Grinders

[dutchoven]

I've been a lurker for a while not gaining lots of valuable knowledge from you experts. Anyhow. Last year i got a stuffer from sausagemaker.com I borrowed a grinder for my meat in the past and would like to purchase my own. I mostly grind deer (6 per year) and will use to grind some pork when we butcher. Any recommendations? Thanks.

Sorry i was a bit vague on what i am asking. I am looking for a recommendation on meat grinders for the type of use i do as described.

 

[hog warden]

What's your budget?

I would start off looking at the various grinders by Cabelas. The 3/4 hp would be a good starting place. Some models may have a better track record than others.

I think the tendency of most folks is to get more grinder than they need. My cousin has their 1.5 hp grinder that uses the #32 plates. From the looks of that, he could probably do all you describe in a couple hours. What then? Put it away until next year?

As big as it is, I'd hesitate to drag it out for a single pork butt. Take twice as long to clean it as to grind that much. But a whole hog or couple deer? You betcha!

 

[mballi3011]

I just got a new grinder from Gander mtn and it's a 1 hp motor ($ 99.00) and I have just used for the first time and it's ground up a pork butt with no problems. It ground the meat as fast I could push the meat in. The one draw back I hear is it has plastic gears so it not for the bigger grinds but it is good for what I want to do with it.

 

[plj]

I do 2 or 3 or 4 deer per year, plus a moose/elk or a couple caribou every other year.
Started out with a hand crank grinder. Tough to crank when its not bolted down, and tough to feed & crank by myself.
Also tried the grinder attachment for the kitchenaid - it works good, but very slow to do an entire deer + pork to mix in for the sausage...

My brother has a 1/2 HP electric grinder, he does 6-8 deer each year & loves the grinder, gander mtn I think.

I bought a 1 HP electric grinder from cabelas bargain cave 3 years ago, refurbished AND on sale, if I recall correctly I only paid 125. I love it! Like the warden says, it's somewhat big & heavy, but not that much heavier than a smaller model that I'd get the smaller one out and not the bigger one.

I spend quite a bit of time butchering - I take out all the sinew, all the gristle, "everything that my wife wouldnt want to see on her plate." So when it's grinding time, I want to get it done quick. The 1 HP is fast. :)

The box my grinder came in has a chart on it:

HP lbs/min weight
--- ------- -----
1/2 4-6 35 lbs
1 9-12 57
1.5 12-18 70

I figured if I want to grind 1 deer -- 50 lbs of deer meat plus 25 of pork, 75 lbs of meat would take ~15 minutes with the 1/2 HP, 7 minutes with the 1 HP. Since there was only a $15-20 difference in price that day in the bargain cave and I didnt care about the extra 20 lbs of weight, I went for the 1 HP.

I should also admit that I use tools hard - seems I always buy the "homeowner" tools, burn them out, then buy the commercial version. So I tried to be smarter and buy the bigger motor this time. If I didnt use tools so hard though, I'd probably be quite happy with 1/2 HP.

 

[coffee_junkie]

The best cheap electric grinder is here http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...70_36989_36989
All metal gears......$99 you cant go wrong!
I have the cabellas pro grinder, also a good grinder, I put about 400lb through it a year, it works great, the gears are plastic...so that is something to consider.

 

[beer-b-q]

www.ManVentureOutpost.com has some pretty good prices on grinders you can check them out here....

http://www.manventureoutpost.com/cat...sing/Grinders/

 

[mikerags]

I have this grinder and it is great. Last run was 30lbs of pork shoulder and back fat. Ate right through it without slowing down. I have also put through whole chicken breasts with the bones in for my dog. Again no slowing it down.

Mike

 

[silverado2100]

look into the #12 commercail grinder at gander moutain. we got one and love it, cant bog it down. I would have to say that i like it better than my unlces #32 cabelas grinder dosent grind much faster and takes alot longer to clean up.

iirc we got it for around two fifty with the gander15 coupon code

 

[meat hunter]

If anyone is interested, Cabelas has their grinders on sale starting the Friday. Save anywheres from 50 to 120 dollars depending what size you want.

 

[fishawn]

I also own the Northern Tool model, for about 4-5 months or so. It has worked perfectly for me. Usually small batches 5 -10 lbs. Quick work of it & easy clean up.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...70_36989_36989

 

[slim]

I am going to be buying one also.....i used my friends 3/4hp cabelas grinder yesterday and made about 75lbs of deer burger......damn that thing was fast. So far its #1 on my list.....still shopping though

 

[pops6927]

I have the 1 hp. Cabela's, have owned it for about 2 or 3 years now. It's been a great grinder, small enough to store on the counter but big enough for any grinding job. Plus, the 1 hp. has the ability to drive the meat mixer Cabela's sells, plus other attachments like cuber, etc. At present I don't own those, but will probably acquire them in the future and it's nice to know I have the right machine that can do the job with those items.

 

[solaryellow]

I have the same thing. Picked it up a couple months ago and have run about 100lbs of meat through it with no problems. It is a nice cheap entry point to get into without feeling like you are taking too bad of a hit if you don't like making sausage.

 

[mulepackin]

I have seen ads in the back of sporting magazines (yeah, if you look carefully there are some ads besides male enhancement products) for Thunderbird grinders. I've never seen anyone here thats tried one though so don't know much about them. They look like quality units but you never know. Anyway just thought I'd throw them out for discussion's sake.http://www.thunderbirdfm.com/mgrinder.htm

 

[mulepackin]

Another option if your are handy and creative is to get a hand grinder, which is relatively inexpensive, and motorize it yourself as many of us have done.

 

[beer-b-q]

I like the way you have that set up, what does a person need to make one like that, I have a #32 Porkert which is basically like an enterprize...

 

[mulepackin]

Heres a post that details what I did:http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...grinder&page=3 I posted once with specific part numbers etc. but I think it was lost in the big crash last year. The gear reduction motor was hard to come by and to buy one outright, you may as well buy a new grinder.

 

[griz]

Actually, I was able to buy both the motor and gear reducer (both of which were brand new) for $55. I was fortunate enough to find it on eBay and the seller was only 15 miles from me. He will ship these for only $10 so for $65 you got a brand new, 1/3hp, 220 volt (nobody will want to borrow it), 66rmp unit. Here is the link ---> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I just picked up the motor today so have not had a chance to run it etc. But, it appears to be exactly as described and was brand new in the box. He said that he had 10 more of these and would let them go at $55 each. I figured if nothing else, the gear reducer was worth that alone!

A quick trip to Farm & Fleet and I had my Lovejoy coupler to attached the two shafts. I am hoping that come tomorrow, I will be grinding!

 

[beer-b-q]

You are right about one thing, nobody is going to want to borrow it... Did you notice that the motor you bought is 3 Phase?

Unless you have already have 3 phase you are also going to need a phase converter or have the electric company run 3 phase which is not cheap...

 

[griz]

Yup, I have a static converter. Not exactly the best way of utilizing a 3 phase motor but given no more often then I will be using this it will work. But, even for someone without a converter, the gear reducer alone is well worth the money. Pick up a 1700 rpm electric motor with a 56C face (I think that is what this one is) and your good to go.