What are your experiences with different types drywall mud mixers for mixing meat?

[TyYoda]

Excellent write up and video!

I agree this method is fantastic vs when I had a box/crank mixer.

Also great info on being able to control the pot with your feet. One of the unforeseen issues with the drill and paddle mixing approach is keeping the pot/cooler from twisting on you and having having the handles slap you in the leg or something like that lol.
Seems with the round spiral mixer it moves so well with the meat and such that holding the pot/cooler from spinning is a much simpler task.

Can't wait to see the finished results of all that sausage! :D

This is just 1/2 of the stuffed snack (12.5 lbs) that are now in the smoker.

I could see that using a full size large 8” drywall mixing paddle could create a lot of torque on the bucket and now I understand why you use a cooler…square sides which you leverage against a flat surface.

 

[TyYoda]

Did two 25# batches of sausage last night and mixed the entire 25# at a time. Easy - no harder than the 12.t batches. This time I used a 15g stainless pot to handles the extra volume vs a turkey fryer pot. I also felt the stainless pot will hold up better over time.

I also work to keep the blades from hitting the sides of the pot by angling the drill inward as the mixer head moves around the perimeter of the pot. This helps ensure the bottom circle of the spiral mixer hits the pot sides and not the blades.

Note, I forgot to mention that I used a green scotch brite pad to smooth the edges of the mixer blades slightly before the first use.

 

[tallbm]

Did two 25# batches of sausage last night and mixed the entire 25# at a time. Easy - no harder than the 12.t batches. This time I used a 15g stainless pot to handles the extra volume vs a turkey fryer pot. I also felt the stainless pot will hold up better over time.

I also work to keep the blades from hitting the sides of the pot by angling the drill inward as the mixer head moves around the perimeter of the pot. This helps ensure the bottom circle of the spiral mixer hits the pot sides and not the blades.

Note, I forgot to mention that I used a green scotch brite pad to smooth the edges of the mixer blades slightly before the first use.

More great info! You got me wondering if I should change my mixing paddle.
I know when we spoke I mentioned the one I used is mostly because it is longer so helps me being taller and I have a herniated disk so the less bending at the back for me the better... Though I wonder if simpler/easier mixing speeds things up even more to where I'm bent over less.

Might be a situation of diminishing returns so I'll debate it the next time I get to mixing a bunch of sausage lol :D
Good food for thought with your info though :D

 

[TyYoda]

More great info! You got me wondering if I should change my mixing paddle.
I know when we spoke I mentioned the one I used is mostly because it is longer so helps me being taller and I have a herniated disk so the less bending at the back for me the better... Though I wonder if simpler/easier mixing speeds things up even more to where I'm bent over less.

Might be a situation of diminishing returns so I'll debate it the next time I get to mixing a bunch of sausage lol :D
Good food for thought with your info though :D

I would recommend trying the 30” spiral paddle. I’m 6’1” and a 30” paddle feels long enough. I’m not bending over and it takes very little work/effort to run the spiral mixer vs the style you have (at least in my experiment). It was also a huge plus to be able to mix a 25 lb at one time and it didn’t feel any harder than the 12.5 lb batch. Actually, it was easier with the larger diameter 15g pot. Cheers!