Stuffer/Equipment issues

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

rebuck33

Newbie
Original poster
Jan 12, 2025
2
0
Hello all. I am new to the forum but have been having this trouble for years, maybe some have seen the same issues. I make large batches of certain meats. Lots of bologna and soppressetta each year, over 1000lbs. For years I have tried to make sticks with my stuffers and I have sealing issues with the stuffer o-rings. I have 2 15 lb stuffers that are identical but have different names on them. One is an older one from Grizzly (maybe 20 years old) and another is Kitchener (maybe 5 years old). They have heavy metal drums and big black gears on them for hand cranking. I have seen many of the identical type but different names. I think one is LEM. I have bought several different o-rings to replace them to no avail. Is there a trick to get a thinker one somewhere, different material? I can't seem to be able to press snack sticks for anything. I recently found a kielbasa recipe and absolutely LOVE it. I tried to stuff it and ended up using a stuffing horn on my grinder which worked but is very slow and changed the texture plus just wouldn't stuff tight enough for me. They were 19mm casings. I went up to 26mm casings thinking it would help but it didn't. I get a little leaking by the seal but the main issue is the seal actually jumping out of the channel its designed to stay in and then the meat comes pouring out! It doesn't happen at the same point on the drum leaning towards a dent or something at a certain point. It doesn't even happen front to back, it just blows out all of a sudden. We have tried turning slower, helps a little but still blows 3 times per 15 lb load. To undo it, you have to uncrank the whole thing, reseat the o-ring and wipe off the meat. HUGE PITA. Any help would be great. If it matters, I make 25 lb batches of meat (15 deer-10 pork) and they have 5 lbs of cheese in too. The mixture is very stiff. I've doulbed the amount of water this last time and tried my 4th new o-ring.... no good. I'm up to about a quart of ice water per batch. By the way I don't have this trouble almost ever with the larger stuffing horns for bologna or soppresstta.
 
Most larger manual stuffers are not recommended for sticks specifically. The pressure per square inch is to high. The electric stuffers do better. I have a 10# LEM and they recommend stuffing sticks with it. I just did a run of 16mm sticks and they went perfectly. The consistency of the meat batter does play a roll as does the cheese cube size relative to the horn size.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fueling Around
If your sticks are processed with cure #1 (sodium nitrite & salt) let the meat temperature get up to the 40's to soften the mix. So much easier to stuff with warmer meat. Yes colder is not better IF processing with cure #1 in the meat mix.
Do you lube your o-rings with food grade gel? Some even spray the inner wall of their stuffer with cooking oil.

If you process meat sticks with cure and cheese make sure sure to use sodium erythorbate (SE) in the mix. The SE in the mix reduces oxidation especially in the contact meat with the cheese.
 
I do lube the barrel and the o-ring. I’ve tried Crisco, Pam, oil…. The thing that seems to work the best is butter.
 
If you can find an old fashioned cast iron stuffer, they don't have gaskets, just a snug fitting cast iron plate. That's what I've been using for 45+ years. Every once in awhile I consider upgrading to one of the modern stuffers, and the thought of dealing with potential o-ring issues stops me from doing it.
 
hydraulic stuffer....... or soften the batter up with water and temp and stated above. i have a 30 lb LEM electric and on a 5/8" OD stuffing horn the batter will move but only without cheese and 10% water....other than that its a PITA
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky