Meat grinder recommendations ?
Equipment
What do you guys use for an animal or two a year
I have a grinder attachment for out kitchen aid mixer, been using it for years without any problem
Have a cabelas 3/4 hrs power. for probably 10 years . Very happy with it.
I have the one horse carnivore from Cabelas. Works good but I think the Lem brand grinders are the best I’ve used.
After 30 years of using my grandmother's old hand crank grinder,I decided to buy an electric one. So I bought the cheapest one I could find. I got it at Harbor Freight for around $45,using the coupon from their ad mailing. That was 4 years ago. So far I've put 7 deer through it,a bear,and a couple wild hogs. It's cheap and it's noisy,but it's still going strong. And when it breaks down.I'll buy another one.As far as I'm concerned,It already paid for itself several times over.
I’ve been using. Moulinex for well over twenty years and I bought it used. It’s great, but I’ve never ground more than thirty pounds at a time. Mostly grinding for sausage or a jerky shooter. I don’t like stuffing with it though unless you have four experienced hands.
I have a kitchen aid grinder i started out with but I didn't have the patience. Bought a 1 horse carnivore grinder from Cabela's a few years ago. Lives up to it's name, chews through meat so fast I can't hardly feed it fast enough. Came with 2 grinding plates and brat, summer sausage, snack stick stuffer as well which is nice. Not sure if all the others come with that stuff. got a free foot pedal with it too which helps trying to stuff casings on your own.
LEM brand has worked great for me. I lost a few pieces when we moved and was able to buy replacements from them. Whatever you buy, make sure it has metal gears.
My dad has an Amish hand crank grinder that he put an electric motor on. It's big, grinds through anything, and is way cheaper than anything else he could have bought at the price.
I've had my LEM for a long time. It grinds and stuffs.
Have had my Cabelas 1/2 hp grinder for about 15 years now. Very pleased with it. Was $275 when I purchased it.
I have the 1hp cabela's grinder, it does all I need and then some.
I had a cheaper model until I helped a friend who had a bigger Cabela's model. I bought a LEM half hp and it is 10 times better than what I had. The cheaper model was noisy and plugged up all the time. The LEM is quiet and eats the meat as fast as I can shove it in. Plus, it attaches to my meat mixer making it even more useful.
I'm too cheap to buy one from Cabelas so I have one I got off of ebay for $179.00, shipping included. It is a 1 hp model and has #22 size plates. It's identical to one I got from Harbor Freight that lasted about 10 years. I probably do about 500# of ground meat per year and am happy with it. Don't get a small one unless you are only doing 1 or 2 deer a year.
X2 on the Kitchen Aid mixer/grinder attachment.
I have a midline Cabelas that I have been very pleased with. 600 watt rating which should be about 3/4 hp. It will grind as fact as I can push meat through.
I grew up with a hand grinder that we eventually attached a 1/2 drive hand drill to. Worked great unless something hung up and then you couldn't turn the drill loose before it wound you up. ;) I used my wife's food processor for years, worked OK for small runs but you constantly have to clean stuff off the shaft that gets wound up. With the Cabelas grinder, clean up is unbelievably easy and the grind is consistent. We normally just use the coarse grind for everything. It came with a sausage stuffing attachment but I have yet to try it out.
Got a 1hp cabelas, does everything I need since i got it. Had free standing small Hobart but it was little big for a lot of applications.
Got a LEM might bite. Grinds great, stuffing is a problem. Bought a 5 pound stuffer... worlds apart.
I don’t have a problem paying for quality, and think the 3/4 hp will be the minimum size I’ll buy. But can’t help looking at them and wondering why they cost so much.
Dad and I have had a Cabela's 1hp #22 grinder for probably 10 years now. That thing is a beast. If grinding chunks of meat, you have to feed it with both hands to even hope to keep up with it. We use it to grind and stuff and since last year, we use it to turn the mixer.
As was mentioned earlier, be sure and get a peddle to operate it. Convenient and in my mind it is a safety precaution.
If you are not in a hurry to get one, wait and watch Cabelas for a sale. They usually go on sale once or twice a year. Can easily save you $100 or more. I think dad saved around $200 when he bought ours.
For years we used a hand crank mixer. It was a pain in the butt and limited how much we could efficiently do at one time. Last year on Black Friday, Cabelas put their 33gal mixer that attaches to the grinder motor on sale for $100 off. We bought one and it is awesome! Just last Saturday, we mixed up 133lbs of deer summer sausage in a little more than an hour and our arms weren't ready to fall off.
So just something to keep in mind. The smaller ones may limit you on what you can use it for in the future, but that also depends on what your future plans are.
FYI.... We also bought the jerky attachment for the mixer..... One of the few things we wasted our money on. Used it once. There are easier ways to lay out jerky.
My daughter bought the 3/4 hp cabelas brand grinder last year. I used it once this year and it's amazing. I have a kitchen aid mixer with the grinder attachment that I've been using for many years now. I love my kitchen aid but I'm really thinking of buying the cabelas grinder.
I purchased a LEM about 3 months ago - would have gotten a Cabelas grinder but leery of BP taking them over going forward and parts/warranty/customer service etc.
I'm going to grind the trim from a cow elk, 3 deer and 3 antelope. I use a 3/4 hp one from Cabela's and it's more than sufficient.
Bought the LEM 1HP model this year, so can’t comment a lot on it but should be a great grinder. Had been using a friends 1/2 HP LEM over the years and that unit was pretty good - just wanted something with a little more power for the big grinds...
1 hp Cabelas grinder. We grind 4-5 deer per year. It will grind as quick as you can feed it.
-Mitch
