What are the signs that a meat grinder hole plate is worn?

Worn plates show up as coarser, uneven particles with ragged edges, plus higher motor load and meat temperature, and feeding feels heavier. Check hole diameter against tolerance, verify face flatness and knife contact marks, and compare with the maker's wear limit. If a fixed recipe suddenly grinds differently, pull the knife and plate for inspection instead of waiting for a blockage. Log diameters, contact condition and cleaning residue in that machine's file to set your replacement benchmark.