Sausage stuffer ???

[Tballard169]

I'm new here and need advice on sausage stuffers. I'm mainly going to do snack sticks with 21 mm collagen casings. After all my research I have it nailed down to 2 vertical stuffers I'm trying to decide between. The lem big bite dual gear 10 pound and the hakka dual gear 10 pound stuffer. Can get the hakka for 150 on eBay or the lem for 269 on home Depot. That unit is 400 on the lem site. The hakka one seems to weigh around 24 pounds and lem is 35 pounds. Be easier if I need tubes with having lem products sold locally and it has a 5 year warranty. Can't find the warranty for the hakka one. I'd love to save a few bucks but want to buy the right one once and be done with it....thanks

 

[jbellard]

I'm new here and need advice on sausage stuffers. I'm mainly going to do snack sticks with 21 mm collagen casings. After all my research I have it nailed down to 2 vertical stuffers I'm trying to decide between. The lem big bite dual gear 10 pound and the hakka dual gear 10 pound stuffer. Can get the hakka for 150 on eBay or the lem for 269 on home Depot. That unit is 400 on the lem site. The hakka one seems to weigh around 24 pounds and lem is 35 pounds. Be easier if I need tubes with having lem products sold locally and it has a 5 year warranty. Can't find the warranty for the hakka one. I'd love to save a few bucks but want to buy the right one once and be done with it....thanks

Hey there! I got the Hakka 11lb dual gear stuffer and have used it 3-4 times now. It is a great deal and works really well. I would NOT pay the extra money to get the name brand. Get the Hakka and you won’t regret it.

 

[thirdeye]

My first thoughts are this could be over-kill for making snack sticks. With a 10# barrel and 18-21mm casings you are going to get a huge number of sticks. You might only be using one barrel's worth of meat per batch. That said, you could easily move into other sausage adventures where a larger barrel could come in handy. Feature wise, the LEM has a great warranty and appears to have good construction. The two speed gearbox is a good feature when reloading. If you are budget conscious, maybe a 5# stuffer would work for you?

I bought a good quality 5# stuffer 30+ years ago and it has served me well. I usually make 20# to 40# batches, but since I make several flavors each time, the 5# barrel works well for me. This model has metal gears and a machined plunger plate. I have a second model from the same manufacturer which was lower cost I use when I'm doing larger batches. It has nylon gears and some sort of composite plunger plate. and does not feel as rugged. I only use it as a second stuffer.

 

[Tballard169]

I will be doing 25 pounds of sticks cause that is what my snack kit from butcher and packer calls for. I have a buddy that has the lem one that has done tons of sticks with it. When I saw the price on the lem site being 400 I was not even thinking about that one till I saw its 269 on home Depot site.

 

[JckDanls 07]

The cons of those two stuffers are the tubes coming out of the bottom of the tub at a 90` elbow... It leaves a significant amount of meat in them when the stuffer gets empty... I have also heard that the plunger on these units have broke in the past when trying to stuff snack sticks through a 1/2" tube (which is needed to do the size casings your talking about)...

The 5 lb stuffer is a better choice for doing sticks as it has a smaller diameter plunger and the tube comes out the side instead of the bottom... thus leaving less meat in the tube... I recently just bought one (LEM) with enclosed metal gears.... It was/is way cheaper at Home Depot than any other place... https://www.homedepot.com/p/LEM-5-lb-Stainless-Steel-Vertical-Stuffer-1606/300937542

 

[Winterrider]

Also agree if mainly doing sticks the 5# LEM is the ticket. When using the bigger 20# unit, we get to much pressure and a lot of blow by trying to push it through the 3/8" tube

 

[Tballard169]

Lem says there 10 pound dual gear model is great for sticks and know a guy that has put 3000 pounds of meat through his lem.....I might do 50 pounds a season but also see myself eventually doing summer sausage too

 

[Lonzinomaker]

If you get one like the Hakka, be ready to dull the edges of the metal where they are cut off. I have sliced my fingers several times until I took a stone to mine to soften all the edges.

 

[Steve H]

I got this one. Though I found one for 90.00 shipped.

3L Vertical Commercial Sausage Stuffer 7LB Two Speed Stainless Steel Meat Press | eBay

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I used it numerous time with no issues. Build quality is very good. And the included stainless tubes are much better then the plastic ones. Granted, this style leaves a few ounces of product in the bottom. But for summer sausage I just hand pack a chub. And snack sticks I just make a patty out of it or roll it out and make a snack stick without a casing.

 

[Tballard169]

If you get one like the Hakka, be ready to dull the edges of the metal where they are cut off. I have sliced my fingers several times until I took a stone to mine to soften all the edges.

Thanks for the tip....I have not pulled the trigger yet!

I really like lem products and had I not seen the 269 price on home Depot I probably would of already ordered the hakka. Lol. I probably kill 4-5 deer a season and definitely can see getting into making summer sausage but for now it's just sticks. I'm trying to justify the extra cost of the lem if I'm only going to do 50-60 pounds of sticks and sausages a season.

 

[Tballard169]

Finally pulled the trigger on a stuffer a couple days ago....for some reason when I tried paying for the hakka the site wouldn't process my payment . So I went with the lem big bite 10 pound stuffer through home Depot....can't wait to make some sticks

 

[sweetride95]

I have the 5lb LEM, you won't regret the extra few bucks. Spread that out over a decade, compared to paying the processor or borrowing your buddies a dozen times. No brainer man, sausage is fun.

 

[Mastercaster]

I have the LEM 10-lb Dual Gear and it’s a beast. I’ve done a ton of sticks through a 3/8” tube with no problems at all. The elbow at the bottom does retain some product but there are tricks in dealing with that.

 

[gary s]

Congrats on the new addition, be sure and post pics on it's maiden voyage

Gary

 

[pc farmer]

My Hakka just got here this week. I will let you know how it is. LOL

 

[Tballard169]

I have the LEM 10-lb Dual Gear and it’s a beast. I’ve done a ton of sticks through a 3/8” tube with no problems at all. The elbow at the bottom does retain some product but there are tricks in dealing with that.

Cool...did you bolt it down to a table? I got on Monday and plan on doing my first batch tomorrow...ran the meat through the grinder and mixed in pork before the second grind tonight.

 

[Tballard169]

Congrats on the new addition, be sure and post pics on it's maiden voyage

Gary

Thanks....gonna use it for the first time tomorrow!

 

[Mastercaster]

Cool...did you bolt it down to a table? I got on Monday and plan on doing my first batch tomorrow...ran the meat through the grinder and mixed in pork before the second grind tonight.

Right now I’m using a couple of ratcheting bar clamps, 12” I think, and they work pretty good. I may get a piece of 3/4” or 1” HDPE and mount it on that and then clamp to my stuffing table. You’re going to be happy with it, I’m sure. You can get a full 10-lb load in it if you pre-stuff the bottom elbow and load your meat up good and tight. I know a lot of people complain that their stuffer doesn’t quite hold the rated capacity, but this one does. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Tballard169]

Right now I’m using a couple of ratcheting bar clamps, 12” I think, and they work pretty good. I may get a piece of 3/4” or 1” HDPE and mount it on that and then clamp to my stuffing table. You’re going to be happy with it, I’m sure. You can get a full 10-lb load in it if you pre-stuff the bottom elbow and load your meat up good and tight. I know a lot of people complain that their stuffer doesn’t quite hold the rated capacity, but this one does. Let us know how it goes.

I have a folding plastic table I plan on using with the stuffer. But may just use it on my dining room table tomorrow....does it need to be fastened down?

I have a buddy that bolted his to a table like mine and says it works well....but my table will need to be taken down when not in use so I haven't drilled the holes yet

 

[Mastercaster]

I have a folding plastic table I plan on using with the stuffer. But may just use it on my dining room table tomorrow....does it need to be fastened down?

I have a buddy that bolted his to a table like mine and says it works well....but my table will need to be taken down when not in use so I haven't drilled the holes yet

I use a folding table as well. It either needs to be clamped, bolted or held down by another person in my opinion.