Sausage Stuffer
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big toe
Newbie
I've been looking at the verticle stuffers for a long time and i also have been watching the Lem with the metal gears. I came close to getting the northern tool because of price but concerned with the nylon gears also dont know if i can get a smaller tube through northern so havent pulled trigger yet. This looks like a great stuffer and i think i am going to follow your lead and order one for myself as well.
diggingdogfarm
Master of the Pit
diggingdogfarm
Master of the Pit
Oh, and another thing...if you do get an off-brand...make sure parts are readily available....especially the special gaskets. that's been a big problem for some folks.
Some folks are left with stuffers that are unusable.
Parts are readily available for the LEM.
Just sayn'.....
~Martin
Some folks are left with stuffers that are unusable.
Parts are readily available for the LEM.
Just sayn'.....
~Martin
I'll agree with Martin... the elbow on the bottom will leave a lot of meat in it... Also I would rather the canister rest on the bottom instead of on those 4 little bolts... as for plastic gears.. I modified mine to make the gears mesh tighter... it use to pop and skip gears when doing snack sticks... with the mods it works like a champ now and I don't have to water the meat down any more....
voodoochile
Meat Mopper
bryceb
Smoke Blower
Do you do any small diameter casing stuffing like snack sticks? How does it do?
We called LEM and they specifically told us to not go larger than a 5lbs stuffer because it was to hard to crank the larger stuffers with small diameter output.
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voodoochile
Meat Mopper
I dont use it for snack sticks . I rarely make them but I have an older 5 lb Sausage Maker stuffer I use for them.
This is what I love about this site: So much great advice and feedback, some of which I hadn't even considered. I still think I'm looking forward to trying this out (and saving about $40), but time will tell.
I watched an Alton Brown episode once that mentioned using white bread to clean out the sausage stuffer, and that gives me the idea to use plain ground meat on top of what is left in the stuffer to force most of the remaining mixed sausage out, then combine anything else with the plain ground meat to make burgers. I'd hate to waste anything!
Meanwhile, I'll make some sausage and snack sticks in the next few months and post again about this product.
I watched an Alton Brown episode once that mentioned using white bread to clean out the sausage stuffer, and that gives me the idea to use plain ground meat on top of what is left in the stuffer to force most of the remaining mixed sausage out, then combine anything else with the plain ground meat to make burgers. I'd hate to waste anything!
Meanwhile, I'll make some sausage and snack sticks in the next few months and post again about this product.
I have an Lem 5lb. stuffer and am very pleased with it. I've used it to stuff snack sticks into 21mm collagen casings without any issues.
goliath
Smoking Fanatic
OK .... LEM 10 pound SS stuffer WITH THE BIG ELBOW ...
i have this stuffer and LEM actually sells a tube to do 19mm snack sticks, pepperoni or whatever. has never missed a beat with me and i do it as a 1 man show....
clamp it to my work station and crank away. what they do say is DONT use the stuffersr ones. http://www.lemproducts.com/product/jerky-cannon-stuffing-tube/sausage-stuffing-tubes
AS FOR LEAVING MEAT IN THE ELBOW !!!!!!! i add some wet bread once i have bottomed out and continue to stuff . works excellent. folks on here mentioned to use wet bread with the grinders so i tried it with the stuffer also and it is very efficient.
Goliath
i have this stuffer and LEM actually sells a tube to do 19mm snack sticks, pepperoni or whatever. has never missed a beat with me and i do it as a 1 man show....
clamp it to my work station and crank away. what they do say is DONT use the stuffersr ones. http://www.lemproducts.com/product/jerky-cannon-stuffing-tube/sausage-stuffing-tubes
AS FOR LEAVING MEAT IN THE ELBOW !!!!!!! i add some wet bread once i have bottomed out and continue to stuff . works excellent. folks on here mentioned to use wet bread with the grinders so i tried it with the stuffer also and it is very efficient.
Goliath
5lb lem for me and has not missed a lick and I do a lot of snack sticks and s/s. I only do 5lb,10lb or 12lb batches at a time once in a while I will do larger batches but for those smaller amounts 5lb lem will do you fine IMO just need to refill more, BUT if you are planning on doing a lot of larger batches I would go with a larger stuffer it will save you a lot of time on refilling
A full stuffer is a happy stuffer
DS
A full stuffer is a happy stuffer
DS
bryceb quote......
We called LEM and they specifically told us to not go larger than a 5lbs stuffer because it was to hard to crank the larger stuffers with small diameter output.
For making snack sticks, anything larger than a 5# stuffer can be a problem... It's the piston diameter to tube opening that creates the pressure problem....
We called LEM and they specifically told us to not go larger than a 5lbs stuffer because it was to hard to crank the larger stuffers with small diameter output.
For making snack sticks, anything larger than a 5# stuffer can be a problem... It's the piston diameter to tube opening that creates the pressure problem....
pahunter62
Newbie
- Oct 5, 2014
- 4
- 10
I've been looking for a while too. I'm down to either the LEM, or the one from Walton's Inc
http://www.waltonsinc.com/p-446-11-lb-sausage-stuffer.aspx
This one also has metal gears and good reviews. Anyone have one? Comments?
http://www.waltonsinc.com/p-446-11-lb-sausage-stuffer.aspx
This one also has metal gears and good reviews. Anyone have one? Comments?
I have a 5# LEM, I like it, so far not a single problem doing 46MM for Andouille
or 19MM snack stix.
Or even standard smoked sausages
I like 5# currently for two reasons, one I can make different types out of a 20 # Cryopac, and it allows my sausage to stay colder till use.
I am not a Pro, just learning but at this point I am more than happy with my 5# LEM.
or 19MM snack stix.
Or even standard smoked sausages
I like 5# currently for two reasons, one I can make different types out of a 20 # Cryopac, and it allows my sausage to stay colder till use.
I am not a Pro, just learning but at this point I am more than happy with my 5# LEM.
smokin' burt
Smoke Blower
Hello all,
The Mrs. bought me a 15 lb. stuffer from Sausage maker for Xmas back in '06. It had the polymer gears even though the box it came in said "stainless steel gears". When I called and asked why mine had polymer gears they said, "Oh, we stopped making them with metal gears a few years ago". Well it sat in the closet for the first few years I had it because when I get together with my buddies during deer season to make fresh sausage in a casing, we just put a stuffing horn for hog casing on my big Hobart grinder and run off 25-50 lbs. or so with no problem. I used the stuffer once to make a batch of bologna in 2.5" casings once about 5 years ago and it worked OK and then it sat until last deer season when I had some friends that wanted some venison bologna made. We got the first 10 lbs. done and partway into stuffing the second batch the %&@*#% thing broke a tooth. I took it to our local Sausage maker outlet and the clown who calls himself manager gave me a runaround about it being abused etc. I told him, "Look fella, this thing has had less than 50 lbs. of meat through it. No I can't prove that but it's a fact. If you won't do right by me, I'll call you're Customer Service dept. and have a nice chat with them". He agreed to get me a new set of gears and install them.
A week later he called me and told me he had my stuffer ready to pick up. About three weeks later, I attempted to make bologna for my bro-in-law who killed a nice doe in our late Archery season after Christmas. I got about 2-3" of a log stuffed and the gears started slipping so badly that I wasn't able to finish the job with it. I went out to the garage, built a fire in the wood stove as it was in the teens out and later finished stuffing with my Hobart grinder and oh boy, was I pi$$ed!!... I called Sausage maker the next day and gave them an earful!! They said send it up right away and we'll make it right.
The only thing I can see that they've done is to weld in a stainless spacer above the top gear so that it can't hop above the lower gear. I've yet to try it but will be doing so soon. I will keep you all informed of the outcome.
My advise.... DON'T BUY any model with polymer gears from Sausage Maker. They're junk!!
Smokin' Burt
The Mrs. bought me a 15 lb. stuffer from Sausage maker for Xmas back in '06. It had the polymer gears even though the box it came in said "stainless steel gears". When I called and asked why mine had polymer gears they said, "Oh, we stopped making them with metal gears a few years ago". Well it sat in the closet for the first few years I had it because when I get together with my buddies during deer season to make fresh sausage in a casing, we just put a stuffing horn for hog casing on my big Hobart grinder and run off 25-50 lbs. or so with no problem. I used the stuffer once to make a batch of bologna in 2.5" casings once about 5 years ago and it worked OK and then it sat until last deer season when I had some friends that wanted some venison bologna made. We got the first 10 lbs. done and partway into stuffing the second batch the %&@*#% thing broke a tooth. I took it to our local Sausage maker outlet and the clown who calls himself manager gave me a runaround about it being abused etc. I told him, "Look fella, this thing has had less than 50 lbs. of meat through it. No I can't prove that but it's a fact. If you won't do right by me, I'll call you're Customer Service dept. and have a nice chat with them". He agreed to get me a new set of gears and install them.
A week later he called me and told me he had my stuffer ready to pick up. About three weeks later, I attempted to make bologna for my bro-in-law who killed a nice doe in our late Archery season after Christmas. I got about 2-3" of a log stuffed and the gears started slipping so badly that I wasn't able to finish the job with it. I went out to the garage, built a fire in the wood stove as it was in the teens out and later finished stuffing with my Hobart grinder and oh boy, was I pi$$ed!!... I called Sausage maker the next day and gave them an earful!! They said send it up right away and we'll make it right.
The only thing I can see that they've done is to weld in a stainless spacer above the top gear so that it can't hop above the lower gear. I've yet to try it but will be doing so soon. I will keep you all informed of the outcome.
My advise.... DON'T BUY any model with polymer gears from Sausage Maker. They're junk!!
Smokin' Burt
diggingdogfarm
Master of the Pit
OMG!!!!!!!!
So you took it to the store in Horseheads?
That's about 2 miles from my house (as the crow flies.)
I'm not going to publically say what I think about the manager there.....other than he's a [BIG QUOTES] "nice guy." COUGH!!!!!!!!
Anyway....
This is what they officially have to say about those junk gears ....which is nothing but a BS sales pitch.......
"Metal gears on the 5 lb. vertical stuffer is a sensitive subject here because there really are misperceptions out there. We have tested several samples of metal gears for 5 lb stuffers and wanted to take our stuffers along that route, but after testing them we decided they are a BAD idea for our customers. Here are the reasons why:
(1.) They WILL flake metal shavings. No getting around this one - tiny metal filings will be coming off them.
(2.) There is literally no 'give' to them, when you have increased back-pressure usually when stuffing small diameter sausage sticks or small breakfast links those gears got locked up for us constantly.
(3.) They are a gimmick more than anything practical. Metal gears are actually CHEAPER than our Lubricomp Resin Gears. We get calls all the time from customers that have the metal gears. We don't want to replace something good with a gimmick. Lubricomp is no 'chinsy' plastic.
(4.) Our gears are made using our own mold by skilled plastics-tooling professionals here. The 'other guys' don't want to fork over the dough for a quality plastic mold so they buy inferior metal gears from another supplier not in this country."
Take that for what it's worth. :biggrin:
~Martin
So you took it to the store in Horseheads?
That's about 2 miles from my house (as the crow flies.)
I'm not going to publically say what I think about the manager there.....other than he's a [BIG QUOTES] "nice guy." COUGH!!!!!!!!
Anyway....
This is what they officially have to say about those junk gears ....which is nothing but a BS sales pitch.......
"Metal gears on the 5 lb. vertical stuffer is a sensitive subject here because there really are misperceptions out there. We have tested several samples of metal gears for 5 lb stuffers and wanted to take our stuffers along that route, but after testing them we decided they are a BAD idea for our customers. Here are the reasons why:
(1.) They WILL flake metal shavings. No getting around this one - tiny metal filings will be coming off them.
(2.) There is literally no 'give' to them, when you have increased back-pressure usually when stuffing small diameter sausage sticks or small breakfast links those gears got locked up for us constantly.
(3.) They are a gimmick more than anything practical. Metal gears are actually CHEAPER than our Lubricomp Resin Gears. We get calls all the time from customers that have the metal gears. We don't want to replace something good with a gimmick. Lubricomp is no 'chinsy' plastic.
(4.) Our gears are made using our own mold by skilled plastics-tooling professionals here. The 'other guys' don't want to fork over the dough for a quality plastic mold so they buy inferior metal gears from another supplier not in this country."
Take that for what it's worth. :biggrin:
~Martin
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voodoochile
Meat Mopper
I have a 5 lb sausage maker stuffer that I stripped the plastic gears (that were supposed to be metal) while stuffing snack sticks . I bought a set of metal gears from LEM and had to have a machine shop(my father in law) rethread the shaft to make them work . But now I have a 5 lb sausage maker with metal gears . I also have a 15 lb Lem so the only time I use the 5 lb is for sticks .
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