Electric Meat Grinder Recommendations

[BeerCan]

@lindag, both actually. When I'm in the mood, I grind beef for my "Last Burger", thought the KitchenAid can handle that. I'm more interested in doing more sausages and revisiting cured saucissons. I know that if I want to do emulsified sausages, I'll need a piston-style stuffer, but this looks good for most of the things I want to do.

@BeerCan, yeah, I saw that and it does suck. I think the legal term is "puffery". But the reviews are good, so... I may pull the trigger here soon. If so, I'll let you guys know.

rane008

Thanks for pointing this grinder out. Inflated descriptions aside, I think that this is the grinder I will buy. I have been reading through the comments and I am liking what I see.

[pyrguy]

Well there is a difference beween the rated power and peak power. The motor rating sounds like they are using peak power in their adds.

[slkinsey]

I've had this one from Northern Tools for probably 10 years now. The thing is a beast. I used to use it to grind up whole chicken carcasses for my ferrets to eat (they have since gone to their great reward after long lives). Even now I often grind up the chicken, bones and all, when making chicken stock. The feeding tubes, augur, knife and plates are all very heavy metal, so keeping them in the freezer for a few hours before a grinding session works great to avoid smearing, etc.

[rane008]

I've heard a lot of great things about the Northern Tools grinder, and even read your posts, slkinsey, in the older thread. Glad to hear that the Beast lives.

At this point, I'm thinking I will go with the STX because price:(perceived) value is spot on for me. $370 for the Northern is a bit more than I can handle right now, and I'd like to use the STX as an intro to the standalone grinder. After reading the reviews on the NT, though, it does sound like a GREAT product.

[Chris Hennes]

I've got this model from Northern Tool: not the quite the beast that Sam has, but it does the job for what I use it for (charcuterie and burgers).

[scubadoo97]

I have a Tasin TS 108. The beast the Northen Tools is a copy of. Outside of being very loud it does a great job

[JBailey]

Often, Bass Pro has several meat grinders on their shelves. If there is not one nearby, they have an extensive website, as you might imagine.

[andiesenji]

I've had this one from Northern Tools for probably 10 years now. The thing is a beast. I used to use it to grind up whole chicken carcasses for my ferrets to eat (they have since gone to their great reward after long lives). Even now I often grind up the chicken, bones and all, when making chicken stock. The feeding tubes, augur, knife and plates are all very heavy metal, so keeping them in the freezer for a few hours before a grinding session works great to avoid smearing, etc.

I've had a Northern Tools grinder, similar to this one but a bit bigger, since 1995 and it was used heavily when I was catering. I used it to grind game meat and make sausages of all sizes. The advantage to the Northern Tools grinder is that it does not generate as much heat when operated for prolonged periods for many pounds of meat.

It is very heavy. I have it bolted to a rolling wood kitchen cart/chopping block that is several inches lower than the counter heights. This makes it much easier to use for someone who is not tall.

I also have two smaller ones I use for dried fruits and nuts or very small meat grinding jobs.

[Dakki]

I've got this model from Northern Tool: not the quite the beast that Sam has, but it does the job for what I use it for (charcuterie and burgers).

Thinking of upgrading from the KitchenAid attachment, basically for the same purposes you use yours for.

The one you linked looks like a fantastic buy at 100 bucks. Is there any reason why it's so much less expensive than say the 3/4 HP model that goes for over five times as much?

[Chris Hennes]

Do you have a link to the one you are thinking of? The one Sam's got is substantially beefier than mine: it's got a metal housing and a heavier, thicker grinder portion. Coupled with the extra power I think that explains why it costs about 3.5x as much as mine. As he mentioned in his post, that grinder will go straight through unboned chickens, a feat I wouldn't try with mine. I have no need for additional power since all I'm grinding is partially frozen beef and pork.

[Dakki]

Kitchener 3/4 HP. I have no intention of grinding bone-in chicken (or pigs' feet, as in the old thread), just charcuterie and the occasional mincemeat. 5.8x just seems like a huge jump in price for 50% more power, so I wonder if it has some other added value.

[Chris Hennes]

Well, it's HUGE... the lbs/hr rating on that grinder is 480, compared to 176 for the one I've got. If you're running a commercial operation, time is money, and that speed difference might be well worth the cost.

[Dakki]

I guess the maintenance ate my edit.

From what I read in the other grinder threads, larger neck sizes seemingly produce more definition (and less heat?); if so, what would be the minimum size to achieve good definition?

Are plates/blades standard (interchangeable between machines of the same size number)? If so, what are the most common sizes?

For stuffing sausage casings, is a grinder with tubes adequate or is the purpose-built piston device preferred?

Would you say the "reverse" setting is a convenience on a higher-powered grinder or is it strictly for underpowered machines? What would you regard as the cutoff point?

How do grinding blade grades (coarse, medium, etc) relate to the finished product? In other words, what grade produces typical mince, which would you use for a fine-grained sausage, etc?

Questions, questions.

[Chris Hennes]

From what I read in the other grinder threads, larger neck sizes seemingly produce more definition (and less heat?); if so, what would be the minimum size to achieve good definition?

I've only tried two grinders personally: the KitchenAid attachment and the Northern Tool model I've got. I do find that the NT model gives substantially better definition over the KA, but I suspect that's as much a function of knife design as grinder size. I find the definition to be as good as I need for the grind batch sizes I do (5-10lbs).

Are plates/blades standard (interchangeable between machines of the same size number)? If so, what are the most common sizes?

Yes, they are standard for a given size #. For example, mine is a #12. The plates are available at a number of online and brick-and-mortar supply stores.

For stuffing sausage casings, is a grinder with tubes adequate or is the purpose-built piston device preferred?

I would never consider stuffing directly from the grinder. You need to work the meat after grinding to establish a proper bind, and trying to send bound meat through the grinder to stuff is an exercise in frustration. Get a stuffer.

Would you say the "reverse" setting is a convenience on a higher-powered grinder or is it strictly for underpowered machines? What would you regard as the cutoff point?

I like having the reverse button for those occasions when a bit of untrimmed sinew gets caught up in the blades: it makes it easier to open and free without losing any meat.

How do grinding blade grades (coarse, medium, etc) relate to the finished product? In other words, what grade produces typical mince, which would you use for a fine-grained sausage, etc?

All of the sausage recipes I use specify a plate size, often per meat (e.g. fat through the 12mm holes, beef through 6mm holes, etc.). Which plate you use depends on your desired result.

[Dakki]

Thanks for the answers. Unfortunately the recipes I have are more like ingredient lists. Could you suggest a good set of plates to start with?

[Chris Hennes]

I personally have 3/16", 5/16", and 3/8" plates: I have never actually found myself needing any others. For stuff that is supposed to be larger than 3/8" I hand-chop, and I've never seen anything call for smaller than 3/16", which is my standard hamburger grind.

[BeerCan]

sausage mania says the a #22 grinder should be the minimum that you consider. Only problem is that all the #22 grinders I am finding are real expensive. I image that recommendation is for much larger scale use than the average home user.

I have aded the tasin ts-108 to my list of possibles, but I am still leaning towards the northern tools 99 dollar one.

[Chris Hennes]

A #22? For home use? That's insane. I can think of no possible justification for that size if you are making sausage in 5-10 lb batches.

[Paul McMichael]

Let me add another vote for the NT $99 grinder. I have been using one for several years for venison and pork sausage - works great. Save your money and buy a vertical crank stuffer (5 pounds is a good size.) The $99 NT stuffer is good. They also have regular coupons and sale pricing up tp 20% off.

[gfweb]

Looking at the comments on Amazon for the Kitchen Aid grinding attachment and seeing lots of negatives about black lubricant in the product. The CR top rated Waring Pro (is there a crappier line of appliances) has plastic gears that break. Another one lets meat get into the gears and is uncleanable.

 

Is the NT grinder still great for everyone?

[scubadoo97]

I have a Tasin TS 108 which looks identical the the Northern Tool grinder which looks identical to this one.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00AWGGMPO/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new

There maybe differences in HP and watts. The above grinder got decent reviews

Unless you have a problem with storage this type grinder will out preform the KA attachment which I have and seldom use

[gfweb]

Thanks!

 

The pictuere on the amazon unit...called Turboforce..misspells it on the cowling as Turbo Froce.

 

But all that matters is that it works. :-)

[Paul McMichael]

Is the NT grinder still great for everyone?

Still going strong - did 50# of venison summer sausage and about 3 times that of various pork sausage this winter. That will get us through the summer.