KitchenAide Attachments

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blacklab

Master of the Pit
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
Jan 12, 2008
1,040
44
Battleground Wa
Hey All,

I've been wanting to learn how to make sauage like brauts summer sauage and links. The expense to get started is not that appealing. But was wondering what you all thought about the kitchenaide grinder and stuffer for this purpose. Pros and cons

Thanks
 
I have not tried the attachments, but I work with a guy who claimed they burned up his motor.
I dont know how much he used it prior, but maybe this will help.
You are right about the start up cost, I have dropped several hundred dollars and am very happy with my equiptment.
I know alot of guys who use some inexpensive manual grinders and are pleased, for the amount hey grind and stuff.
If I were going to get started with good equiptment that is not to $, I would look into a 5# grizzly vert stuffer on ebay, and a old fashioned manual grinder aswell, you can always add a motor to the grinder in the futer.
good luck nd hope this helps
 
Used one for a bit and it overheated the mixer.

I would suggest that you go to northern tool equipment and buy the grinder for $90 it works great and can be used as a stuffer. If not you may end up buying a new mixer
 
Cheech was that when using the grinder attachment as grinder or using it to stuff? I am just wondering what caused yours to overheat. Let me know. Thanks

Kookie
 
I'm curious too. I have the grinder attachment for mine, but I've yet to use it. Also, do you know what wattage your mixer was? 250, 325, 450, 575?
 
Know of several guys who have burned up Kitchenaids, making sausage or even trying to grind burger from their game meat. I think if you wanted to try your hand at sausage making, you could use your device, but with caution and care, realizing it will be slow, and production is not gonna happen. First, you will have to hand cut your meat up to a fairly small dice (about 1/2" or less. Feed the meat SLOWLY. Keep it cold, as this not only makes for easier grinding, it helps keep your grinders internals cooler. Same when stuffing. Its going to be a slow nearly painful process, but in the end, your going to want to jump into it like the rest of us.
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I own a Kitchenaid mixer and their grinder attachment and it works fine for batches up to 5 pounds, but less is better. It is true that one needs to cut the meat into small chunks and feed it slowly. The feed neck is very small and its capacity is limited.

Years ago, I had an Oster power unit that had several different heads: a grinder head, and ice crusher head, and a can opener head. I just plain wore it out.

My wife was nice enough to get me a LEM 3/4 HP grinder for Christmas and I am in 7th heaven right now. No more grinding woes.

I own two Sausagemaker stuffers (5 & 15 Lb.) and they are great. Avoid the very cheapest ones, as the plastic gears do not last and you end up buying good gears. By the time you replace the gears with good ones, the price is the same in the end.

I also have a hand grinder, a Porkert, I believe. It is just fine if you don't mind the workout. It is a little slow and one must endeavor to keep the meat very cold, but it can do the job.
 
We used the KitchenAide for 2 years grinding and feeling out what we wanted; then decided to upgrade. We were doing 7 to 8 deer a year through the KitchenAide but it neve missed a beat. But, we did give it cool off times.
 
Our Kitchen Aide did lots of sausage for us and worked well - the only issue I had was the height of the unit after attaching the grinder and tray - I had to reach way up to force the meat through the throat of the stuffer (a sensible person would put the unit on a lower table, but hindsight is always 20/20) that got a little tiring. But the machine worked well and I'd reccomend it. However, I lately went Cheech's route and purchased a grinder stuffer at Lowe's ( Yup, the home improvement store) for about $100. Its low profile and powerful motor coupled with a "reverse-in-case-of-jam" switch make it a joy to use. The only con to this arrangement is that it is a 1 pass only machine - you can't safely operate it without the blade and plate installed cause the auger won't stay centered very well - This means you have to grind and stuff in one operation.

The kitchen aid is a bit different - the grinder stuffer attachment kit comes with a little plastic gizmo that you can insert in place of the blade and plate that the auger end goes through and centers the screw - this makes grinding the meat in one pass, mixing and seasoning, then stuffing without the blade and plate possible - works really well cause I like to mix my ground meat and spices and then let them sit overnight to "marry" before stuffing.

Either way you go you'll really enjoy making your own - believe me, I can't look a Hillshire Farms link in the eye any more!

B
 
I've used a Kitchen Aid for years, it's the biggest one they make, heavy duty unit. The grinder attachment works OK and it's all I have. Mostly I make 5 pound batches and it has never overheated the motor. I have lately noticed a small crack in the plastic housing where it couples to the mixer, but it also about 15 years old so what the heck, it still works. I don't recommend using it to stuff with though. The outlet is a mile above the counter and that gets a bit difficult to deal with.
Jimbo
 
I have a kitchen aid but have heard to many cons on burning it up & the texture of the meat.I use a old universal which for the amount I grind works well($15)and don't mind the work out.as far as a stuffer I have the 5# grizz.($55) which I really like,so throw in some meat&caseings and I have sausage for under $100.My bro got a electric grinder for X-mas really likes it-his kit. aid was starting to crack also-but he paid $250 for the thing.hi wattage.Theres only 2 of us here so hand crank works-till everybody else heard about our sausage!seems a week don't go by without a(Hey you got some smoke this person or that can try?) sheesh reminds me of the 70s.
 
I've got a commercial Kitchen Aide that I was thinking of getting the attachments for grinding, just not sure yet. I have a large commercial meat grinder, but the thing takes 5 lbs of meat in the top before anything even thinks of coming out the bottom! And oh the clean up, things got more parts then the space shuttle (sometimes think each is about as complicated as the other!), but it will grind anything you can shove in there and all day long! Just have to use if for huge batches! Gee, the problems a guy has to live with huh!
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Going to shop around for some options for smaller batch runs.

Tip.
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Until I got a real grinder I bought the attatchment and used it for 3-4 years. The plastic cracked but it still works. I still use it from time to time for small batches rather than bring up the big one. It's a great way to get started. Made plenty of sausage with it. Like others have said, cut the chunks small and don't force it.
 
I tried to use it for both grinding and stuffing.

Mu kitchenaid is a 250 watt unit so there will be something to be said about the larger wattage units.

Next week I have a salescall at Whirlpool the parent company of KitchenAid. While there I will try to hunt out some answers from them.
 
I used one growing up in the seventies and even then I thought it was an older model. I wonder if the newer ones are just cheaper (qualitywise not pricewise) Granted we were not doing a whole steer or pig at a time but I do recall feeding it alot of meat into that machine! I would venture to say that the modern top of the line Kitchen aide would be fine for the average family that was only making a couple of small batches a year and didn't abuse the machine. Otherwise stepping up to a pro-sumer or real commercial grinder/stuffer would be the next option.
 
I've been thinking on getting one, just to see if I like making sausage. Before I shell out a lot of money for the bigger guns. I've been hunting on E-Bay for the metal one, I don't think the plasic one is as good.
 
I'd recommend getting a seperate grinder. When I started, I went to Lowes to look at the Kitchen Aide attachment. I noticed that the price for the attachment came very close to a Waring Pro Grinder, so it was basically a no-brainer decision for me. The Waring is a lot more powerful than the Kitchen Aide, and much faster. I'm sure that by now I'd have burned out my wife's expensive Kitchen Aide, so that would make no sense at all. I've already sold and replaced the Waring for a larger, more powerful Northern Tool Meat Grinder (on sale for about $90 when I bought it).
My site about home sausage making.
http://homesausagemaker.blogspot.com/

If you are going to do a job, get good tools, they are cheapest in the long run.

-=- Jerry -=-
.
 
Great site Jerry! And you also hit the nail on the head about good tools being the better investment in the long run. Buying the best that you can afford is always the way to go, (Even if you can't afford it). I hate to just blurt it out for folks to buy the best, like money is no object, but sometimes that is just the way it is. (Not like I buy the best there is everytime myself, but I can dream can't I?)


There is also the truth that for the cost of a new top end KitchenAid and attachments there are other grinders and stuffers out there. And if money where no object I would be looking for a commercial rig of some sort
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Been upgrading processing equipment for about 8 years. Try and upgrade at least 1 per year, or more. It all goes back to the old saying, "Right tool for the right job."
 
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