Electric Meat Grinder Recommendations

[markf424]

I have to confess, I have the KitchenAid attachment with sausage maker, but have only used it once - to grind pork and veal for meatballs. I'm not sure why I haven't used it again, but this thread sure has inspired me. I have yet to make homemade sausages, even though I have the attachment. What a chump. I go to the store, buy sausages, complain about the seasoning, then watch the dust settle on my grinder.

-Mark

[Anna N]

Anna, I think the grinder knife you are interested in would look something like this. Clickety clack clack

Hmmmmmmmmmm - Well it certainly doesn't have anything resembling that. It has only discs with different sized holes in them. One of them is notched to fit into the machine and lock in place. The remainer have no such notch. Guess I need a lesson in using a manual meat grinder. Thanks for this!

[GSBravo]

Anna,  I think the grinder knife you are interested in would look something like this.  Clickety clack clack

Hmmmmmmmmmm - Well it certainly doesn't have anything resembling that. It has only discs with different sized holes in them. One of them is notched to fit into the machine and lock in place. The remainer have no such notch. Guess I need a lesson in using a manual meat grinder. Thanks for this!

It sounds like you don't have blade, but only the die.

When you grind meat does it seem like your just forcing it thru the die? I have no problem getting meat to go through my grinder, and it's a manual grinder.

There should be a blade, like the picture above, that fits behind the die. Inside is a wormscrew, I think that's what its called, that feeds the meat to the blade and out through the die. The different sized dies allow for different size grinds.

This picture shows the various parts for a meat grinder. The housing is not shown here, but two dies, the cutting balde, and sausage stuffing tubes are shown.

Hope this helps.

[Anna N]

Hope this helps.

It certainly did help! Could explain a lot of things - oh well - maybe I will invest in a new meat grinder one of these days! Thanks for the help from everyone.

[woodburner]

I have to confess, I have the KitchenAid attachment with sausage maker, but have only used it once - to grind pork and veal for meatballs.  I'm not sure why I haven't used it again, but this thread sure has inspired me.  I have yet to make homemade sausages, even though I have the attachment.  What a chump.  I go to the store, buy sausages, complain about the seasoning, then watch the dust settle on my grinder. 

-Mark

Fresh sausage making is a great hobby, lending itself to some mighty fine eats. Pull that grinder out of mothballs and get crackin. Fresh Bratwurst, Bauenwurst, Knockwurst.

woodburner

[markf424]

Whoa! Now that's what I call a plate of meat. That is absolutely incredible. If you were looking to motivate, you've done so. Bravo!

I also, er, noticed that there's a new thread on sausage recipes. Please add yours in as I'll be all "ears".

[slkinsey]

I have been using the KitchenAid meat grinder attachment for a few years now, and am hoping to step up to something a little more powerful and serious. Since I am grinding meat on a more-or-less weekly basis, it seems like a reasonable investment to sink some money into a stand-alone electric powered meat grinder.

The reason I am grinding so much meat these days, and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future, is that I grind whole chickens (bones, skin, organs, etc.) for my ferrets. Since they are primary carnivores they are evolved to eat whole prey, which includes the bones, etc. Unfortunately, my KA mixer (I have the most "heavy duty" model) frequently locks up when attempting this task, and I have to stop frequently to clear the grinder of whatever it is that is clogging it up. What I would like is something with the power to keep on grinding through the bones without breaking a sweat.

So... any recommendations? What's the best/most powerful powered meat grinder for home use?

[Andrew Fenton]

Oh, sure: I get excited because my KA grinder arrives, then fifteen minutes later I find out it's not gonna be enough... Good thing I'm not planning on grinding any whole animals. Yet.

[Hest88]

I grind rabbit (bone and all) for my cats and have been using a Moulinex for well over 5 years to grind both rabbit and whole chicken. Another good one is the Maverick Meat Grinder.

Whatever you get, make sure it has a reverse function. It's really helpful for the times you stuff too much down the tube.

[dano1]

It's gonna cost you ;). See Allied Kenco sales and/or Pleasant Hill Grain. Both are online.

hth, danny

[slkinsey]

Anyone have any experience with or information about the Northern Industrial tools grinders like this one or this other one?

[col klink]

I wouldn't go with the $100 one, but I just don't trust plastic meat grinders. If you're going to large amount of sausage on a regular basis (like 50lbs) then a small one won't cut it for very long.

You want something like this dinosaur:

Unfortunately I have no idea what the manufacturer is let alone the model. I just know the history of it. A friend got it for free from a nursing home that no longer needed it. The grinder went through 25 lbs of venison and pork in less than five minutes. It took longer to feed the bastard than to grind the meat. It makes making sausage very easy.

[Jensen]

Anyone have any experience with or information about the Northern Industrial tools grinders like this one or this other one?

I have the first one. It was initially purchased for making dog food so it had to be able to handle bones and all (chicken and turkey though, not rabbit as in Hest88's cat food).

I'm very happy with its performance, both for the dog food and for human food. It is very heavy though so it's not too "portable".

[Neitsdelf]

This place (http://www.butcher-packer.com/), local here in Detroit, has some grinders and lots and LOTS of grinding stuff (like replacement knives and disks). About $500+ for electric.

I love going down there if I'm at the Eastern Market during the week.

[slkinsey]

Anyone have any experience with or information about the Northern Industrial tools grinders like this one or this other one?

I have the first one. It was initially purchased for making dog food so it had to be able to handle bones and all (chicken and turkey though, not rabbit as in Hest88's cat food).

I'm very happy with its performance, both for the dog food and for human food. It is very heavy though so it's not too "portable".

Does it have a reverse function?

[Jensen]

Anyone have any experience with or information about the Northern Industrial tools grinders like this one or this other one?

I have the first one. It was initially purchased for making dog food so it had to be able to handle bones and all (chicken and turkey though, not rabbit as in Hest88's cat food).

I'm very happy with its performance, both for the dog food and for human food. It is very heavy though so it's not too "portable".

Does it have a reverse function?

No but it also has never jammed...not even while feeding chicken quarters (bones and all) through it. I can't imagine that just meat would cause it to jam up.

[Mabelline]

You might try the Cabela's catalogue. I just received the newest big one the other day. They've a cool variety of grinders--the Cabela's version of that second one is $99.99. They've also got something I am very interested in--for $29.99, you can buy a Pulley wheel that screws on to the handle place on a no. 22 or 32 grinder. Then you add your own belt and motor. So if you have an old-fashioned meat grinder you already like, you can convert it. They are good people to deal with, and if you go to there site, see if you can look up the Simpson's Fishing Lures. I kid you not-there's Homer, Bart, Marge, Crusty's Imitation Gruel, and Blinky the 3-eyed fish that grew up in the power plant water.Just cabelas.com

[slkinsey]

Anyone have any experience with or information about the Northern Industrial tools grinders like this one or this other one?

I have the first one. It was initially purchased for making dog food so it had to be able to handle bones and all (chicken and turkey though, not rabbit as in Hest88's cat food).

I'm very happy with its performance, both for the dog food and for human food. It is very heavy though so it's not too "portable".

Does it have a reverse function?

No but it also has never jammed...not even while feeding chicken quarters (bones and all) through it. I can't imagine that just meat would cause it to jam up.

Okay, good to know. As detailed in my first post above, I want a grinder specifically for grinding up poultry, etc. including the bones. What you describe is exactly what I would like to be able to do: quarter a chicken and feed the quarters right through, bones and all.

It's interesting that the lower priced grinder has a reverse function while the stainless model does not.

[Mayhaw Man]

Sam,

Here is some interesting discussion about meat grinding equipment and sizing.

Here is some meat equipment in the Cabela's catalog. My father in law has the first grinder that you see and it has worked well for him in processing all kinds of game. I thought I would throw it in the mix as game processing equipment could be an alternative source in your search, as I am sure that you are pretty much only looking at kitchen supply resources.

[Jensen]

Okay, good to know. As detailed in my first post above, I want a grinder specifically for grinding up poultry, etc. including the bones. What you describe is exactly what I would like to be able to do: quarter a chicken and feed the quarters right through, bones and all.

It's interesting that the lower priced grinder has a reverse function while the stainless model does not.

You know, now that I search my memory, I have a couple of friends who have the same grinder and one of them did jam up theirs. They were feeding whole pigs' feet through it and it jammed.

For the chicken quarters, we'd buy a case or two, hack them into "chunks" with a cleaver, and then feed the chunks through. It didn't matter how long the chunks were but they were generally about the same width as the feed tube.

We've also done one of those cheapo turkeys from Safeway (you know, $6.00 for a 15-lb. bird) in this grinder and it worked just fine. Again, there is some prep involved.

[Hest88]

You know, now that I search my memory, I have a couple of friends who have the same grinder and one of them did jam up theirs. They were feeding whole pigs' feet through it and it jammed.

Makes sense, since pork bone is much denser and harder. I would think Slkinsey would have no problems at all if it's just confined to poultry.

With all this talk I'm tempted to buy a new electric grinder. Mine is about 7 years old and there are better ones out there. It's still going strong, though, so I guess it would be a needless waste of money. I also just found a woman who sells whole ground rabbit to pet owners up and down the West Coast so I'm tempted to try her in order to save myself some work!

[trillium]

Not that I'm trying to talk any of you out of buying a new kitchen toy, but the guys behind the meat counter at my grocery store grind up whole chickens for people's pets. They recently started charging a little more / lb for the service, it was free before.

regards,

trillium

[slkinsey]

Grinder ordered. Will report back on results.

[Mayhaw Man]

Grinder ordered. Will report back on results.

Oh like we're gonna be satisfied with that.

What Kind, How Much, Why

Don't you understand how this all works

[slkinsey]

Getting this bad boy. Fully stainless. Grinds 260 lbs. per hour. Weighs 70 lbs. 1 HP/650 watts. 300 bucks.

Seems plenty powerful for what I need to do, without having to worry that it will choke on poultry and small game bones. The more expensive/powerful ones just seemed like overkill, since I don't have plans to grind up up 400 pounds of elk sausage in my Manhattan apartment any time soon.