I've used a 5 lb LEM stuffer for years and lately I've been checking Marketplace and craigslist off and on for a bigger stuffer. Today I spotted a newly listed 15 lb Cabelas Gander Mountain stuffer and bought it for around 1/3 of the current cost of a new basic 15 lb LEM stuffer. It came with four plastic and four stainless steel stuffing tubes. As near as I can tell the stuffer is a re-badged LEM #607 black metal gear single speed stuffer.
It had a tacky surface feel inside and out and I suspect the previous owner had not been particularly meticulous at cleaning it after use. That was somewhat reinforced by the amount of crud under the O-ring and the bottom of the bowl and the piston having a pale yellow appearance and being really tacky.
After about 20 minutes scrubbing with a Magic Eraser sponge and some Barkeepers' Friend non-abrasive cleanser it was looking pretty much new.
We haven't made sausage in about a year so I had ordered sheep casings for snack sticks and hog casings for bigger sausage from Syracuse Casings a while back. She Who Must Be Kept Happy had me order a couple pounds of high temperature cheddar cheese today for cheese brats and cheddar jalapeno kielbasa. And she tells me that she wants a lot of bulk Italian sausage and breakfast sausage. So, sometime in the next few weeks I'll be pulling some butts out of the freezer and making some batches of sausage.
The 5# stuffer will be used for snack sticks from now on and I'll use the 15# stuffer for the bigger casings unless I get into a really big batch for which I'll likely use the accessory drive hub on one of our bowl choppers (AKA Buffalo choppers) to stuff the bigger casings and fill the bulk sausage bags. I use 32mm or larger hog casings for everything other than snack sticks (and mostly 35-38mm for kielbasa).
Best regards to all,
It had a tacky surface feel inside and out and I suspect the previous owner had not been particularly meticulous at cleaning it after use. That was somewhat reinforced by the amount of crud under the O-ring and the bottom of the bowl and the piston having a pale yellow appearance and being really tacky.
After about 20 minutes scrubbing with a Magic Eraser sponge and some Barkeepers' Friend non-abrasive cleanser it was looking pretty much new.
We haven't made sausage in about a year so I had ordered sheep casings for snack sticks and hog casings for bigger sausage from Syracuse Casings a while back. She Who Must Be Kept Happy had me order a couple pounds of high temperature cheddar cheese today for cheese brats and cheddar jalapeno kielbasa. And she tells me that she wants a lot of bulk Italian sausage and breakfast sausage. So, sometime in the next few weeks I'll be pulling some butts out of the freezer and making some batches of sausage.
The 5# stuffer will be used for snack sticks from now on and I'll use the 15# stuffer for the bigger casings unless I get into a really big batch for which I'll likely use the accessory drive hub on one of our bowl choppers (AKA Buffalo choppers) to stuff the bigger casings and fill the bulk sausage bags. I use 32mm or larger hog casings for everything other than snack sticks (and mostly 35-38mm for kielbasa).
Best regards to all,
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