a couple of questions about sausage stuffers

[driedstick]

 
that's a good point that I had not though of !!!!   by the way whats a "pita" ......... I hate acronym's

Pain in the a$$

 

[sb59]

 
that's a good point that I had not though of !!!!   by the way whats a "pita" ......... I hate acronym's

pain in the ----

 

[voodoochile]

I had  cabelas 11 lb that is very similar the the one shown . It would leave 1 - 1 1/4 lb of meat in the bottom of the stuffer and the elbow . When you make 10 pound batches as I do that is a REAL PITA .. I sold it and bought a lem 15 lb and I love it .

 

[cal1956]

more acronyms here than a little boys secret club  ...thanks for clearing that up  

 

[cal1956]

after asking questions about how much was left in the elbow  most say about 1/4 lb  or less

 

[voodoochile]

they leave meat in the bottom of the tub as well ..... its not just the elbow ....... BTW ....... if your using a large stuffing tube you will have 1/4 lb in the tube itself ........ maybe that stuffer is different than the cabelas but they look identicle , probably all made by the same company for sale to different retailers .......... good luck but 1/4 lb is not  a realistic number for an 11 lb stuffer ........ my 15 lb lem has NO elbow and it leaves more than 1/4 lb 

 

[cal1956]

I tend to agree 1/4 lb doesn't seem quite right but the smallest batch we will be doing would be 25 lbs  so even 1/2 lb  or a bit more would be acceptable  , we can always make patties  with it

 

[cal1956]

I'll  admit the more research I do the more confused I seem to get ,

here is the thing .

we will be doing 25-50 lbs of smoked sausage per batch all I want is a stuffer that is fast , easy and durable and at a price that I can live with ( in the ball park of $150.00 ). there are several that seem to fit my requirements but all have minor differences such as  2 speeds vs one speed , 5lb capacity vs 8-10 lb capacity,  a spiral gear vs a rack gear and so forth  ..how the hell do you choose ?

 

[voodoochile]

I started out with a 5 lb from "The Sausage Maker" , then a 11 lb Cabelas , and then a 15 lb LEM ....... IMHO The 5 lb was too small , its a pain reloading every 5 lb . The 11 lb sucked for reasons I have already stated . I REALLY like my 15 lb LEM .

I have bought quite a few things from LEM and have no complaints . IMHO the only thing a 5 lb stuffer is good for is stuffing very small casings such as snack sticks . Fot brats,salami and similar size sausages I would not want anything smaller than 11 lb , 2 speeds is not really much of an advantage . 

hope this helps 

 

[cal1956]

well just from the point of how much sausage per batch we will be making I was thinking that a 5 lb might be a bit to small , and I wasn't sure if the 2 speed would make much difference ( but I wasn't sure )  all I know is that I have to make a decision soon

 

[bdskelly]

Cal

That looks very much like my Cabelas stuffer. I received it as a gift and it cost more than I would ever spend on one. That being said it does an excellent job. However the way the bottom of the cylinder is designed you'll need to put about 4 slices of bread on the top of your meatin order for all the meat to pass through the unit. The bottom of the cylinder has a deep recess  that the plunger can't reach without the bread pushing through. 

Other than that one minor deal, it is an excellent , well made, all steel unit that will last a lifetime 

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabe...der%3BSearch-All+Products&Ntt=sausage+stuffer

b

 

[sam3]

I have the LEM 11 lb vertical stuffer. Love it, never had a problem.
Good luck with your search.

 

[cal1956]

last night I had , had enough research so I told the wife that come tomorrow for her to just order which ever one that she liked and not even tell me which one ..... ( i'll find out when I open the damn box )

 

[boykjo]

Well Cal I'm going to throw in my two cents here. The gander mountain vertical stuffer is your best bang for the buck. The 10 lber is 179 and the 15 lber is 199. These units are all steel gears and are work horses especially when you want to do sticks. I have the 15 lb gander mountain stuffer and I have worked it hard and it has not let me down..... I have the 30 cabalas stuffer with a motor like the one you were considering and I would not recommend that kind of stuffer for doing snack sticks. Its a good stuffer mechanism  for sausage making but has known to fail under stress when doing snack sticks. 

Hope this helps

Joe

 

[goliath]

as for stuffers leaving sausage in the bottom and the neck ... a trick i learned here on the forum is to finish off with some wet bread... will push everything thru ... thats if ya dont want to make that many patties....

Goliath

 

[cal1956]

well for starters I don't even know what "snack sticks " are ....lol  the sausage that we will be making 99% of the time will have a diameter of 1 1/8 to 1 1/4 inch but like I said its to late now , its in the wifes hands now

 

[driedstick]

Snack sticks are like pepperoni sticks you buy at the store. 

IMG_20150126_183438347_HDR.jpg

• driedstick
• Jan 28, 2015

Good luck on your decision. 

DS

 

[cal1956]

just bought this one

41gU6Oc-CmL__SL246_SX190_CR0,0,190,246_.jpg

• cal1956
• Jun 3, 2015

 

[driedstick]

Nice I think you will like it, is that the 7lb'er

Now make some snausages 

DS

 

[cal1956]

its the11 lb one....... I think the wife just liked the color,  still have to wait for it to arrive ,  should only be a week or so