Enterprise Stuffer

[navionjim]

Last year I bought an 6 quart Enterprise Lard Press / Sausage Stuffer on Ebay and it was in fair shape but had some corrosion and a bet stuffing horn. I've been making smaller batches of sausage and bought a 5 lb stuffer form Northern Tool to use for those. But Now that I have a few recipes dialed in I'm thinking of using the Large Enterprise Stuffer.

Question is: has anyone refurbished one of these old machines? What is the best way to deal with the rust and what do you lube the screw with? Should I grease the inner walls? Any help is appreciated.
Jimbo

 

[richtee]

I bought a 50 year old one, Jim, on Ebay. Someone had Rustolium'd the 'ell out of it and made it a porch decortion. I used brake cleaner to clean out the threads and gears, and re-lubed with food grade grease and veg.oil. I cleaned out the bore and plate with laquer thinner and steel wool, then scrubbed with a brush and HOT water with a coat of veg oil first. Sand any rust on plate or bore off. Pay attention to the trough and spout area too. I season it with Pam before use and after cleaning. Its cast and fairly indestructable, have seen 'em with a cracked pressure beam, but sheesh...what were folks stuffing? Rocks?

 

[richtee]

BTW, I'm currently enacting Project "Motorize the Enterprise" Heh..

Hey how's the cherry wood? Get a chance yet?

 

[navionjim]

Thanks Rich, Planing on using the cherry this weekend and I know I still owe you a package too. I was thinking of cleaning the enterprise pretty much as you did pressure wash, abrasives and the season with Crisco in the oven. I think this one is about 80 years old, and I need to find some new stuffing tubes for it. Also the tube nut has a small crack, but it's use able. Now I see where someone Dutch I think uses electrolysis with washing soda to clean cast iron. That's a great idea! I've got to try that just because it's the sort of thing I love to do.

Making Italian and German sausage this weekend, maybe some pep too, planing on smoking at least half with your cherry.
Thanks again
Jimbo

 

[richtee]

Power wash, yeah, I din't have mine available when I got the stuffer...THAT would be the way to go. Electrolysis...how cool :{)

 

[pigcicles]

Sounds kind of Trekie... Smoking...the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Richtee Motorized Enterprise. It's five month mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new sausages and new recipes- to boldly go where no man has gone before.

 

[richtee]

I HAD actually considered a Warp Drive for it, but have you seen the price of Dylithium Crystals these days?

Dammit Jim! I'm a sausage maker and an engineer!

 

[pigcicles]

Okay last hijack... Where's Scotty.. we need MORE power!

 

[goat]

I also have an old Enterprise. Here is one place where you can get parts to rebuild them: http://www.butcher-packer.com/pages-...e-stuffer.html

 

[mossymo]

Navionjim
I have owned a few Enterprise's and I did refurbish one of them. Best way I found to clean them up to look like new is to bead blast the cast iron and steel. Then do not paint the threaded rod or the inside of the gears. Then use food safe grease on the gears and the threaded rod.For the bottom side of the plunger and the inside of the canister I just wiped it down withvegtable oil as Richtee also suggested. I have heard of people seasoning these parts in an oven with vegtable oil as you would a new cast iron pan, but I did not do that. I didn't want to wreck my paint job, guess I should have used paint that was temperature safe.

Hope this helps. I do highly recommend the bead blasting, the cast iron will look brand new after you are done.

 

[scotty]

Parts can be found here

http://www.butcher-packer.com/pages-...e-stuffer.html

 

[navionjim]

Thanks for the tips fellas. One tool I don't have is a bead blast cabinet. I used to have a cheap Harbor Freight unit but it was a piece of crap. I actually gave this stuffer to a friend who does have a nice one a year ago so he could blast it form me. But he never did and I finally got it back from him last week! While I would like to clean up the outside and make it shine, right now I'm more worried about sanitizing the working surfaces so I can actually use it, I'll worry about outside appearance later. I also see where they sell a diaphragm so the sausage doesn't squirt past the piston, is this a necessity? Can I cut on out of Teflon or even use a dozen layers of plastic wrap on the plate? Do y'all have problem with this happening? I'd like to know before I end up with 25 pounds of ground sausage and a press that won't work.
Thanks,
Jimbo

 

[mossymo]

Make sure your stuffer has the large plate and not the small one. For a wiper ring I purchased ours off of eBay.It was like $10 to $12 with shipping if I remember right.

 

[navionjim]

Thanks Mossy,
Ebay had it for $7 +3 for shipping. I'll order it
Jimbo

 

[mossymo]

Navionjim
Glad to hear your purchasing a wiper ring, you will not believe the difference it makes in stuffing. Otherwise even with a large plate you are reloading over and over what you have allready loaded into your stuffer. The wiper ring is a inexpensive fix.

 

[richtee]

Hey Jim...I make a "ring" outta plastic wrap and tuck it in around the edge of the meat. Works OK. I have a sheet of poly here I have been meaning to cut...that'll work too.

 

[poacherjoe]

Power wash, yeah, I din't have mine available when I got the stuffer...THAT would be the way to go. Electrolysis...how cool :{)

I bought one that needed some TLC to restore it. My solution for the clean up on the rust and gunk was to Zap it with a couple of "Photon Torpedos" !! This took care of all the gunk .. I spent a few hours getting all the gunk off the screw and I had to weld some extension on a couple of 1" flapper wheels so I could smooth out the troth with a die grinder. The rust had formed fissures and pitting that needed to be smoothed out, Then after the cleanup I baked it with flax oil to season it and it looks brand new and it's NOT made in China like all the SS presses nowadays