Wondering if anyone here has the LEM 10 lb. motorized stuffer. I currently have the LEM 5 lb. manual stuffer, and am thinking about upgrading to a motorized unit.
I generally do pretty small batches, mostly between 5 - 10 lb. That's why I got the 5 lb. stuffer in the first place, and also I had never made sausage before and I wasn't even sure I would enjoy it, so I didn't want to get something huge/expensive right out of the gate. Well, it's been a little less than a year now and I love it, and have been making sausage more and more and am getting pretty decent at it. I don't really foresee myself doing batches bigger than 10 lb.'s for a few reasons though. For one, The 5 lb. stuffer has honestly been the perfect size for me and in the motorized units the 10 lb. is the smallest one they make. I'm using brisket/rib/ pork butt trim in order to minimize waste, that's the entire reason for getting in to sausage making in the first place and it's pretty rare for me to buy meat specifically to make sausage (I do cook a lot of brisket/ribs/pork butt though). Also, I only have so much space in my freezer to store the vac sealed sausage, and last I believe practice makes perfect and it's all about repetition, and the bigger the batches I make, the less often I can make more. I do sell BBQ including my sausage, to a very small but growing list of customers as a side hustle which helps to cycle through the excess, but still not enough to justify doing huge batches of sausage at one time.
The primary issue I have, and the reason I am thinking about upgrading is that for me, sausage making is a one man process as I don't have anyone to help. My girl friend doesn't want anything to do with it and won't even eat any of it because she doesn't eat pork and even an all beef sausage is in a hog casing so to her that's no bueno. Her loss, more for me lol (and to sell).
So... being a one person process the hand crank stuffer has become annoying because I constantly have to stop in order to coil up the cased sausage. If I don't, it starts bending in awkward directions and kind of causes breaks in the meat inside the casing, which end up resulting in air pockets (or at least that is what it seems like). On the other hand I feel like the constant starting and stopping also causes small air pockets, so I get them either way. I also feel like the constant starting and stopping causes slight variations in the amount of pressure on the horn, which results in some portions of my ropes being thicker than others, so not a consistent size from end to end.
A motorized stuffer would allow me to work hands free so I could use my right hand to put pressure on the horn to fill the casing, and use my left hand to easily maneuver the already cased length of sausage without needing to stop, while the foot pedal controls the flow. I'm thinking/hoping this would allow me to make one long rope with less air pockets and a more consistent thickness all the way through, which would ultimately improve the quality and consistency of my sausage. Plus a 10 lb. can would allow me to make a larger batch without needing to refill, so I feel that for those reasons the upgrade is justified and a motorized unit will make the stuffing process much smoother for me.
I would love to hear feedback from anyone who has the 10 lb. motorized LEM (or any of the motorized LEM's). Also open to suggestions for other brands. I'm just not aware of any other brand making a 10 lb. motorized unit.
I generally do pretty small batches, mostly between 5 - 10 lb. That's why I got the 5 lb. stuffer in the first place, and also I had never made sausage before and I wasn't even sure I would enjoy it, so I didn't want to get something huge/expensive right out of the gate. Well, it's been a little less than a year now and I love it, and have been making sausage more and more and am getting pretty decent at it. I don't really foresee myself doing batches bigger than 10 lb.'s for a few reasons though. For one, The 5 lb. stuffer has honestly been the perfect size for me and in the motorized units the 10 lb. is the smallest one they make. I'm using brisket/rib/ pork butt trim in order to minimize waste, that's the entire reason for getting in to sausage making in the first place and it's pretty rare for me to buy meat specifically to make sausage (I do cook a lot of brisket/ribs/pork butt though). Also, I only have so much space in my freezer to store the vac sealed sausage, and last I believe practice makes perfect and it's all about repetition, and the bigger the batches I make, the less often I can make more. I do sell BBQ including my sausage, to a very small but growing list of customers as a side hustle which helps to cycle through the excess, but still not enough to justify doing huge batches of sausage at one time.
The primary issue I have, and the reason I am thinking about upgrading is that for me, sausage making is a one man process as I don't have anyone to help. My girl friend doesn't want anything to do with it and won't even eat any of it because she doesn't eat pork and even an all beef sausage is in a hog casing so to her that's no bueno. Her loss, more for me lol (and to sell).
So... being a one person process the hand crank stuffer has become annoying because I constantly have to stop in order to coil up the cased sausage. If I don't, it starts bending in awkward directions and kind of causes breaks in the meat inside the casing, which end up resulting in air pockets (or at least that is what it seems like). On the other hand I feel like the constant starting and stopping also causes small air pockets, so I get them either way. I also feel like the constant starting and stopping causes slight variations in the amount of pressure on the horn, which results in some portions of my ropes being thicker than others, so not a consistent size from end to end.
A motorized stuffer would allow me to work hands free so I could use my right hand to put pressure on the horn to fill the casing, and use my left hand to easily maneuver the already cased length of sausage without needing to stop, while the foot pedal controls the flow. I'm thinking/hoping this would allow me to make one long rope with less air pockets and a more consistent thickness all the way through, which would ultimately improve the quality and consistency of my sausage. Plus a 10 lb. can would allow me to make a larger batch without needing to refill, so I feel that for those reasons the upgrade is justified and a motorized unit will make the stuffing process much smoother for me.
I would love to hear feedback from anyone who has the 10 lb. motorized LEM (or any of the motorized LEM's). Also open to suggestions for other brands. I'm just not aware of any other brand making a 10 lb. motorized unit.
