Meat Grinders

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RielM

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What are guys using for grinders? I have the feeling l should be looking somewhere else other than Cabelas? I tried a grinder attachment for an old bread maker last year that essentially didn't work.
 
Consiglio's Kitchenware sells meat grinders but they are not cheap. My brother has a Fabio Leonardi and it is high quality and built to last.

I think they ship for free too.
 
I bought a small grinder at Princess Auto, mine is a Kitchener #5. On sale now for $69.99. Works just fine but I would want a bigger machine if doing multipul animals at a time.
 
I did 3 seasons with the Kitchenaid mixer attachment. First year I killed my wife's mixer and had to buy the professional series model. That worked for 2 years but was slow and messy.

Last year I bought the 1hp Carnivore from Cabelas. I should have done it years ago. It ground through my Spring Bear in about 3 minutes and is easy to clean up.

Good machine...... pricey, but a good investment IMO
 
We bought a Cabela's 3/4 hp grinder a few years ago and haven't had any issues with it. Mind you we don't process a ton of meat but do use it regular for grinding up for hamburger and making sausage - the meat mixer attachment is particularly handy. Didn't care for it to stuff casing so bought a separate sausage stuffer with a hand crank. I think I might like to use it more for stuffing and other things if I had the foot switch. Fumbling around to find the switch if something goes wrong (split in the casing) is a pita
 
Mine is a hobart and it was $18000. I works great every day and has never given any trouble. The hopper holds around 350 lbs and I also have a electric over ride foot pedal for bagging.
 
I bought the Cabelas 1 HP grinder 4 years ago. It has worked flawlessly. Grinds anything, and everything I stuff down the chute without hesitation. We use the sausage attachment also. There not cheap, but they usually put them on sale now and then, so it can be less painful.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if the Cabela's and Bass pro line of meat grinders are built by LEM. They sure look similar! I bought a LEM as I don't like buying tools twice. It's awesome.
 
dead meat said:
I bought a small grinder at Princess Auto, mine is a Kitchener #5. On sale now for $69.99. Works just fine but I would want a bigger machine if doing multipul animals at a time.
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X2. Im going onto my 4th season with a Kitchener #5 and I've been happy with it. I'm not processing a ton of meat with it, but for my needs it works great. I usually process about 50lbs worth of meat a few times a year to make sausages and the Kitchener grinder hasnt had a problem yet. The only thing I would say the grinder sucks at is stuffing sausages. For that part, I use a stuffer. But for grinding meat, Im very happy with it
 
Either the Bass Pro or Cabela's 3/4 HP or 1 HP grinders are the way to go. I tried buying a smaller commercial grinder and it died in short order. My Kitchenaid grinder did a better job than the little Wring did. But the Kitchenaid gives me cookies and I'm not taking a chance at killing the cookie-giver so I wouldn't want to process too much met with it...I've pushed my luck enough on that front. If I move back out West Where there are animals to shoot I'll be investing in one of the Cabela's or BP grinders.
 
Nothing wrong with the Cabelas grinders if you stay clear of the smallest ones.

I have a near brand new Waring POS from CTire that ate it's drive shaft in very short order. Might fix it some day, but...

And I have an older Princess Auto POS that sounds about like it's ready to explode, is really loud (like, must wear ear protection, while in use, loud!), that I bought at a garage sale, but it keeps plugging away.

Check out the commercial kitchen supply places for pricing, look at Halford's Mail Order site (out of Edmonton) and compare prices. Lots of folks out there selling the same made in China machines for vastly differing prices!

If you can, listen to one run. The good ones are a LOT quieter than the cheaper ones.

Pay attention to the size of plates and knife that the grinder fits. They are standardized, and getting a machine that has some oddball size plates could leave you with an expensive paperweight.

If you are only doing a few pounds at a time, don't be shy about a hand crank model. Get your rhythm going, and you can pound a fair bit through even a smaller unit, without too much trouble at all. Solid mounting, and really cold, almost frozen meat help loads, too.

Cheers
Trev
 
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I just bought the heavy duty grinder off cabelas yesterday for 70$ of at 99$ before tax. Seems like a good deal i'll follow up once i start grinding the meat with it.
 
ebay, spent around $300us when our dollar was good on a 1.25hp stainless unit.

The real test is when you start putting straight pork fat through the grinder to mix with your sausage meat. You need horsepower or it will die.
 
RielM said:
What are guys using for grinders? I have the feeling l should be looking somewhere else other than Cabelas?
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What's the issue with Cabelas grinder? I have a 1hp grinder from there and love it.

I was a commercial meat cutter from 1978-2002 is that makes you happier about my choice.
 
I've got the 1 HP calelas grinder. You can throw chunks of meat the size of your fist, or long strips of equal diameter as fast as you can put them in, and it'll squirt hamburger out the other end with a swishing sound right out of a cheap horror movie.

It's supposed to be 10 or 13 pounds per minute; but constantly stopping to see if you still have both of your hands slows the count down a little. It's worth it just the entertainment.
 
SuperCub said:
What's the issue with Cabelas grinder? I have a 1hp grinder from there and love it.

I was a commercial meat cutter from 1978-2002 is that makes you happier about my choice.
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I wasn't implying there was any issue. I was just wondering what else is out there for good value that has been tried and tested. I thought maybe the Cabelas units might have a higher price for what you get due to the branding. The bigger ones do seem like a good option.
 
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