Recommend meat grinder

[Inthealders]

The grinding attachment for my wife's mixer did just fine this past November on a doe and eight pointer (about a hundred total pounds, half of which was ground).

[Smoke4320]

For the Lebanon Bologna, did you use a spice kit or some homemade ingredients? Have been looking at getting the spice kit for that from Waltons.

We have made 2 batches already
The waltons premix and a homemade mix
Waltons was good tangy if you add the recommended citric acid
The homemade was also very good
Smoked both batches about 6 hrs starting at 120 and bumping up 10 degrees wvery hr ( do not exceed 180 or you could fat out ruin the batch) till 165 internal . no smoke first 45 minutes

[Smoke4320]

Was it too dry or did you lose fat during smoking?
Getting the lean/fat ratio right can drastically improve the flavor and texture in deer. Soy protein is a huge help in summer sausage, salami and bologna. A different trick with deer is to add a little lean beef and or pork in the mix. I grind 10% beef and 10-15% beef fat into my burger, it helps hold the fat during cooking and ads a lot of flavor. In my sausages I go anywhere from 10% pork buts up to 50% and 10% pork fat up to 30%, depending on product. We just ground 400 ish pounds of deer yesterday and made 30lbs of polish sausage. I can't really call that polish "deer sausage" because it's more pork than deer but it's really good anyway.

Not enough fat first batch. Now doing 50% deer 50% pork butt and spices. Everyone i have given burgers to love them and want more

[Ivantherussian03]

I have been using basic Cabelas model , cost under 100 buck. Mine is twenty years old. I grind moose every year. I think I paid 60 or less.

I have thought about expensive Cabelas grinds but I don't use it enough.

[archeryrob]

I have the cheaper Cabelas grinder also. It works find for grinding deer for making summer sausage and other things. Now working with sausage and par freezing me, I am afraid I will break it. Looking to upgrade but hoping for a second hand sale on FB market place but people are way overpricing everything any more.

[Smoke4320]

Well i just upgraded to a Cabelas Carnivore 1HP.
Wow the difference is night and day. Just drop pieces into the 22 chute and done no pushing.
Ground 3 5 lbs of frozen 3/4-1" chunks of pork butt in literally less than a minute. Fast as i coud drop the pieces in it shot out the other side

[Lloyd Smale]

ive got a Weston 32. Its an animal. I would probably grind 2x4s! My choice would come down to two. Either a Weston or an lem and at least a 22 if your doing more then a couple deer a year. Had a lem 12 and it worked but second grind for sausage was a work out. With the bigger grinder you can about drop ground meat down the big shoot and it does the work for you with no pushing. Did I tell you I love this thing? Only down side is its a heavy brute to even lift on to the counter.

[GunStuff]

I have a size 32 grinder that is used for moose and pork. As was mentioned by poster #6 above, the plates and knives eventually get dull. Mine were getting a bit dull as some stringy stuff was pilling up in front of the plate and not getting cut. I polished the plates and cutters on a sheet of 600 grit carborundum paper on a hard flat surface. It improved the cutting (grinding) noticeably.

Sharpening the plates and knives is part of grinder maintenance that is rarely discussed on forums. What is discussed is how the new grinder worked but when it ages through use the plates' cutting edges get a bit rounded and need to be refreshed.
Peter

[FishHunter357]

I was about to ask if anyone has used a grinder attachment for a kitchen aid mixer that could compare to the standalone grinders. Sounds like the standalones are a lot better from what I'm hearing vs what I've experienced with the Kitchen Aid.

[Winger Ed.]

I was about to ask if anyone has used a grinder attachment for a kitchen aid mixer that could compare to the standalone grinders. Sounds like the standalones are a lot better from what I'm hearing vs what I've experienced with the Kitchen Aid.

If it's an older KitchAid with metal gears, I'd sure try it.
The new generation ones with plastic gears will probably strip out if you work it too hard.
I've heard mixing bread dough will trash them before long.

[trails4u]

If it's an older KitchAid with metal gears, I'd sure try it.
The new generation ones with plastic gears will probably strip out if you work it too hard.
I've heard mixing bread dough will trash them before long.

https://www.smokehousechef.com/stain...chool-version/

I've had this one for years....countless deer and momma's mixer is none worse for wear. Not cheap, but if you're already invested in an industrial model kitchenaid, I couldn't recommend this enough.

[FishHunter357]

https://www.smokehousechef.com/stain...chool-version/

I've had this one for years....countless deer and momma's mixer is none worse for wear. Not cheap, but if you're already invested in an industrial model kitchenaid, I couldn't recommend this enough.

Well that one looks like I could grind my $30 Amazon Kitchen Aid grinder in it. Hopefully I can wear my grinder out this fall so I can upgrade!

[elk hunter]

The Kitchen aid will work if you're doing a small amount but, a real grinder of at least 3/4 HP will do a lot more a lot quicker. Little machines do little work.

[crandall crank]

We've got a Kitchen Aid mixer, the "heavy duty" version. Have the grinder attachment (and others). It will grind meat all day long. I don't think we'll ever have to replace it, it's built that tough. Both daughters liked it so much, it was one of their first purchases once they got on their own.

[gc45]

Cabela's best, done several hundred pounds of game meat. 2000lb bison. Two big domestic hogs.
My three Sons are carnivores!