Need advice on picking out the right grinder

pipelinegypsy · Mar 12, 2016

Hey Y'all! Hope everyone is having a great weekend. So I just bought 110 lbs of pork butts and I plan to grind most of it for sausage. I don't think my little Kitchen Aid grinder attachment is going to like me very much if I use that, and I know I won't be very happy by the time I'm done. So I think this is a great time to invest in an electric grinder. I've never had one, never used one, never even seen one. So I most certainly don't know how to shop for one because I know nothing about them. I only want something that is good quality that will last a long time and I plan to use it quite a bit. Suggestions, tips, warnings, do's, don'ts? Thanks!!

PG

johnnyb54 · Mar 12, 2016

PipelineGypsy, I started out with the Kitchen-Aid grinder and quickly out grew that. I graduated to a Kitchener #12 ( http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200451267_200451267 ) that I was very happy with for a number of years. Recently I picked up a #12 LEM Big Bite grinder that is one solid piece of machinery. The Kitchener grinds great but if you decide to go that route upgrade the grinder plates to stainless steel as the plates that come with the Kitchener are carbon steel and quickly rust if not careful. I used to clean the carbon plates one at a time then dry them and immediately coat with cooking oil. The big advantage between the Kitchener and the LEM Big Bite is speed of grinding and the ease of a second grind. The Kitchener has plastic gears while the more higher end grinders (LEM, Cabellas, Weston) will have metal gears. If you're on a budget the Notherner will do fine. If you want a grinder that will last a lifetime and give you no regrets then go with the LEM or similar.

dirtsailor2003 · Mar 12, 2016

A while back I purchased a STX turbo force of Amazon. Last night we ground 20# of pork butt. My son was grinding as I was cutting up the meat. I couldn't keep up!

image.jpeg

dirtsailor2003
Mar 12, 2016

I can't recommend anything from LEM. Their customer service is horrible.

ddavis · Mar 12, 2016

I picked up a Gander Mountain 15# on Craigslist for 100$. I've done more than 200 lbs of sausage with no problems.

Darrell

tropics · Mar 12, 2016

johnnyb54 said:
PipelineGypsy, I started out with the Kitchen-Aid grinder and quickly out grew that. I graduated to a Kitchener #12 ( http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200451267_200451267 ) that I was very happy with for a number of years. Recently I picked up a #12 LEM Big Bite grinder that is one solid piece of machinery. The Kitchener grinds great but if you decide to go that route upgrade the grinder plates to stainless steel as the plates that come with the Kitchener are carbon steel and quickly rust if not careful. I used to clean the carbon plates one at a time then dry them and immediately coat with cooking oil. The big advantage between the Kitchener and the LEM Big Bite is speed of grinding and the ease of a second grind. The Kitchener has plastic gears while the more higher end grinders (LEM, Cabellas, Weston) will have metal gears. If you're on a budget the Notherner will do fine. If you want a grinder that will last a lifetime and give you no regrets then go with the LEM or similar.

I have the Kitchener #12 it grinds faster then I can feed it.

Richie

johnnyb54 · Mar 12, 2016

dirtsailor2003 said:
A while back I purchased a STX turbo force of Amazon. Last night we ground 20# of pork butt. My son was grinding as I was cutting up the meat. I couldn't keep up!

image.jpeg

dirtsailor2003

Mar 12, 2016

I can't recommend anything from LEM. Their customer service is horrible.

Sorry to hear about your customer service problems. Anytime I had an issue, not that I have had many, their customer service reps were great to work with and any issue I had was resolved quickly and friendly. You must have gotten someone on an off day.

chef jimmyj · Mar 12, 2016

All the adds for Kitchener say a metal internals...Is this an advertising play on words? Has anyone opened one up and seen Plastic gears? Just curious because I was going to get one based on being the only grinder under $200 with metal gears...

...JJ

voodoochile · Mar 13, 2016

I have a Cabelas 1 hp and it works great

pipelinegypsy · Mar 13, 2016

OK so I was looking at the LEM grinders. Would the only difference in the #8 and #12 be speed because of the greater horsepower? And would the extra speed be worth the extra $125? I am thinking I would rather put that towards a mixer. Oh yeah, and am I understanding correctly that the grinder is what powers the mixers? Man oh man do I love new toys haha.

philh · Mar 13, 2016

I have the #8 LEM grinder and have ground hundreds of pounds of meat. It is a good grinder. It pushes meat thru faster than I can load it.

For the price it is worth it.

pineywoods · Mar 13, 2016

PipelineGypsy said:
OK so I was looking at the LEM grinders. Would the only difference in the #8 and #12 be speed because of the greater horsepower? And would the extra speed be worth the extra $125? I am thinking I would rather put that towards a mixer. Oh yeah, and am I understanding correctly that the grinder is what powers the mixers? Man oh man do I love new toys haha.

The #12 would be a bigger grinder and would have a wider feed entrance and bigger grinding plates, why this matters to some is it determines how big the chunks of meat can be to feed into the grinder. The bigger the number the bigger the neck (feed hole the meat goes in) and grinder plate, the bigger the plates the bigger the motor normally.

The mixer attachment, along with other attachments to go onto the main unit unless you get a dedicated meat mixer which would have it's own. If your wanting a mixer be sure the grinder will handle one that it will attach and that the motor is big enough to power it.

There are many grinders out there and personally I think it depends on how much and how often you are going to use it as to what to buy. I own an older LEM 1.5 hp #32 grinder but it's big and it's heavy. If I were going to buy one today it would more than likely be a Cabelas 3/4 or 1 hp because I don't grind as much or as often as I used to but it would handle a number of different attachments

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Need advice on picking out the right grinder

pipelinegypsy

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johnnyb54

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dirtsailor2003

Epic Pitmaster

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ddavis

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tropics

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johnnyb54

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chef jimmyj

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voodoochile

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pipelinegypsy

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philh

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pineywoods

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