Meat grinder

[alaskan2]

I am going to try making some sausage. What meat grinder would you recommend.Thanks

 

[ab canuck]

  What are you going to use the grinder for is the first question that comes to mind. Is it going to be for grinding and stuffing cases or strictly grinding. Will you be doing this as a once in awhile hobby? Any wild Game? how much will grind at one time?

  I have an LEM #22 1 hp. They are metal gears sealed self lubricating. The best warranty on the market and great cust. service.( and I am in Canada, service is in the U.S.) It is capable of grinding 600lbs/hr. We process a lot of wild game and pork to feed our families. 

 Lem is a great product, but size your grinder to what your needs are and to your budget. A good grinder is an investment.

 

[alaskan2]

I will be using to make small batches of sausage 15 or 20# at a time.I was considering the Lem # 12 or the Cables Carnivore 3/4 hp.

 

[ab canuck]

Good choice, I would go with the LEM, better warranty unless Cabelas has changed. Not sure of the gears on theirs. 

 

[smokin peachey]

Are the grinders that go on a Kitchen Aid mixer any good? I was thinking of purchasing a grinder and stuffer also.

 

[myownidaho]

I bought the Smoke House Chef stainless steal grinder attachment for the KitchenAid and I love it. If I were doing 15-20lbs at a time though, I would buy a dedicated grinder and stuffed. Imho, I find stuffing attachment for the KitchenAid to be less than useless.

 

[barron]

Are the grinders that go on a Kitchen Aid mixer any good? I was thinking of purchasing a grinder and stuffer also.

I use the Kitchenaid grinder and haven't had any problems yet, but I only do 10lbs at a time at the moment. I will definitely be buying a new grinder after the holidays though. I feel like the Kitchenaid grinder is pretty rough on the mixer and don't want to have to buy a new mixer.

 

[myownidaho]

I use the Kitchenaid grinder and haven't had any problems yet, but I only do 10lbs at a time at the moment. I will definitely be buying a new grinder after the holidays though. I feel like the Kitchenaid grinder is pretty rough on the mixer and don't want to have to buy a new mixer.

What really matters on the mixer is whether it's the large mixer or the smaller Artisan series. I've been using the Artisan for about 6-7 years for grinding and no, it really doesn't like it! [emoji]128512[/emoji]

 

[ab canuck]

The Kitchen aid is a great tool as MyOwnIdaho said, I started out with one 12 years ago, we put 2 animals through the grinder.... It was painful, so for a few pounds once in awhile ok. Otherwise it is a painful ordeal. And as he said for the stuffer..... it took us over 4 hrs to do a 25lb batch of sausage...... I would rather have my hair on fire and try to put it out with a shovel before ever doing that again.... 

 

[barron]

What really matters on the mixer is whether it's the large mixer or the smaller Artisan series. I've been using the Artisan for about 6-7 years for grinding and no, it really doesn't like it! [emoji]128512[/emoji]

Yeah, I have the Artisan series and it gets really warm by the time I'm finished.

 

[biteme7951]

Used a Kitchen-aide for years doing small batches. Eventually had to replace the gears (not a horrible job to do). Started doing larger batches and picked up a turboforce 3000 dedicated grinder cheap online. Not the beefiest unit like the Lem, but has held up well for me with no issues. If you can spring for a Lem #12 that is a good choice. 

Barry.

 

[mkriet]

Are the grinders that go on a Kitchen Aid mixer any good? I was thinking of purchasing a grinder and stuffer also.

If you are thinking of getting something small like a Kitchen Aid grinder, I would recommend going with one of the smaller grinders you can find, and getting a separate stuffer. 

I have a LEM #8 Grinder, and it can chew through the meat fairly quick.  Much faster than the Kitchen Aid.  LEM also makes a #5 grinder, which is smaller, depending how much you plan to do.  I've done anywhere from 5-20lb batches with my grinder, and have also used a #8 to grind up to 3 deer in one evening.  Would take you all week to do a deer with a Kitchen Aid. 

Also, I haven't had much luck at all stuffing casings with a small grinder, even like the #8 that I have.  I would recommend you get at least a 5lb stuffer.  This makes it much easier and faster for stuffing into casings. 

 

[johnmeyer]

Are the grinders that go on a Kitchen Aid mixer any good? I was thinking of purchasing a grinder and stuffer also.

I've had one for a year. It works just fine, and I'm very happy with it (sure beats my old hand-crank grinder). However, I only do a few pounds of meat at a time. You could use it for twenty pounds as well, like the OP wants. However, at some point, if you are doing twenty pounds of meat multiple times per week, you might want to invest in something that has a larger capacity. The feed tube in the KitchenAid requires that you cut the meat into 1-2 inch wide strips.

 

[myownidaho]

As I mentioned earlier, I bought this:

http://smokehousechef.com/the-origi...r-kitchenaid-mixer-plus-sausage-stuffing-kit/

You can cut the meat in 1" strips and tossing the grinder assembly in the freezer for 30 minutes helps guarantee everything stays cold. It's a definite step up from the KA kit.

 

[muddydogs]

For what it's worth I have the $90 to $100 LEM #8 575 watt grinder found at Sportsmans and Amazon, I have ran 1500 lbs of meat through this grinder over the last 5 years and it just keeps going plastic gears and all. It grinds meat faster then I can feed it down the chute and will grind up anything I can stuff down the chute and I have jammed about everything down it even frozen pieces of meat that didn't fit to well. I've ground cold meat to frozen stiff meat without a problem.

I did put the rubber cup on backwards when I took it and the gear off for cleaning and chewed up the cup to the point it was leaking meat back into the gear. Quick call to LEM and I had 2 gear cup sets coming to me for $3.00 each.

My buddy also has this same grinder which has probably seen close to 500 pounds of meat and he has not had a problem with his as well.

I figure I got my $90 out of this grinder.

 

[tx0303]

For small batches, a LEM #8 will do fine. I have the big bite version but they do make a cheaper #8 grinder. Like others have said, it will grind venison and pork butt as fast as you can feed it in.

 

[muddydogs]

 
For small batches, a LEM #8 will do fine. I have the big bite version but they do make a cheaper #8 grinder. Like others have said, it will grind venison and pork butt as fast as you can feed it in.

What constitutes a small batch? My LEM 575 watt #8 will chew through 100 pounds of elk and the pork or beef fat to mix with it for burger or breakfast sausage. I've had my grinder running for a couple hours at a stretch by the time I cource grind the meat then turn right around and run it through the fine grinder plate. Sure its not an every day deal but for the home meat grinder it will handle anything I want. Just this fall my grinder has seen 3 elk a deer and an antelope, it delt with 2 elk at the same time not to mention another 50 or so pounds I ground for a buddy. If I ever kill this one off the only reason I would get a different grinder would be to have a bigger feed tube as it can be slow feeding ground meat down the feed tube for the regrind but to get a bigger tube one has to spend a few bucks.

 

[mowin]

I do not recommend the kitchenaid attachment. I ruined my 8 qt bowl lift mixer with just 6# of meat. And this is supposed to be there most powerful mixer.

Anyone interested in a only used once metal, not plastic, grinder attachment, let me know.

That said, I've got a #22 hobart that i use for big batches. Picked up a gander mountain #8 on sale couple months ago for the small 20# and under batches.

 

[johnmeyer]

I do not recommend the kitchenaid attachment. I ruined my 8 qt bowl lift mixer with just 6# of meat. And this is supposed to be there most powerful mixer.

Since I have the KitchenAid grinder attachment (the plastic one), and since I sure don't want to ruin my grinder, can you provide a little more information about how it harmed your mixer? Did the motor stall and burn out? Did it strip the gear driving the attachment screw?

 

[bladeguy]

Lots of great recommendations, however, whatever you decide, what I find is that for good texture for your sausage, make sure you cube up your meat and let it sit in the freezer for a couple of hours prior to stuffing. The grinders can get warm and give your sausage a poor texture if it doesn't stay cold. I also throw the metal parts in the freezer while my meat is freezing so everything is very cold. Last time I made breakfast sausage, I short cutted the process and my meat wasn't as cold as I usually like it, but I was in a hurry. The sausage is edible, but the texture is off and I will not short cut this process again......especially if you are using a smaller grinder or KA with attachments. Enjoy the sausage process!