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Thread: Grinder time

  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lloyd Smale View Post
    36 lbs of brats is a pile. I did 50lbs last deer season and I'm still eating them!
    Lloyd you are right...it was a pile of brats.....we split the pile 3 ways and the pile is still large!!!! But man are they good! Paul
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    For the past several years, I have butchered all mine myself, this year, circumstances with my spare time had me carry the three so far to a processor.

    I used a hand crank one for years and it works fine. Bought a Waring a few years ago from a neighbor who wasn't using it, and it works faster, not sure it works better, though.

    Two or three a year is all I can expect. I don't make sausage, just use a lot of ground in spaghetti, meat loaf, chili, etc. Seems to be what we use the most.

  3. #23
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    One thing to consider is the weight of the grinder....our 1 hp weighs a ton and could be a problem if I live long enough....just think about the weight when you decide.....PAUL
    When guns are outlawed only criminals and the government will have them and at that time I will see very little difference in either!

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    Why I went the lightweight #12 from Northern Tool. Lifting heavy kitchen gadgets is no more. I sold my big 600 series Kitchen-aid mixer because it was just way to heavy to lift.

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    yup I have to admit my #32 is HEAVY. My wife cant even get it up on the counter. No way no how. It has to weight north of a 100lbs. But the little bit of work it takes to haul it out is more then made up for when you start grinding. Summer sausage production time was just about cut in half from my small grinder. This one does second faster then the small one did first grind. No more cramming ground meat through the throat of that grinder. that was work. Now I can just drop handful sized globs of it down the neck and it eats right through it. Like I said before its proabably an overkill for the average guy cutting one or two deer up. If I was still in that situation id still have the one like Marys I had. It did fine for grinding burger once a year

  6. #26
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    My 3/4 horse is also heavy but it is treated like a gold nugget. I keep it in the box in the basement so it takes a few trips to get it all upstairs. It is so easy unlike the *** Kitchen Aid that you struggle with. The junk quits and needs cleaned out all the time. Harder to clean too.

  7. #27
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    What I use at home for grinding and stuffing

    Last Christmas I decided to get myself a grinder and stuffer.

    Mountain Gearsmith products aren't too bad, for the price:
    I started with a MTN Gearsmith grinder/stuffer off the E auction site, they have several models.
    (Here's a trick for you: as Christmas approaches, some auctioneers who'd typically only list a product one item at a time will begin listing multiple auctions of the SAME item. It can happen that bidders go after the auction closing the soonest and don't check on the later auction items as closely. This allowed me to get the grinder/stuffer I liked at the minimum bid instead of 3x that price which the "winner" of the earlier auction got the exact same piece for.)
    http://www.ebay.com/sch/MTN-Gearsmit...2707718/i.html

    The only drawback of the typical grinder/stuffer is that they rely on a worm gear to send the sausage into the tube, and it will not stuff properly if the meat is not either very cold or partially frozen, it just gushes out around the input tube if well thawed and gooey. My MTN Gearsmith doesn't like grinding frozen meat, but can handle partially defrosted well enough. In mine it is an aluminum worm gear, at least. I would stay away from plastic for venison, beef or similar "hard" meats.
    The limitation of my unit is that its internal gears are plastic, as are most in this size. I broke them once, trying to grind ice to clear the last bits of meat from the grinder. I read that on a site and decided to try it, not realizing that the person writing that was talking about an older all-metal gear unit. Painful lesson, but at least the customer service folks sold me new gears at a very reasonable price and shipped them quickly.

    The other failing of many of these grinders is that they are over optimistic with the power claims. Most that say they are 1Hp or 1.5Hp, etc., really aren't. That is the PEAK load of the motor, but the motors are more like <0.5Hp and being overdriven. They are very cheaply made motors, which is not unusual in such a small package. A true 1Hp continuous duty motor is not light or small.

    But as long as you work within the limits of the grinder, and aren't grinding literally tens of pounds at a time, a 1.5Hp unit is pretty good.

    I routinely grind 7-8 pounds of pork for Bratwurst in mine and that's about the limit without letting it rest a while, but that's plenty for me.

    By the time you grind 8 lbs of pork and spice and mix it, it's warmed up and won't stuff well. Chicken is such a gentle meat it turns to goo fast. Stuffing became a chore, because I had to wait to cool the meat back down so as to stuff it more easily, so I gifted myself a stuffer.

    About stuffers:
    I saw reviews that said the newer LEM products use a plastic worm gear now, and decided to look elsewhere for an all-metal version.

    I found very nice units from Hakka Brothers on Amazon and bought one of those. In my case, the horizontal feed 7 pound version was noticeably cheaper than the 7 pound vertical stuffer. There is no difference in performance, and I guess the only drawback of the horizontal unit is that it takes up a little more storage space.
    Since these are counter top appliances, it really doesn't matter. Hakka gears are metal. My stuffer fills 7lbs of casing FAST!
    https://www.amazon.com/Hakka-Sausage...ers+horizontal I paid well less that this particular listing is advertising, one may shop around for a better price on one of these. It's about the time of year for automatic 15% off incentives to kick in on Amazon's software, so watch them and wait, if you can.
    Note that prices vary often too, so maybe the vertical model is the better price now. Cleanup is also easy, and my unit is all unpainted stainless steel, which I like.

    For larger capacity, I also bought a #32 grinder off Sportsman's Guide that comes with a large pulley style crank rather than a simple crank handle. It is claimed you can connect a motor to these and make them powered. The company no longer encourages this, probably due to lost fingers (!), but it can be done. My problem is how to step down the speed to something that wasn't so fast a rotation. I found pillow blocks on Amazon that I can use with a 1/2" shaft to step the 1700 RPM of the typical 1/2 HP electric motor down to 60 RPM at the grinder. I haven't done that yet, but I did score a nice 1/5 Hp motor off Craigslist from a retired attic fan not long ago. The Guide Gear grinder does come with a small pulley, but if you want to get the grind speed as low as hand cranking, which is what the grinder was built for, it is necessary to step down even further.
    http://www.sportsmansguide.com/produ...FRUXaAodrygD5g
    Note that if you sign up for the "free" 30-day trial of the Buyer's Club you get 10% off, and you can nearly always find a coupon online for free shipping for members too. If you put the trial period membership in your cart, these member's-only coupons will work. So I paid well less than $59.99 delivered for my unit. Other outlets sell this same grinder, it might be worth shopping around to find a better deal. The Auction site has many, many options for grinding plates and other fittings for this size, as does Amazon.

    The #32 can be hand cranked, but needs to be bolted down for proper leverage when grinding and the wooden handle is VERY cheap. I used it twice without bolting it down and it is very tiresome. The advantage of this style and size is capacity. Once set up properly it can grind virtually anything (watch those fingers!) and do it longer than most folks' patience will last.


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  8. #28
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    Snowwolfe, I had been wanting an electric grinder for several years and 6-7 years ago bought Cabela's 1hp model... wish that I had done that years ago.
    The foot controller is money well spent too.
    Try to have the meat kind of half-way frozen when you grind... it does better and the vertical stuffer works way better for me than trying to stuff using the grinder.

  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by baogongmeo View Post
    Snowwolfe, I had been wanting an electric grinder for several years and 6-7 years ago bought Cabela's 1hp model... wish that I had done that years ago.
    The foot controller is money well spent too.
    Try to have the meat kind of half-way frozen when you grind... it does better and the vertical stuffer works way better for me than trying to stuff using the grinder.
    Thanks for the tips. Our son is coming for a visit in a week and we plan on grinding up the last deer I shot. Going to mix the meat with a pork butt we bought locally. Should give the burger a nice taste as well as the required fat. We like a lean burger, 10-12% fat.
    East Tennessee

  10. #30
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    Waking up this old thread.

    May be picking up a new puppy soon. Won't be a replacement for Timber, but we are a family that cannot be without at least one furry cuddly member. The Mrs. wants more control over the dog food mixture. With a few rare exceptions over the years, we don't buy commercial dog food.

    We have a grinder attachment (not the plastic one) on our commercial version Kitchenaid mixer, but Mrs. smokeywolf wants to process more and be able to grind chicken bones. From my research so far, the Cabela's Carnivore #32 is maybe the most grinder that we can afford. Comparable specs. to the Weston, although the Cabela's unit has a larger diameter neck and a bit better warranty.

    Anybody have a Cabela's Carnivore #32 (1.5 HP). Anybody have to send a Cabela's grinder back for warranty service or replacement and if so, does Cabela's pay for return shipping or stick the customer with it?
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  11. #31
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    I grind my own dog food for my two Labs.
    (chicken breasts, chicken drumsticks, wings, thighs AND bones)

    I grind somewhere around 50lb's or more per batch, and freeze it every few months.

    I've also made venison burger, and sometimes pork/steak burgers with the grinder as well. Never done sausage with it though, only used the old manual crank grinder for sausage stuffing.

    The majority of my meat grinder use has been grinding up bags of chicken breast/thigh/drumsticks whole bones and all. Been doing this for at least 8 years now.

    I started off using a Sam Beare SB-500. It worked somewhat, but wasn't quite enough as the chicken drumsticks got larger and larger and the SB-500 motor, and internal hole stayed the same size. The Sam Beare would also fill up with bone and cartilage chips, and often come to a stop/halt during my chicken processing. (requiring a reset, and a reverse) This required me eventually taking the grinder apart, and cleaning out all bone and cartilage chips, at least two or three times a batch to be able to finish.

    There also appear to be quite a few companies offering Chinese knockoff's of the Sam Bear SB-500 style meat grinder. Either way I would not recommend purchasing one.

    While I did get a few good years out of the Sam Bear SB-500, it didn't have enough oomph to really do what I needed. I sold the Sam Beare SB-500 for a quick $50 bucks locally on CL with full disclosure about it's limitations and...

    I upgraded to a Cabela's meat grinder, model 54-0709. Looks they call it the Cabela's Pro Series DC Grinder.

    Cabela's Pro Series DC Grinder.


    https://www.cabelas.com/category/Foo.../104364180.uts

    https://www.cabelas.com/product/home...2.uts?slotId=1

    The Cabela's Pro Series DC Grinder has a .5 horsepower motor (500w) and works like a champ. I would easily recommend it to anyone for making dog food, or processing deer.

    It's much more powerful than the Sam Beare SB-500, and handles bones like a champ. I only need to clean out the chips when I'm all done now, (no more stopping) and it will process a silly amount of chicken and bones in one setting. Boneless meat is hardly challenge for it at all.

    Looks like the Cabela's Pro Series DC Grinder runs about $199 currently. Don't remember what I originally paid for the Sam Beare SB-500, but sure wish that I'd seen the Cabela's meat grinder first.

    Hope the info helps.


    - Bullwolf

  12. #32
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    Thanks for that input Bullwolf.
    A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms *shall not be infringed*.

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    "While the people have property, arms in their hands, and only a spark of noble spirit, the most corrupt Congress must be mad to form any project of tyranny."
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  13. #33
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    had one mary. it was my first grinder. I ground quite a bit of meat with it. Where it lacked was when you had to regrind course ground meat. it throat was so small you had to cram the meat in. I bought a #22 next and it was worlds better. One horse motor and it would chew wood if you put it in. rock hard frozen meat doesn't even slow it down. My dad saw it work and wanted one so I gave him that one and stepped up to a 32 and that thing is an animal. 1 1/2 horse power and it grinds faster then you can feed it I think it would grind any hardwood limb that would fit down the throat. to be honest the 22 was all the grinder I needed. It weighted 75lbs about 25 lbs less then the 32 and didn't give me a hernia to move. My wife cant even get it on the counter. Now to be honest I grind a lot of deer every year. If I only had one or two to do something like that first one would have probably done me well for life. In my opinion though if your going to step up from that one go to at least a 1 hp #22. It will amaze you. this is the one I have today https://www.amazon.com/product-revie...owViewpoints=1 the old one was the same thing but a 22 instead of a 32 I was torn between a Weston and lem the first time. I went Weston and liked it so much I stuck with the brand. I shied away from the cabela/gander mountain brands because there rebadged Chinese imports and I worried about finding parts if it failed down the line. that said they are a bit cheaper for the same size and hp as the lem/westons are.
    Quote Originally Posted by MaryB View Post
    This grinder gets a lot of rave reviews over on BBQ sites http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...1267_200451267 I have one but have only used it twice so can't really review it well. Handled everything I fed it just fine though! I like pork breakfast sausage patties(I make sausage and cheese english muffins a lot!) and most commercial patties are tiny little things. I have a burger press and make a nice 1/8 pound patty that I individually freeze on a baking tray then stack and vac bag 8 to a bag. Tried a thicker 1/4 pound but it doesn't cook up as well as the thinner patty.
    Last edited by Lloyd Smale; 10-20-2018 at 07:42 AM.

  14. #34
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    For home use the Cabela's Pro Series DC Grinder is great. And the extra bonus is its much quieter than most grinders
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  15. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lloyd Smale View Post
    had one mary. it was my first grinder. I ground quite a bit of meat with it. Where it lacked was when you had to regrind course ground meat. it throat was so small you had to cram the meat in. I bought a #22 next and it was worlds better. One horse motor and it would chew wood if you put it in. rock hard frozen meat doesn't even slow it down. My dad saw it work and wanted one so I gave him that one and stepped up to a 32 and that thing is an animal. 1 1/2 horse power and it grinds faster then you can feed it I think it would grind any hardwood limb that would fit down the throat. to be honest the 22 was all the grinder I needed. It weighted 75lbs about 25 lbs less then the 32 and didn't give me a hernia to move. My wife cant even get it on the counter. Now to be honest I grind a lot of deer every year. If I only had one or two to do something like that first one would have probably done me well for life. In my opinion though if your going to step up from that one go to at least a 1 hp #22. It will amaze you. this is the one I have today https://www.amazon.com/product-revie...owViewpoints=1 the old one was the same thing but a 22 instead of a 32 I was torn between a Weston and lem the first time. I went Weston and liked it so much I stuck with the brand. I shied away from the cabela/gander mountain brands because there rebadged Chinese imports and I worried about finding parts if it failed down the line. that said they are a bit cheaper for the same size and hp as the lem/westons are.
    I only do about 100 pounds a year now so it will last forever...

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    probably will mary.

  17. #37
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    I been pretty happy with our Cabelas .75 hp model. No issues with it and it grinds the first round, coarse, pretty fast. Most important thing is to make sure the meat is super cold and close to being frozen. The fine grind goes a little slower. We usually only do about 30 pounds at a time.
    But I'll admit that I wished we would of bought the 1 hp model.
    East Tennessee

  18. #38
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    I just bought a 1hp #22 and a 7lb stuffer,i think they will be fine for what we do but that 1 1/2hp #32 was tempting

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    one thing for sure is if your making bratts or especially smaller breakfast sausage links any grinder is a very poor stuffer. stuffer was another mistake I made. When I started out I thought a 5lb stuffer would do just fine and bought a gander mountain 5 lb stuffer. I wish I would have at least got a 10lb unit and one with steel gears not plastic. Ive replaced my plastic gears twice already. the 5lb capacity isn't bad if your doing breakfast sausage and will get you by for bratts but doing summer sausage I spend more time cranking it back open and filling it then I do grinding the meat. What id really like is a 15-20lb vertical stuffer.
    Quote Originally Posted by Chad5005 View Post
    I just bought a 1hp #22 and a 7lb stuffer,i think they will be fine for what we do but that 1 1/2hp #32 was tempting

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chad5005 View Post
    I just bought a 1hp #22 and a 7lb stuffer,i think they will be fine for what we do but that 1 1/2hp #32 was tempting
    A friend has a 5 horse grinder from an auction at a butcher shop. He says most days it does a good enough job. Probably built in the late 40's early 50's it will throw burger 10 feet our if you aren't ready with the tray.
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