Meat Grinder Question

[Chas]

Yesterday was spent cutting up a small buck I was fortunate to harvest. I have always wanted to cut my own animal and now that I am retired, I have the time to do it and really enjoy it. Yesterday my wife, a friend of ours and I cut and wrapped it up and it turned out nice.

I obtained a hand crank meat grinder from the widow of one of my former hunting partners (who was My72Jeeps father in law). I have never used one before and had a couple issues using it so I am asking those of you with more experience than me if what we encountered was normal.

We were very careful in cutting up the meat for grinding - no blue skin and minimal connective tissue. We also had no deer fat in the trim and added no fat. I used the coarsest grind plate but it would clog up the holes after a few minutes with the connective tissue. I would have to pull the grind plate out and clear it out before starting it again. Is this normal??

The cutter blade does not have a strong sharp blade edge. The blades are almost flat. Is this normal or are they worn out? Is it possible to buy replacement cutter blades? I would have thought that the cutter blades would have cut through the connective tissue but it just plugged it into the holes of the grinding plate.

Thanks

 

[45ACPKING]

ya it sounds like you need a new blade. Lots of parts out there depending on brand. Just google sausage making supplies and look for the brand. Hand grinders haven't changed much and parts are out there. I switch to a electric counter top cuisinart model which are widely availlable for a hair over 100 bux. Don't frustrate yourself with an old grinder, the affordable electric ones work great and making sausage, while a bit of work, is extremely rewarding and easy with one of these gadgets.

 

[Keithjohn]

You can get knives for anything common size @ cabelas or many others , but I sharpen mine by doing figure 8s on a piece of emery on a flat surface it should be sharp on one side . Also it helps to have firm or partly frozen meat . Check everything is fitting proper and you should be good

 

[City Boy]

My buddy has a hand cranked grinder ..... he gets very sore arms and last I heard was trying to jimmy up a belt and engine.

I’d get an electric ..... lots of budget options.

If you end up making sausage, you’ll need to add some pork fat .... and try to get natural hog casings .... so much better than the artificial casings.

 

[colonel3006]

Yeah sounds like dull knives. My grinder started out as a hand crank #32 but I got tired of that pretty quick. I ended up motorizing it. 16" pulley on the grinder and a 3/4hp electric motor. I made a guard out of sheet metal to cover the pulley and mounted it all on a piece of old 1" countertop. It doesn't matter how fast you feed it, it never even hic-cups. It will grind 20lbs of venison in 5 mins or less.

 

[billdick]

Either a dull knife or you didn't get the nut tight enough. Lots of times its just the nut should have been tighter. You could just give it a tap with a hammer on one of the grooves or knobs to get it to work and tap to loosen it.

 

[Sakoman .308]

You can get knives for anything common size @ cabelas or many others , but I sharpen mine by doing figure 8s on a piece of emery on a flat surface it should be sharp on one side . Also it helps to have firm or partly frozen meat . Check everything is fitting proper and you should be good

You taught me something, thanks

 

[Boomer686]

Meat should be very cold but not frozen. Frozen meat (including ice crystals) damages the meat by crushing the strand. I know we are splitting hairs and to most people they won't feel it on the palate while eating it but the more correct steps you take the better quality product. I'm a little OCD when it comes to processing my own meat as my dad worked for a few years as a meat cutter for a high end butcher shop in Europe in his youth.

With regards to the die clogging, yes it definitely sounds like a dull knife. If you can't sharpen yours or get a good edge a replacement knife isn't expensive. We have a restaurant quality #12 electric grinder with 1hp motor . Just replaced the knife after years of use with an OEM replacement European blade: cost $18. YMMV and enjoy the new hobby!

 

[Royzo]

A good sharp knife is a must. Also check the plate for being totally straight and free of wear from someone using a bad knife.
And yes, grinding meat very stiff and cold works best (not frozen).
Well worth going with an electric grinder, your arms will confirm that!!!!

 

[DFarmer]

You also have to make sure that the plate is lined up correctly with the notch over the pin in the bell housing. I can recall not having them lined up when I was first using the grinder and the result was a plugged plate and uncut meat.

 

[trevj]

Watch the sales at Princess Auto for when their grinder goes on for cheap.

I bought a Waring from CTire a bunch of years ago, and it promptly ate itself. The older PA cheapy has been doing yeoman service every season even if you need to wear ear plugs while it runs. The newer ones are quieter by a long shot.

Yeah. Knives and the plate surface both have to be sharp. If all you can muster up is a sheet of wet or dry paper and the counter top, still better than leaving them dull. A flat glass cutting board, wet the surface so the sheet of sandpaper will stick, and yer cooking! You do have the knife in the right way around, yeah? The flat part of the blade goes against the plate, so it can shear the meat as it is pressed in to the holes. Have seen guys put the blade on backwards and complain...It will still work, sorta, but so will chewing it raw, and spitting it into the bowl, eh?

I have done a fair few deer with a small hand crank grinder, it's not such a bad job if you have a solid surface to clamp it down to. Crank with one hand, feed with the other. You won't set any speed records, but you also won't be fighting against more of a load than you really need to, and in the scheme of things an extra ten minutes won't kill anybody. I keep my small grinder around for when my Cheap PA unit (bought used at a garage sale) finally gives up, but it hasn't yet, so...

Guys that complain about gristle and silver skin binding up their grinder need to up their sharpening game. When I am done cutting, I grind all the stuff that I set aside to grind, then I grind all the silver skin and gristle that I have removed from the 'meat' cuts, for chicken treats. It all goes through just fine.