salad. The man equipped the mixer with a whisk attachment, turned on the machine, added the ingredients and scooped out the finished salad. My first reaction was that the finished chicken salad looked too smooth, like it had lost its texture. The video’s creator essentially admitted this, but was otherwise pleased with the results.
I was so intrigued that I tried blending it myself—with a few modifications.
How to shred chicken with a mixer
I think the whisk attachment was the main reason for the over-mixing in this video. A stand mixer is incredibly powerful, and you need to be careful with the timing and speed of the machine so you don’t overwork it, no matter what you’re cooking.
I decided to try shredding pulled pork, which is much fattier than chicken and therefore even easier to accidentally shred. (You may notice that slow cooker pulled pork falls apart easily, and that’s true; again, it’s not that pulling apart the meat is difficult, it’s just that it’s a very difficult task if you have a large amount of it.)
I threw the meat into the bowl and used the paddle attachment to start shredding it. Without exaggeration, my pork was almost done in less than 10 seconds on the lowest possible setting. I added my favorite BBQ sauce and ran the machine for another 5 seconds. Done: The pulled pork was perfect.
The best mixer for chopping meat.
What does this mean for us shredded meat lovers? Well, that means you might want to get yourself a stand mixer if you don’t already have one. I think this method is a total game changer for tougher, drier meats like chicken, and a very smart option for tender meats when you need to shred three pounds or more.
I’ve had my 6-quart Kitchen Aid Professional for over a decade now, and although the newer models are quieter, this old girl works as efficiently as ever. Although I can no longer find the 6-liter model in stock, the 5-liter is an alternative.
This is the best way to shred chicken and pork.
I always turn on cleaning when deciding whether a gadget or appliance will help with quick cooking, and you can’t argue with the time savings here. Consider the cutting board, dripping juice, knives and forks compared to the bowl and spatula used when using the mixer method. The bowl prevents juices from dripping onto the cutting board, and the paddle attachment is easy to clean. I estimate that between chopping and cleaning I saved between 10 and 20 minutes.
Plus, the mixer mixes everything for you, so you can add chopped ingredients and sauces for a simple and efficient multi-functional job. Essentially, using a stand mixer takes all the hard work out of preparing a stew dish and also makes cooking larger portions more affordable. I would highly recommend this for older cooks or people with limited shoulder mobility or arm strength.