Meat grinder - which to get?

JohnC

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Hi.
After a few tries at getting sausage made by others, I decided to try it myself

Have a smoker and a jerky gun bit now but need to acquire a meat grinder suitable for processing game , probably be doing 20 or so pounds at a time.

While I know you get what you pay for, which makes gives reasonable value for money? I would lean to a hand grinder for the usual survivalist reasons, but a good reasonably priced electric would be OK too.


So what do you guys and gals use/recommend?

Many thanks for your input.
 
I have one from Cabela's that is a 3/4 hsp motor, commercial grade. around $350. Well worth every penny you spend and will last a lifetime and then some. Easy to clean too. They come with sausage stuffer attachment which also works well. Just go to Cabela's Canada and search. This machine is heavy enough to have a few people go together and buy one and still never wear it out. Also search around you can sometimes find places that sell used.
 
Get yourself a sausage stuffer as well. Well worth the cash if you intend to make sausage once or twice a year. The grinder I have is a kitchen model, not powerful but has done many deer and moose. I grind my shoulder meat and trim, put into two litre paper milk cartons and freeze that way for future sausage making. Each carton holds about four pounds of meat. Mix later with ground pork(regular) mix with binder and water according to recipe on sausage unit, stuff into casings. Take my sausage in to be smoke as not worth the hassle for the 14 bucks to have it hot smoked by a butcher shop.
 
Year's ago I tried this Princess Auto grinder. It had this big pulley on it to attach a motor, piece of crap. I have since upgraded to an Omcan which works real nice. You do some what get what you pay for. As for the stuffer, I was taught to only use a sausage stuffer and not the attachment on the grinder. Using the grinder will heat up the meat to much and won't feed consistantly.
 
get a #22 size hand grinder, in stainless steel. you can then use it as is or later motorize it by removing the handle/crank and replacing it with a large pully which would be belted onto an electric motor. This grinder will last several life times and never need upgrading. You can buy the stuffing tubes to fit on the end of the grinder these work OK for hog size cases but are tough to use for smaller casings. I would opt to also get a proper stuffer about 10 lb. capacity and no plastic gears.
 
I got the Porkert grinder from Princess Auto with the big pully, and it works great. I have the sausage stuffer atatchment for it, and when you get the right amount of water added, it works great too. I made my living cutting meat for 10 years, so I know what I am talking about. A 1/2 HP electric moator drives it, and that is fast enough for my wife and I. If you did a lot of meat like a beaf and moose every year, you might be best to look for a comercial grinder, ours works good for 4 or 5 whitetails and a pig every year.
 
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