Baby food makers: meat puree question

SweetbabyG

I have an OXO food mill, which purees steamed veggies, but doesn't work on meats.  How do you make your meat puree?  What kitchen tool do you use to get your solids to be a very smooth texture?  My LO seems to have some texture adversion to the veggies I puree in the food mill.  Thanks!

driveshorses

I use the Ninja  and it puree's pretty much anything down to a nice consistency. Now I don't run it as long to get it as smooth and leave a bit more texture in there. But the blades are super sharp and it cleans up easily. Plus I use it for regular cooking too.

MrsSR

for veggies I just use my immersion blender.

I bought a small jar of baby food chicken to try before making my own meat, but she hated it...  so I haven't done meat yet.

CodyGH

Well, I used a blender and had to use a lot more water than with veggies or fruits where I use little to none.  Although it worked at first, it isn't that great after I thawed it out.  It's kinda like shredded chicken.  I'm not sure what we will do in the future, but I think if the meat was pureed with something else to begin with it would probably be better.  (chicken and apples, chicken and mangoes, etc.)  But I don't want to be limited by what we've already mixed up, KWIM?  I might end up just buying the meat already pureed, but haven't decided yet.  Maybe turkey will be better than chicken. 

snansley

I used ground turkey that I put in the food processor.  I didn't love the grainy texture so I think I may just offer tiny pieces of shredded meat.

 

bride2bee2008

I haven't done it yet, but its on my "to-do" list this week.  I plan to try pureed chicken first by thinning it with applesauce, since I've heard you have to add sooo much water to get it pureed.  I figure this way I can freeze the cubes and don't have to combine them with apples or something after, KWIM?

 

MNgirl326

I just put it in the food processor, it doesn't get super thin like strained pears, but it is still thin enough.

LO can handle a chunkier puree now, which part of why we waited as long as we did.  Plus, he is moving onto finger foods, so a chunkier puree isn't that big of a deal to him. 

numeria11

Check out Wholesomebabyfoods website they have a good step by step on how to do it.  I followed their directions but did find a few things after doing this a couple times:

1) Definitly use Chicken Thights NOT chicken breasts you need the extra fat from that is in the thighs for it to grind up well.  I did a small amount of pork and used chops which didnt work super well so I think I am going to try more of a roast next time.

2) Chop it up small (as in 1/2 inch pieces) before putting in the food processor (I have a Bebe Cook, it does NOT do well with meats the blades are just too small to do any substantial amount of meat at a time, my regular food processor works way better for meats)

3) Once you have it ground up finely in the processor add in sweet potatos or carrots or something else with a smoother binding texture (starchy veggies).  This helps smooth it out further and when you defrost it later it stays in more of a puree form and doesnt get as grainy as it otherwise will.  If you do just straight meat it is pretty awful when defrosted

4) When defrosting don't use the microwave it cooks the meat making it all rubbery and messes with the texture.  Just take it out a day or so before hand and put it in the fridge to defrost.  If you do microwave it the absolute max you can microwave it is about 10 or 12 seconds.

 Hope this helps!

SweetbabyG

Thanks everyone!  I have a mini food prep, which I can try.  I did check out wholesomebabyfood.com and used dark chicken meat, but again the food mill wasn't the right tool to use.  I'll give it a go again with the food prep and blend it with sweet potatoes next time.  If that doesn't work, I'll just wait till baby is a little older and he can gum it.  My son already has 8 teeth at 8 months!

cookieinva

We did homemade meat and DS eats it, but honestly he far prefers small bites of whatever meat or fish we happen to be having for dinner rather than the meat I specifically made for him. He does not mind, and even likes, texture to his food.

So you might not want to make too much in advance - I'm glad I didn't because it would go to waste.