Let's talk meat grinders..

M

Mr. Bjorn

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..especially for fools like me, who lack the butchering skill to remove all the fascia and silverskin on the cuts of meat. I've purchased a hand cranked grinder before, but I had to throw it out... it was only good for maybe grinding mash potatoes and air! It sucked, as anything that was slightly tough would just catch and wrap around the parts.

What is a good grinder, or rather, what should one look for in a grinder? Can these multiple hundred dollar units that you buy at Cableas or AssPro handle little bits of tendon and stuff too, or am I gonna get a hassle? When we were butchering my doe, we were astonished at how tough parts of the meat and membranes could be. Even a really sharp knife can take a bit of work to cut through some of this stuff. I really want to use all the little bits and off cuts to make sausage.
 
I just bought the Cabellas heavy duty grinder and it worked great. I wasnt wanting to spend several hundreds of dollars for one with metal gears as this was my first attempt at processing my own game.
We did 30 pounds of summer sausage and 15 pounds of jerky in one session. Grinding and then stuffing and this unit didnt falter at all. It worked very well with everything we put in it including ice cubes(we were told to run some ice through with the meat to keep it cold, makes it easier to grind). It is slower than other grinders but it only took us a couple of hours to complete what we did. I did tonnes of research into them and shopped around, this one got great reviews and for the money I coudnt find better.
We used the Hi Mountain Hunters Blend spice mix for the summer sausage, added extra pepper, garlic and onion and it is excellent!! Jerky we used Hi Mountain Cracked Pepper and Garlic spice mix...it was good also but we didnt mix it well enough and some pieces were overly peppery lol

http://www.cabelas.ca/product/45562/cabelas-heavy-duty-grinder
 
buy the best grinder you can afford .you will still get some stuff rapped upon the cutting blade no matter what kind of grinder you have .you should clean the blade after the first grind then grind the meat again .Dutch
 
I bought the grinder from Cabellas with the 1HP motor and it was the best money ever spent. It will grind anything you thrown in, including the leg meat with all the tendons and stuff. it was around 500 bucks if memory serves. Just wish I had done it years earlier instead of playing around with cheap grinders.
 
years ago we used a hand crank grinder, but have since upgraded to an electric one. Wasn't the most expensive unit on the market, in the middle range I'd say, works great, wonder how we got along without it!
 
The tougher cuts go thru better if they are cold or even slightly frozen. That and you have to make sure you have the front plate tight so the blades cut against the plate properly and shear off the meat. My grinder is probbably 30 years or more old and still works. I had to reface the grinding plate a couple of years ago to grind up a cow and a fellow that runs a huge resturant supply store near Montreal had a used carbide blade for it that cost me a whopping $5 bucks. He said he dosn't carry parts for a 32 anymore as nobody uses ones that big these days.
 
I bought a cheap #32 that has a hand crank handle that is also a pulley, for about $50. I bought a $5 electric motor, old riding mower pulley belt and set it up. This set up will grind anything. I double grind everything and it tastes great.
 
244Ack said:
I bought the grinder from Cabellas with the 1HP motor and it was the best money ever spent. It will grind anything you thrown in, including the leg meat with all the tendons and stuff. it was around 500 bucks if memory serves. Just wish I had done it years earlier instead of playing around with cheap grinders.
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I bought one for this year and it's 100x better than screwing with a hand crank or a cheap electric.
 
Kenny_G2 said:
I bought a cheap #32 that has a hand crank handle that is also a pulley, for about $50. I bought a $5 electric motor, old riding mower pulley belt and set it up. This set up will grind anything. I double grind everything and it tastes great.
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We've got a #32 that's been in service for decades at the farm. An old 1/2 hp electric motor from the 50's powers the beast. The pulley used to slip a lot so my grandfather rigged up a dual gear reduction chain drive, powers through damn near anything. I can only remember a couple of knives and a bushing ever being replaced and that thing is older than I am, always done at least two beefs per year plus our deer and over the last seven or eight years between three and six hogs per annum.
 
Yup...1 HP Cabela's HD grinder...Grinds as fast as you can feed it...Hardly worth while bringing it out for one whitetail...Cleans up real easy too...We call it the Meat Gun!
 
I've used the cheap electric Cuisinart one from Canadian Tire and it did a bear and deer just fine for me. I know it's limitations as a value grinder so I work within them. Cube all the meat and take your time feeding it. Also I don't eat tendons so I'll take the extra couple minutes to remove them as well as the silver skin. I figure if I only have one animal to grind up taking a bit of extra time will just turn out a better end product.
 
FLHTCUI said:
Get something like this and you will never have to worry about silver skin and tendon bits again....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hobart-Buffalo-Commercial-Food-Chopper-Processor-Model-84145-/331371383464
You might find a better deal closer to home, but these worked great back when I was working in a Commercial Kitchen.
Rob
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Sweet units, they also have an attachment point for a grinder or food processor. The best of both worlds! Shipping would be killer on this one they are heavy, I'd guess 150+ pounds.

Nothing cooler than watching meat turn into a paste.
 
I bought a big old husqavarna grinder at an auction sale years ago and put an electric motor with a 50:1 gear box on it. It has been great. It does all our beef, pork,deer, ect. every year. I couldn"t begin to guess how many pounds of meat it has ground and miles of sausage it has stuffed. Best $50 I have ever spent.
 
hillbillyreefer said:
Sweet units, they also have an attachment point for a grinder or food processor. The best of both worlds! Shipping would be killer on this one they are heavy, I'd guess 150+ pounds.

Nothing cooler than watching meat turn into a paste.
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hillbillyreefer, my point was/is that is an example of what is out there.
No need to rush out and buy that one, but rather surf the net local to you in Canada and maybe a deal will be had.
A three phase 230 volt power supply is not in everyones household, but the supply houses do have smaller units as well.
Hobart is an industrail name and makes good stuff.

Back to the Op, a sharp knife is essential kit (yes I know you said yours are sharp) but, they aint sharp enough if one can not cut through the silverskin in order to skin the meat off and add to the grind pile.
Besides it will not make your finished product any better or tastier when eating it if you add it.
Anyways, I'm just tossing ideas out there for the ones who might be looking for something a little bit differant and wishing i had that problem...of what to use to grind my deer..the one I didnt get this fall that is ;)

Rob
 
we bought a Cuisinart model CMG-100C as a counter top meat grinder/sausage stuffer.
Love it and worth every penny and it came with everything needed to grind and a few different accessories ---> blades and sausage tubes.

I was a little skeptical when the wife brought it home.... it was 117.00 on sale at sears clearance when we got it 2 years ago.
it has easily ground a few hundred pounds of moose, deer, pig and goose. I've made a crapload of breakfast sausage , bratwerst and rookwerst
worth every penny
 
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