Meat Grinder Recommendations

shorthairs4life

shorthairs4life

New member
Looking to purchase a meat grinder and would like some recommendations. Hopefully the experience that is out there could help me avoid making a bad purchase.

Looking forward to eating some homemade sausage and wild game sticks.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.
 
S4L,

Look at LEM grinders. I have one, have run 100's of lbs of meat through it with no issues.
 
I finally broke down and bought a Cabela's one this year. Its the 3/4 hp, #12 head, think it cost me $330 after some discounts/free shipping. My brother in law has had the same one for 5 years or so. He has ground thousands of pounds of deer, elk, hogs, and beef through his. He uses his for stuffing sausage and meat sticks. I bought a 7 lb vertical stuffer (Weston brand) and it works so much better than the grinder does for filling cases. The stuffer makes it a one person job rather than 2 (or 3 if you really want to do it fast).

Previous to the Cabela's I had been using the one dad put together 20 years ago. Its a #22 grinder he bought at a farm store that came with the v-belt shiv. He had a 3/4hp motor laying in the shop, connected the two, after replacing the bearing in the back of the grinder with a decent one it has worked pretty good. He needs a jack-shaft on it to get the speed down, but hasn't taken the time to make one, and its worked for 20 years.

Another forum I go to several have the $100 unit that Northern Tool sells on. One of the guys lives in Colorado, he usually gets 2 elk a year and a deer. Said it works just fine.

Have seen several recommendations to the grinder attachment on the KitchenAid mixer. Yes, it works, as I have the attachment. After having the big Cabela's, I don't think the KitchenAid will ever get used for grinding again.

As mentioned above me, LEM always gets good marks.

For burger, we grind into the poly-meat bags, then use the bag taper system. You just twist the poly-meat bag, then push it through the taper, hands free taping. Works great.

For seasonings, bags, tape, casings, knives, and anything else butcher related, I highly recommend Midwest Research and Supply in Wichita. I'll make an order in the afternoon and UPS will have it on my porch the next day (I'm 3 hours east of them). www.midwesternresearch.com
 
If your wife has a kitchen aid I recommend purchasing a meat grinding attachment. You can't feed the meet through those things fast enough.

The only problem is that most wives don't like their kitchen aids to be used to grind meet. That may take some work.:)
 
I picked up the cabelas black Friday special grinder for $50.00. I did not expect much. It's no LEM, but i have been really impressed with it so far.
 
Cabela's warranty best

I would go with a Cabela's one, they have a 5 year warranty where LEM only has 2 years. I purchased the Cabela's 1/2hp model a few years ago and it has been superb compared to a cheaper model I previously had that did a shoddy job. LEM makes good grinders but unfortunately they don't have the same warranty.
 
You may want to check craigslist. A few years back my grandparents sold their industrial grinder, bandsaw, and slicer for $800 for the lot. They had about 40 head of cattle and butchered their own. I didn't know they were selling the stuff and was not too happy.

I have been watching for a grinder and slicer and have missed 2 different high end ones at very reasonable prices on CL.
 
I have ground 10's of 1,000's of pounds of meat in the last 35 years.

Lets me say this, buy the biggest grinder you can afford. The largest Cabela's grinder works pretty well. I have a older commercial grinder. Make sure you buy at least one extra knife and grinder plate to have on hand. Nothing worse then grinding with a dull knife. When grinding burger and sausage, I grind the meat twice. It's much better burger and sausage. Otherwise it's too course.

The kitchen Aid is joke. We bought a brand new grinder attachment to put on our Kitchen Aid. It's been used maybe twice in the last 15 years. Waste of time unless your just grinding 5lbs of meat.

Good Luck
 
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