I make a batch of Bob's Chicken Gravy about every six weeks.  I use a
Porkert hand meat grinder - the "medium" size.  It was around $40.  I
run 2 chickens through it, after hacking the birds into appropriate sized
parts.
 
It is a tough, gross, messy job.  My husband says he can't stand the
smell and usually disappears to his comic collection in the basement.
The ferrets think it smells wonderful, as at least a couple of them
will come through the kitchen with their noses in the air when I start
grinding.  Usually I can manage the grinding by myself, although once or
twice I've had to holler for hubby's help when a particularly hard bone
hangs up in the grinder.
 
After grinding 2 birds I'm panting, sweating, and grossed out.  Cleaning
the grinder is not pretty.  This is where I frequently have to get the
hubby's help, because the front ring gets worked on so tightly I can't
break it loose.  The expression on his face the first time he saw the
accumulation behind the grinder plate was interesting!
 
My ancestors who raised or hunted their food and regularly killed it and
broke it down into it's component parts are laughing at me the entire
time, I just know it.
 
But it's all worth it to see those fuzzy faces diving into a plateful of
gravy twice a day.
 
Melissa Bell
Mischief, Max, Merlin, Buddy & Fae
[Posted in FML issue 3957]