Bone Chunks Left In The Tasin Meat Grinder

[Totsy]

So I seem to be doing something wrong. After I grind the chicken thigh bones, I have a couple of tablespoons of large bone pieces left behind the plate/blade in the Tasin. I've tried taking them out with my finger and regrinding them, and I've tried grinding them with the plate with the tiniest holes, but I always have those big bone pieces left behind the plate/blade assembly.

I'm sure I'm assembling the grinder correctly, even putting the blade, plate and ring nut on before adding it to the grinder. I can't imagine how I'd get the auger in there any further. The blade doesn't sit flush against the auger, but that 1/8th of an inch wouldn't change by much the amount of space back there for the bone pieces to accumulate.

I'm worried my boys aren't getting all the calcium they need if I'm throwing away so much of the bone. I considered adding a bit of eggshell powder, but I didn't know how much to add and I worried I'd make things worse.

Your thoughts? (Besides "Lady, you're nuts.")

 

[mschauer]

It's been a long time since I've ground bone in my Tasin but I don't recall a large amount of bone not getting ground. Are you sure it is enough to worry about? Does it make any difference which end of the thigh you put in first? One end of the bone is smaller than the other.

 

[Totsy]

Thanks for your reply, especially since I don't think I'd have thought in a million years about which end of the bone I put in first. And now that you mention it, I remember that what I saw in the recess were parts of the rounded knuckle-y part of the bone. I'll experiment next time I'm making the chicken food.

Maybe I am overly concerned. They're still kittens, though, and one of them is a big boy - 10 pounds and not fat at seven months. His meaty bones need to be strong, lol.

I hope you don't mind my asking why you don't grind bones in your Tasin. Have you moved on to a more powerful grinder or do you prefer not to feed bone?

 

[mschauer]

I stopped feeding bone. I didn't like the uncertainty with regards to how much calcium and phosphorus my foods contained.

 

[Totsy]

Yes, that's sort of how I'm leaning. It would make things so much easier, too.

 

[Tobermory]

Like mschauer , I’ve stopped feeding bone but when I did grind bone-in chicken thighs in my Tasin, I also had those small pieces of bone exactly as you describe stuck behind the blade. In fact, I also was calling them knuckles! And if one slipped through, the girls wouldn’t eat it. Hard little suckers and I was worried the cats would choke on one. So I started snipping the “knuckles” off and leaving the shaft with the marrow. The shaft ground easily.