Meat Grinder....

[SolomonMan]

All,
The Wife and I raise hogs for the freezer.

A lot of our neighbors do as well and they have the full setup of processing equipment.

A few weekends ago we processed about 1300 lbs of swine at our friends properties.

I asked them about their grinding/slicing equipment and was very involved in the process. I have hunted a time or two and have a decent cutlery set...They agreed. Most of the information I got back was that they purchased their equipment at auction/sales over the years and they were very happy with their investment...The one was a used commercial Hobart grinders (big)...the other was a smaller Cabelas unit.

What would you all consider a decent Meat Grinder that could have to grind up to ~200lbs of sausage at a single instance and may have to do this 3-4 times a year...This includes a possible deer in this calculation. Brand suggestions or just what to look for would be a step in the right direction for us.

Also for bacon, the guys seems split on the way they prefer....One just cuts his with a knife into strips...the other uses a meat slicer...Ideas/suggestions?

Thanks
Chris

[.284]

Chris, that's a serious amount of poundage. I cannot give you a brand but go commercial for sure. The cabelas and the like are pretty lite duty imho and I think you would be burning through those pretty quick.

[surveyor]

I haven't got into the sausage making yet, it is on the list. As far as bacon, I sliced it with a knife the first few times. The main problem with that is the more uniform the thickness is the better it cooks.

I ended up with a light duty commercial slicer. It works fine for my needs.

But, If I did more than I do, I would go more power in the motor than what I have, and get a longer travel in the meat tray.

The bacon is sort of folded in the slice tray to be able to cut full length on a pork belly cut in half.

Cheese takes more power than meat does.
So considerations of a slicer I think important are a stop screw at the top of the backing plate so thickness does not vary, length of travel of the tray, power of the unit.

It is worth a trip to a restaurant supply to get an idea.

But I usually only do 10-20 lbs of bacon at a time, so not your type of volume

[Troy800]

I have a LEM #12 3/4 hp i use for deer every year. It is a quality grinder and i can prossess 2-3 deer in on shot. It grinds the meat faster than i can feed it. As much as i love my grinder it might be a little light for 200 lbs of meat in one shot. i would look for a 1 hp or greater.

[Mobuck]

One word: LEM
If you want or need to grind a LOT of meat and do it well, this is the brand. For several years (until my joints got worse) we processed 5-8 deer per year plus around 100# of pork. The first year, we used my good but not great 1/2 hp grinder and it took hours to make all the burger. When we upgraded to the LEM 3/4 horse power, grinding time was reduced and uniformity of grind improved.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

I have a Toledo Scale made meat grinder size #12 made back in the 20 or 30s I think. And a Lem #8. The toledo has a geared down 3/4 hp Delco Reme brushed/ motor and is used to grind fresh cow bones & deer bones for our dogs briskets. Not a grinder someone would purchase for speed grinds. And too it weight 100 lbs or a shade more. So it is a challenge to move from here to there.

Our Lem on the other hand has what is called a Big Bite worm. Lem weighs under 40 lbs and is pretty efficient at grinding meat and no doubt has plenty of torque. If intending to buy a grinder. My advice. Buy a popular brand. Preferably American made and best done by consulting a store front butcher first before your purchase.

[SolomonMan]

All,
Thanks for the advice...
My buddy has a old Hobart...we did a 600 lb sow and probably close to 200lbs of sausage (kept the loin and ribs only - Hams were stripped) everything else ground....in less than 3 hours start to finish with the animal.

That Hobart is a commercial model they got at a grocery store in the area that closed. Its a Heavy machine...but it grinds great.

My minimum is a 3/4 HP for consideration. I have on hold a used 1HP Cabelas from a buddy...it was used twice...he won a 1.5 HP one at his local gun club so he is willing to deal.

I am looking at also the 1 HP Bass Pro one (LEM) they have on sale currently with a 75 back Gift Card....Then use the gift card to buy the slicer. Both have 5 year warranties. The Bass Pro says its capable of 13 lbs a minute.

So the one thing I found on the slicers is gearing...many are plastic gears.....I have a couple reasonable priced units (sub $150) with metal gears and good reviews.

Thanks for the tips and confirmation on what I need to look at.

Thanks
Chris

[Doyle]

In addition to LEM, you should look at the large Weston grinders.

[huntinaz]

We have the cabelas 1hp model, it does well grinding several hundred pounds of elk at a time. I would not go smaller for your application. I’d like to try the next size bigger.

[larryh1108]

If you just use the grinder during deer season then a 1hp will do the job fine. If you plan to use it year round then you should look at 1.5hp. Restaurant supply shops are good to check out. Also look for restaurants closing. They are not cheap but like a good gun,,, buy once and cry once.

[Doyle]

The problem with commercial grinders is the matter of storage/portability. They are HEAVY - which makes them great during actual use but horrible for storage if they can't stay in the same place on your counter all year round. The alternative to being stuck in one place is to put it on some kind of rolling cart. Again, great if you have a place to put it but terrible if you don't.

If I could ever build a "dream" house, it would have a basement with a "canning kitchen". Such a kitchen would be dedicated to food preservation (canning, butchering, etc) and have a commercial sized cutting board table.

[SolomonMan]

Doyle,
The preservation room is what we are working on in a sense...we have a a large (12X20) Utility Room/Laundry that we are remodeling/converting to such a room. The two large freezers are already purchased...

Shelving is the next step...The grinder and slicer are part of the this goal. The final step will be table top, dish washer, and prep sinks.

The wife cans extensively and we raise steers and hogs...plus smaller animals turkey\chicken\rabbits for freezer. Not to mention we have a small orchard on property.

We have 5 children, in 4H, so we are always working on the barn, animals, or preserving them.

Thanks
Chris

[Doyle]

Sounds awesome Solomon.

[shortwave]

As far as a non commercial grinder, I like the LEM as well.
We do 5-8 deer a year depending on our hunting success rate and make about 100lb of pork sausage using a #12-3/4 hp. Big Bite.
It has never failed, has plenty of power, grinds faster then I can feed it and there are many attachments you can purchase for it.
With the amount you are planning on grinding, you may want to bump on up to a 1 or even a 1 1/2 hp just for longevity sake. But IMO, the LEM #12- 3/4hp would handle what your doing for several yrs. especially keeping the plates sharp.
One thing for sure that you want to purchase is a foot controller for what ever grinder you decide on. Makes it so much easier stuffing bags and link sausage casings.

Good luck with whatever you decide on...

[FrankenMauser]

I can't help with a grinder. I've only ever used cheap electrics, or hand-cranked. Though some of them have processed up to 150 lbs over the course of a day or two, I don't think they're built for it - and, thus, not worth mentioning.
Currently, all I've got is a KitchenAide mixer...


As for bacon...
I'd love a meat slicer. But I don't have room for one.
I partially freeze the slabs after they're cured, and slice by hand.
Or, I just cut into smaller slabs and freeze as-is, so that chunks, cubes, etc. can be cut later on. (Reduces freezer burn, as well, when some one buries the bacon and it gets lost for a while.)

[SolomonMan]

All,
I have it narrowed down to ;

The 549.99 1HP model...I may get it at 60 bucks more off (Open Box everything is there) and the 75 Gift Card Off.

http://www.basspro.com/shop/en/redhe...y-lem-products

Or the Cabelas

http://www.cabelas.com/product/CARNI...4.uts?slotId=3

Both 1HP....

I think the LEM may win....Cabellas though says its lifertime...I need to confirm that fact.

Thanks
Chris

[Doyle]

Cabelas brand grinders used to be made by Weston. I don't know if that is still true. I do like the fact that the Cabelas grinder has a reverse switch. That alone is worth its weight in gold.

[SolomonMan]

All,
Ended up with the Bass Pro...I got the open box display unit...I got everything in the box as you would if you bought it new....I also got the $75 Gift Card, a 10% open box discount, and was able to use my rewards points (another 20 off you could say)....I also got more reward points for this purchase...So in all.. I was down to like $420-425 range - $510 out the door minus GC and rewards...which is better than the Cabelas unit would have been financially. With that said I read that the Cabela unit was a LEM as well. But I could not find it on the LEM site...but they say the LEM unit is relabeled and power increased on the new 1/2 HP LEMs for Cabelas.

The reverse bugged me that the Bass Pro unit did not have it....but from reading on a few sites this was a rarely used on the Cabelas or needed on the Bass Pro unit due to the power of both units....So I thought ...not a huge deal...I do like the stainless compared to the enamel of the Cabelas for Cleanup.

The Lifetime warranty on the Cabelas unit is kind of a diversion...The warranty on the unit is only 5 years...You can bring the unit in any time after 5 years and its up to the Management of the store you bought it from to decide.

So time will tell.

Thanks
Chris

[FrankenMauser]

I don't consider reverse to be a 'need'.
In my experience, if the machine needs to back up, it's going to end up getting taken apart much sooner than later, anyway.

[shortwave]

I don't think you will be disappointed in your selection. I hope you bought the foot controller as well. It's a great accessory to have.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

If intending to make allot of sausage send the big bucks on a good high capacity sausage stuffer.

I have a F-Dick 2 speed hand crank 18 lb capacity model. It doesn't take much strength to crank its stainless tank empty. When the wife cranks its low speed gear believe me I got all I can do in my trying to keep up with the casing filling.

[reloader28]

If you like to wear ear muffs while your grinding get an LEM
If you like it quiet get a Cabelas 1 horse or larger and it will grind as much as you can stuff thru it.

Though not used much the reverse is very handy at times