Review of $90 Fohere 3000W #12 Grinder

[Hijack73]

All I'm saying is that modern methods of sterilization, or the need for it, didn't exist through most of the history of sausage making, nor did they know what caused food borne illness. People managed to survive though.

100% agree.

 

[old sarge]

I'm a hand wash only person for anything that cuts or grinds. And towel dry as soon as the items are washed. All dried parts sit on a dry towel overnight just to make sure before getting a dollop of food grade lube , a final wipe, then assembled and packed away till needed. All moving parts get wiped down with a thin coat (gears on the slicer heavy coat) of petrol gel, recommended years ago by a member named BEAR!: http://www.petrolgel.com/about/

 

[fxsales1959]

I started to worry that my kitchenaid grinder was causing a bit of fat smear, so I decided to upgrade my grinder. I was tempted to get the $160 STX grinder, but was turned off by the fact that it has lower power than this one and nonstandard plates.

It's priced at $99, but it looks like it has a $10 coupon right now. So in case anyone else was looking for a cheap grinder, I figured I'd post my thoughts since I'm pretty happy with it. Here's a link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BYSS1ZKT

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It comes with a bunch of useless attachments, which I verified that they were indeed useless with a quick sausage grind test. It just shredded it and clogged up. Then after reading the instructions, it says it can't slice/shred cheese of meat. That's all I'm interested in slicing/shredding, so in the trash it goes. It also includes a stuffer attachment, which we all know won't work well. In the trash.

I tested it with semi-frozen brisket strips and chunks:

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It did a coarse grind just fine, but slightly preferred the chunks over the strip:

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I then did a second pass with a medium grind (after refreezing a portion of the coarse grind a little bit), and I was quite happy with the results. I tried bunching it up into balls, and it still needed a push from the rod to grind. However, if I just dropped a few coarse bits in at a time, I didn't need to use the rod at all. Nice!

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Initial meat was 2.09lb, and after grind it was 1.98lb. So I only lost about 0.11lb to the process, which wasn't too bad. Cleaning was easy, however, I wasn't quite sure how to clean the parts since it said it can't go in the dishwasher. So I gave em a quick boil in PBW, a rinse and sanitize, and sprayed the moving parts with food safe silicone spray.

How do you all clean your grinders?

In any case, I was rather happy with it and figured I'd leave a review here in case it helps anyone.

I've got a weston #8. I take it apart and have a Tupperware I fill with the hottest water my sink will pour. couple drops of dawn. short soak and a brush with my Kitchenaid grinder brush. rinse and towel dry.

 

[indaswamp]

However, if I just dropped a few coarse bits in at a time, I didn't need to use the rod at all.

That is how it is suppose to be done....<thumbs up>

Glad you figured that out. Glad you are happy with the grinder.....happy grinding.....

 

[Hijack73]

If anyone does have the STX - that wagon wheel plate is amazing at coarse chopping. I used to run all my grind through the coarse plate 2x, but I tried the wagon wheel after I started making sausage and it's hella good at coarse chop.

 

[clifish]

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If anyone does have the STX - that wagon wheel plate is amazing at coarse chopping. I used to run all my grind through the coarse plate 2x, but I tried the wagon wheel after I started making sausage and it's hella good at coarse chop.

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Cool, I returned the Weston #8 and am about to order the #12 STX 4000, refurb $129 direct from them, no tax and free shipping. Going to get a foot pedal attachment on Amazon for $8.99 to free up my hands.

 

[Hijack73]

Cool, I returned the Weston #8 and am about to order the #12 STX 4000, refurb $129 direct from them, no tax and free shipping. Going to get a foot pedal attachment on Amazon for $8.99 to free up my hands.

Nice. I thought I had bought mine (an old 3000 model) in more like 2015 but I just checked and it was 2018. It's been a hell of a champ for what I have put it through. I would say in the last 60 days I've run 30 lbs of ground beef and 6 or 7 runs of smoked sausage (8-10lb batches) and at least 10lb of breakfast sausage.

I did buy some new plates from the manufacturer recently. I lost my plates when my kitchen was being rebuilt (I have since found them). New plates from manufacturer included small, medium, and wagon wheel. I haven't needed to change plates or blades (it came with 2, and I use whichever one I grab first) but I do think my original coarse is getting to where I need to sand it.

 

[clifish]

Nice. I thought I had bought mine (an old 3000 model) in more like 2015 but I just checked and it was 2018. It's been a hell of a champ for what I have put it through. I would say in the last 60 days I've run 30 lbs of ground beef and 6 or 7 runs of smoked sausage (8-10lb batches) and at least 10lb of breakfast sausage.

I did buy some new plates from the manufacturer recently. I lost my plates when my kitchen was being rebuilt (I have since found them). New plates from manufacturer included small, medium, and wagon wheel. I haven't needed to change plates or blades (it came with 2, and I use whichever one I grab first) but I do think my original coarse is getting to where I need to sand it.

Yeah we lost some stuff with a major kitchen remodel earlier in the year somehow (still not found). Do you stuff with this or have a seperate stuffer?

 

[Hijack73]

Yeah we lost some stuff with a major kitchen remodel earlier in the year somehow (still not found). Do you stuff with this or have a seperate stuffer?

Separate. I tried to stuff with it once. I liked to have lost my mind I was so mad. There's a thread of it on here somewhere with me railing and ranting about it ;)

Trying to get 5lbs of sticky meat goo down the hopper isn't something I will ever try again. The plunger locks up in the goo and it takes Kong strength to get it out of the hopper tube. No bueno with greasy hands.