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Old 06-30-2020, 10:29 PM
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KGB KGB is offline
 
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Default Meat grinder

Hey guys, need your advise about what’s good and what isn’t. I need it to prepare a raw food for my dog. To grind the beef, chicken, liver, hearts etc. Nothing industrial grade( I have seen those for like $2-3K). I currently use the attachment to my wife’s KitchenAid Mixer but I’m afraid it is not strong enough and I don’t want to kill it.
I have seen that Cabela’s sells some. Anyway, any recommendations are welcome!
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  #2  
Old 06-30-2020, 10:31 PM
calgarychef calgarychef is offline
 
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Go to CTR refrigeration, I think they have an Edmonton store.
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Old 06-30-2020, 10:38 PM
amosfella amosfella is offline
 
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I'd go #22 at the smallest. Avoid the cabela's #42. Parts aren't easily available. I hear it like to twist the augers off. The actual Weston Pro lineup would the the smallest that I'd look at in the homeowner lineup. I'd keep my eyes out for an industrial grinder like Hobart, Biro, Berkel, pro cut, Butcher Boy, etc., from a place shutting down.

How much are you looking to grind at a time? Will you be making batches of sausage, hamburger, game processing, etc? How much do you like using knives (smaller units require you to cut into smaller pieces meaning that knives get closer to fingers)?

I just went through this recently, and got a very lightly used Hobart 4732 from Ontario for $2500 plus accessories and shipping.

I've already burnt out a few grinders. Mind you, I have been also grinding a whole beef at a time for dogfood. Grinding about 600-650 pounds of meat through a 5/8" #12 plate took about 6 hours. I had a few replacements of the same one. The last one was starting to smell like it wanted to let out the magic smoke.

As for HP ratings, they're often lies. The last one that I had was said to be 1 HP. But, It took under 350W to make it run. A HP in an electric motor requires 673 (?)W. It liked to stall out a lot. Lots of time pulling the head apart and driving the auger out with a block of wood. So, either get a more powerful unit or get one with a reverse.

Last edited by amosfella; 06-30-2020 at 10:56 PM.
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Old 06-30-2020, 11:25 PM
OL_JR OL_JR is offline
 
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I have the Cabelas pro DC grinder and love it. I feel it's a great bang for your buck grinder. I haven't tried to feed it large chunks of meat as we always cube everything we are going to grind but it will grind as fast as we can feed it.
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  #5  
Old 07-01-2020, 12:26 AM
averagejoe averagejoe is offline
 
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The Cabelas 1 HP grinder will suit pretty much all your needs and be one of the easier ones to get. It will grind pretty much as fast as you can feed it, even partially frozen meat and it isn't so powerful that it will break itself if something gets stuck like the 1 3/4 HP model is reported to do. I would recommend getting the foot pedal accessory for them.

I believe they are or used to be made by Weston for them.
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  #6  
Old 07-01-2020, 07:12 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OL_JR View Post
I have the Cabelas pro DC grinder and love it. I feel it's a great bang for your buck grinder. I haven't tried to feed it large chunks of meat as we always cube everything we are going to grind but it will grind as fast as we can feed it.
Yup, works great. Key to grinding is having everything half frozen-works like a charm
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Old 07-01-2020, 07:58 AM
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omega50 omega50 is offline
 
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I have a Samona grinder from Peavey Mart.
What it taught me beside Never buy this grinder
Decide if it will live on your counter or do you need to tuck it away between uses. My grinder is too heavy to pop in and out of a cupboard.

How much noise are you comfortable generating? Mine is brutally loud.

Look for quality.The metal surrounding my grinder head lock down screw to lock it into the base started to degrade and loosen. Pain in the assets. Had to drill and tap it 180 degrees away to get it functional again.

Next grinder will be light,quiet, durable and have a dedicated or accessory foot switch
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Last edited by omega50; 07-01-2020 at 08:04 AM.
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  #8  
Old 07-01-2020, 08:28 AM
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bat119 bat119 is offline
 
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I only make 5-15 lbs batch's these days, sold my #22 grinder made in the 50's thing weighed 60 lbs.
I bought a LEM mighty bite from Amazon light, powerful, grinds perfect, 2 year warranty, size #8 head with a #12 feed tube will grind 10 lbs. in just a few mins.
It is a little noisy and the head not dishwasher safe, parts knives, plates are easy to find.
I paid $240 all in, the price range varies from $275- $435 now.

https://www.lemproducts.com/product/...-meat-grinders
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  #9  
Old 07-01-2020, 08:31 AM
amosfella amosfella is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by omega50 View Post
I have a Samona grinder from Peavey Mart.
What it taught me beside Never buy this grinder
Decide if it will live on your counter or do you need to tuck it away between uses. My grinder is too heavy to pop in and out of a cupboard.

How much noise are you comfortable generating? Mine is brutally loud.

Look for quality.The metal surrounding my grinder head lock down screw to lock it into the base started to degrade and loosen. Pain in the assets. Had to drill and tap it 180 degrees away to get it functional again.

Next grinder will be light,quiet, durable and have a dedicated or accessory foot switch
I haven't found a light, quiet, and durable meat grinder. I spent around 4 months looking. Seems like you can have 1 or 2 of those options, but never 3.

Light generally indicates plastic gears. You can have quiet and durable, but those are usually heavy, and expensive as it comes down to the quality of the metal in the gearbox and head. Durable can come while not being quiet. Light and durable seem to be mutually exclusive.

Let me know if you find one. Or maybe you get a custom one made from carbon fiber and titanium.
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Old 07-01-2020, 11:20 AM
The Cook The Cook is offline
 
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I have a LEM 1/4 hp from Bass Pro and am very happy with it, all stainless steel and grinds faster than I can feed it. $350.00 on sale 4 years ago.
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  #11  
Old 07-01-2020, 11:30 AM
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I wanted to buy the Cabelas 1hp unit, but when I went to buy it I couldn’t believe how big it was. I didn’t need something like that to chew up a elk, moose or a few deer a year.

I bought the DC grinder and although I haven’t used it yet, I feel like it’s a better size for my application.
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Old 07-01-2020, 12:01 PM
Offwork Offwork is offline
 
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I have LEM 3/4 hp #12 grinder, for approx 10 yrs old. Works great for grounding meat, and pretty much Handles the meat as fast as I can feed it. Would only like a #22 because of the bigger tray and feed spout.

Grinding of the meat you describe for 1 dog a #12 or #22 will be more than ample size And easily handle that project. That size of machine will Also accomodate the processing of a couple hundred lbs of wild game in the fall.

Very Cold or partially frozen meat is the key for best sustained operation of a grinder. They now even sell cold insulation packs to help keep grinder head cold but no experience with this.

Cabela’s, & LEM are good brand of machines in whatever you determine is appropriate sizes. But Their models in #12 or #22 are not going to be light.

CTR Refrigeration in Edmonton or Calgary will give you good advice on grinders and will have the appropriate grinder for your needs.
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  #13  
Old 07-01-2020, 02:09 PM
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KGB KGB is offline
 
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Thank you boys, as usual you are the wealth of the info, lol!
I don’t need anything HD, I will grind maybe 10-15lb of meat and organs at one time. Some veggies too. It doesn’t have to be super fast either, I have plenty of time. And I will be cutting the meats into the smaller cubes, no problem there. The unit needs to be smaller so wife can handle it too. I’m currently looking at the LEM #8, at around $125...
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  #14  
Old 07-01-2020, 03:57 PM
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Justfishin73 Justfishin73 is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by omega50 View Post
I have a Samona grinder from Peavey Mart.
What it taught me beside Never buy this grinder
Decide if it will live on your counter or do you need to tuck it away between uses. My grinder is too heavy to pop in and out of a cupboard.

How much noise are you comfortable generating? Mine is brutally loud.

Look for quality.The metal surrounding my grinder head lock down screw to lock it into the base started to degrade and loosen. Pain in the assets. Had to drill and tap it 180 degrees away to get it functional again.

Next grinder will be light,quiet, durable and have a dedicated or accessory foot switch
The foot switch is definitely worth it
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  #15  
Old 07-01-2020, 04:50 PM
Offwork Offwork is offline
 
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For sure get foot switch. Leaves your hands free for feeding meat.
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  #16  
Old 07-01-2020, 05:01 PM
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bat119 bat119 is offline
 
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Princess auto has a Foot switch for a Meat Grinder $30
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  #17  
Old 07-01-2020, 09:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Cook View Post
I have a LEM 1/4 hp from Bass Pro and am very happy with it, all stainless steel and grinds faster than I can feed it. $350.00 on sale 4 years ago.
I have the same unit and am very pleased with it. The biggest thing is to remember to keep the meat cool otherwise it will gum up.
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