Grinding Plates for Maverick 5501 Grinder

Important: Over time, a knife and plate develop uneven (but mated) wear patterns as they operate together (just as the pistons and cylinder sleeves in a car's engine do), so it's important to always keep them together as a set. When you replace a knife, you need to use a new plate with it (or flip to the new side of the plate, if one side hasn't been used yet). Using an unmatched knife/plate set will cause bad grinding performance, rapid wear and possibly even breakage. So you will normally want to have two knives for every plate.

Also: Be sure to install a new knife with its sharpened edges positioned against the grinding plate. If you're an old hand at grinding, you've know this for years—but beginners often have the wrong idea that the knife's sharp edges should face the oncoming meat, and that won't work at all. The knife's edges need to face the outer end of your meat grinder, so that those knife edges rotate directly up against the grinding plate.