Keen Kutter 22 1/2 grinder

[JollyRoger]

I recently found a KeenKutter 22 1/2 grinder at a flea market with all the parts, $6. I brought it home, soaked it in soapy water and white vinegar, and used various wire brush attachments on my drill to remove the dirt and corrosion. Mechanically it works great. However, I have since soaked it again in sanitizer, bleach, scrubbed it with GOJO, then baking soda, and then soaked it in straight white vinegar. It still has a rather strong metallic smell which I fear will be imparted to whatever meat I will grind in it. Any suggestions by anyone who has encountered this?

[jfmorris]

I am afraid all the soaks in bleach, vinegar, etc, are likely responsible for all that. You've basically destroyed the coating that sealed the metal on the grinder. This is what happens with old aluminum pots, and they have to be passivated - i.e. develop a layer of aluminum oxide that serves as a protective coating over the metal. With pots I do this by boiling water in them. There are chemicals that can do it as well. With stainless steel (this does not appear to be stainless) it can be achieved with a paste made from Barkeeper's Friend and water.

I don't know what metal this grinder is made from, but I would try to remove all non-metal parts, and immerse it in boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes, to see if that helps, and stop the acid and bleach baths - that is going to make things worse.

[CaptainMike]

Nail head, meet Jim The Hammer.

[JollyRoger]

Great idea, I'll try that!

[jfmorris]

I did a little research, and the odds are that this antique grinder is made from cast iron. I don't think the boiling will hurt it at all, and may help get rid of some of the odor that the chemicals caused. I would then consider coating LIGHTLY with oil an baking in the oven to season, just like any other cast iron.

I would recommend NOT using bleach on it, and treat it like you would any other cast iron - maybe wash with mild soap, dry well, and oil after use.

[JollyRoger]

It definitely is iron - magnets stick to it. It is in the pot now.

[jfmorris]

Let us know if that helps at all with getting rid of the metallic odor. May still do well with baking in the oven too.

[JollyRoger]

The smell is gone - a BB King song? - but there is a good bit of discoloration, oxidation, rust, already. I’m going to wire brush one piece, an extra fine blade, again and see if the smell returns. If it does I’ll wash it mildly quickly and treat it in the oven and see what happens.

[treesmacker]

I recently discovered Fluid Film. https://www.fluidfilm.co.za/ It is terrific on my outdoor stuff. I wonder - would it be good for this? It is Food Grade. Anybody else using Fluid Film? I think it would work!

[JollyRoger]

I wire brushed one blade and immediately washed it in Dawn soapy water and rinsed it. A little metallic smell. I lightly coated it with olive oil and baked it at 450 for 1 hour. No smell, and a beautiful golden brown. See attached pics. I’ll now do the rest of it later this week a couple times, and then get to work making ham salad for my mother in law and coarse ground chuck for me. Thanks!!

[willsands]

From the plates picture, I believe that you have a grain mill, not a meat grinder.

[JollyRoger]

Yes, that is a plate that came with the grinder, one that I don't plan to use. The other plates are definitely for meat - different size holes.

[willsands]

I wasn't aware that there are devices that mill grain and grind meat. A picture of the disassembled mill would be enlightening.

[JamesRun]

I bought a KK10 KEEN KUTTER meat grinder at an antique shop with the intent to use it for food. I cleaned it up and noticed spotty remains of an internal and external silver coating. Since i was planning to use it for food prep, I bought a paint lead test kit and it showed positive for lead on the coating. This coating is almost like a tinning. Anyone have any experience with this? Hopefully this was not the historical OEM coating

I really want to put this grinder to use, but am reluctant to do so till I sort out this lead question.

[jfmorris]

Well, folks were not worried about lead back when that grinder was made. And unless the coating is coming off with the food, it probably didn't matter much when it was new. I imagine with the body being cast iron, they coated it to prevent rust. Unless it looks like someone painted it later on with some type of metallic silver paint?

Not sure what you can do about it unless it is a coating that you can remove with a stripper, then boil to get rid of the stripper, then season and bake.

[RonB]

I can't help, but welcome to The Pit.

[Oak Smoke]

I have one something like that I got from my mother years ago. I can never leave well enough alone. I’m going to hook up an old big Milwaukee 1/2 inch drill to it to see if I can power it that way.