Meat grinder

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robrpb

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Jul 15, 2020
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I am looking to buy a quality meat grinder. I want it to grind beef for hamburg and a little pork too. For now I would say I would grind about 5-10 pounds at a time, maybe once or twice a month. I may want to make some sausage in the future and I would like to be prepared if I do. What would you recommend? Thanks. Rob
 
My only experience is with a Kitchen-Aid.

Worked great as far as I'm concerned but the wife gave the whole shebang away...the unit and all the attachments to her daughter.We really didn't use it much and she does but every once in awhile I do miss it.
 
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This is my suggestion... Cabelas 1/2hp commercial unit .. Attachments can be purchased .. It's not terribly expensive... If not in a hurry you can catch them on sale... It's a well liked line of grinders ..

 
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well if you have never had 1 and would like to try it out before laying some big $ out and If you have a Kitchenaid mixer $50-$75 depending on your choice, I have been grinding deer and other meats for 10 years and never a issue, 5-10 lbs at a time is no problem and clean up is easy. the space taken up by the box holding the grinder attachment is small. Lem makes some good products if you want a stand alone grinder.
 
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The Cabelas may be a lil more than what you need now... but will handle anything you throw at it in the future ... Spend the money and cry once ...
 
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The Aluminum Grinder head, above, is good for a KA Mixer, the Plastic one is not recommended.
For a Stand Alone Grinder, that does not risk killing your expensive KA, several guys, including myself have a KITCHENER #12. All Metal Gear Drive and does a good job...JJ

 
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My KA grinder is the plastic type and never a problem, have ground 10-20lbs of deer at a time multiple times, following the guidelines on any equipment helps keep them running for a long time imo and thats on anything lol
 
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I have a Kitchenaid mixer and I have considered the attachment. Several years ago my sister who has the mixer as me was mixing a heavy dough and it was too much for the mixer and the fiber/plastic gear inside broke and the mixer had a thermal over load protection button. Because of that I am leary of using the mixer for grinding meat.

The Kitchener that chef jimmyj chef jimmyj is an option for me to consider along with the Cabelas and LEM. Thanks for the replies. You have given me some things to thinks about.
 
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I am looking to buy a quality meat grinder. I want it to grind beef for hamburg and a little pork too. For now I would say I would grind about 5-10 pounds at a time, maybe once or twice a month. I may want to make some sausage in the future and I would like to be prepared if I do. What would you recommend? Thanks. Rob
My wife and I used the kitchenmaid attachment for many years. We went through two of them as they developed housing cracks/fractures. Eventually, I bought a LEM Big Bite#8. More than adequate for our needs and it came with a 5 year warranty. Pricey but good. If you don't think you will use it much maybe this model would work for you. Smaller than the #8, same stainless steel construction including the head and auger. There are many other machines available for the occasional user to choose from such as the Kitchener machines like chef jimmyj recommends. As a matter of fact, before I bought the LEM, it seemed like the models from Kitchener ruled to roost here on the forum for the average home user.

 
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I used a Kitchen Aid attachment for quite a bit, but I've been grinding 10-20lbs at a time and it was getting rather warm while using it. I didn't want to kill it and have to replace it so got a stand alone grinder. And it wasn't feeding as well as I would like. Watching instruction videos and seeing how much better the dedicated models work made me jealous.
I went with a Cabela's Commercial 1/2hp a few weeks ago and am happy with it. It really pushes out the meat a lot faster, the auger/worm seems to work a lot better. It is kind of a beast to tote around and trying to find a storage space is a challenge. It is 44lbs and ~14 inches tall.
 
If there is no rush, Black Friday sales usually put the Kitchener at $99...JJ
 
I was in your position a year ago, found a small Nesco grinder for $20 on a Facebook buy and sell site. It’s basic but does what I need. I thought I would learn sausage making with minimal expenditure to see if I would like the hobby.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies and help. I am in no hurray and I will wait and check out the Black Friday sales.
 
i to say lem 8. iworks great. i cut stips to just fit throat and eats em up. course one time i just took head out of freezer and cut meat out and put in first strip, and had to go bad so when i came back it was frooze in place. took cutters of and it pushed out
 
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We bought the cabelas no 22 1hp after using a hand no.32 for a number of years. My BIL has a Lem no.8 that is not as fast, noisier, and I can not fit my hand in it to clean.

Earlier this fall we put 120-130 pounds a hr. of pork through the cabelas grinder and it would not slow down nor did we have to stop, it was a beast. If it will fit down the throat it will grind it.

I must agree it was more then we wanted to spend but went with the buy once cry once theory after seeing how many grinders the BIL went through, although he is a very avid hunter.
He did not want us going home with the cabelas grinder after the pig grinding thats for sure!
 
I am looking to buy a quality meat grinder. I want it to grind beef for hamburg and a little pork too. For now I would say I would grind about 5-10 pounds at a time, maybe once or twice a month. I may want to make some sausage in the future and I would like to be prepared if I do. What would you recommend? Thanks. Rob
Here is a Kitchener #8 that might do the trick for you:
 
Do what Marianski suggests, spend little on grinder and big on stuffer. Stuffing with a grinder does not work well. I have a $20 plastic hand grinder from Amazon that will grind 5-10lbs in a few minutes. Throw in dishwasher when done. That said, my stuffer is all SS and built like a tank. $99 for the Kitchener is a winner for sure and I might pull the trigger if I see a deal like that since I am running more sausage than ever now.
 
Black Friday sales usually put the Kitchener at $99...JJ
I bought he Kitchener a few year back and its still grinding up a storm. Good value for sure. It will likely come down to budget. these can be spendy IMO
 
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