meat grinder options

[sswv]

I'm wanting an electric counter top meat grinder but there are so many out there I thought I'd get some opinions from the gang. What ya'll using and why did you choose that one?

thanks in advance


oh yeah' if this post should be somewhere else or not on here at all I have no problem with it being moved or re-moved.  

[dirtguy]

If you already have a Kitchen Aid mixer, get the meat grinder attachment for it.  I'll let everyone else weigh in on other brands.

[D.J. Carr]

Cabela's Commercial grade. well worth the money

[John Scifres]

I have a pretty basic Cabela's model.  I think it was $120.  I have had it  for 7 years and done many hundreds of pounds of burger with it.  It is reasonably fast and powerful but pretty loud.  If you get up into the $300 models, you can do better.

[wazu02]

Originally posted by D.J. Carr:
Cabela's Commercial grade. well worth the money

[RedShaft]

We need one bad. I will be watching to see what others say

[huntingarcher]

Cabela's 1hp commercial grinder,a great heavy duty unit.You will get what you pay for!

[wingnut]

Yep burned up a few cheap ones over the years and now have a Cabela's 1 1/2 HP commercial.  It does a bunch of burger in a hurry.

Mike

[Hawkeye]

Looked for a long time (a couple years), and narrowed the field down to Cabela's commercial and the L.E.M.

I found a great sale on the .75 HP L.E.M. last Fall, and LOVE it!  The power seems far beyond its HP rating. It eats through anything I can feed it, and I can't seem to throw meat down its throat fast enough for it to even notice!  The "Big Bite" auger really pulls it through, avoiding the churning and chewing of my old system.

I have a Kitchen Aid attachment for our mixer, too.  It is... OK. In my personal experience, the L.E.M. outperforms it (at least) 25:1 for speed and quality of grind.

I'd still be willing to consider a Cabela's if I needed a grinder, but L.E.M. is better than I expected, and a really excellent machine for my purposes.   I don't think I'll ever need anything else in my lifetime!  

Now, I just need to shoot a deer!!!   :rolleyes:

[oxnam]

Originally posted by huntingarcher:
Cabela's 1hp commercial grinder,a great heavy duty unit.You will get what you pay for!

+1 Tough to throw the meat in fast enough to keep up.

[TraditionalGuy]

I have an old school hand grinder that doesn't grind very fast, but the motor never goes out. And it's perfect if you are processing the amount of meat that I do on a yearly basis, which means it makes a really mean tag soup.

[jjwaldman]

Spend the money, get a nice commercial grinder.  It will pay off in the long run if you shoot a couple a year.  I figure mine paid off at around 8 deer considering $65 bucks a pop at the processor, not even counting gas.

[bluemoonrising]

Dirtguy is correct. The Kitchenaid setup has worked really well for me for almost 20 yrs and many, many deer. If you're only doing a few deer at a time, this setup kicks butt! Peace!

[Slasher]

2-3 deer a year plus 25-50# sausage...

We also grind fresh beef roasts for burgers 10-12x a year for 50# or so...

I bought the cheap Tasin-108 rebranded for Northerntool... Musta been 03-04... It isn't a commercial unit and have trouble keeping up with it most of the time.... Also my wife's sewing machine pedal is a perfect fit and is used  when stuffing brats or kielbasa...

Still works and I bought it off season for like $69...

Currently on sale for $99... Processing 2-3 deer it pays for itself...

Surely isn't a commercial unit, but fits my needs just fine....

[Rob W.]

I burnt up 2 grinders. One was a cheaper one and one was from BP can't remember the model. Anyway half way through a deer I was without a grinder and my mom suggests using her food processer attachment that hadn't been used since the 70's. 4 years and a bunch of deer later that thing is still going strong.

If it ever goes out I will probably invest in a Cabelas commercial model.

I do kinda miss hand grinding in the kitchen with my wife and a bottle of wine after a successful evening. My arms don't!

[PICKNGRIN]

I have a LEM 3/4 h.p. BIG BITE grinder that works great.  I found I only have to use the fine plate for doing all my grinding.  It will take all I can throw at it!!  My kids got me the optional foot switch that frees up both hands, really like that also.

[Rick Perry]

cabelas 1 hp grinder here .... works great ! no complaints

would not be afraid of the LEM grinders as well .

[Tsalt]

I bought a 1/2 hp Kitchener #12 from Northern Tool last year for $100!  The thing grinds the meat as fast as I can feed it.  I learned about it by searching the archives on this site.  It was highly recommended and so far it's done great.  Here is the link...
http://m.northerntool.com/mt/www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200451267_200451267

[LB_hntr]

I got a weston #8 3/4hp grinder that i got off amazon for 75 bucks. works great and been using it for 3 years. between me and my buddies it has grinded 14 deer so far. could not be happier.

[NittanyRider]

Another nod for the Cabela's commercial grinders.  I bought the 1hp about 5 years ago and absolutely love it.