Sausage Stuffer & Meat Grinder ?

[fishawn]

Been making sausage with a "primitive" method of loading my Jerky Shooter with the ground & seasoned meat & shooting it into casings. It is labor intensive, but it does work. I like making sausage so thought about stepping up & getting some better equipment. I see Northern Tools has a grinder & stuffer for $60 & a 5# stuffer for $80 that looks pretty nice. Both got good reviews. I do a 5# batch every 5 weeks or so, so not a lot of volume. Do I get the "all in one" for $60 or go the $200 route with a better stuffer & separate grinder. Any input is appreciated & recomendations on products as well. Thanks!

 

[meat hunter]

Hey there. Well I love making sausage as well. As of now, I have a combo unit but will get a dedicated stuffer as soon as I can afford to get the one I want. The main reason being is the heat build up. When I do make suasage, its usually in the 25# batch range, Kielbasy. My combo works great for grinding, but when the stuffing horn is on, everything is restricted and the head heats up which in turn transfers to the meat. Many a times I have had to lay a ice cold rag across the head to mimimize the heat transfer. So yes, if your in this hobby for the long haul, which I think you are, get the right stuff for the right job. Heck, check on ebay for stuffers. There is an outfit out there that sells the ones made for Gander Mountain. In their ad they say they cannot list the brand name as per part of the agreement witht he outfit they bought them from. I did send them a private email and the said that they were made for gander mountain. They sell 5,10 and 15# capacity ones. Some have slight comsmetic blems, others might have a chiped or missing tooth on the gear so read the ad closely. Ill look later on ebay to see if I can find them and post their name on this thread.

By the way, isnt that Rick Flair as your avatar?

 

[fishawn]

Great info MeatHunter, yes that is Ric Flair... WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

 

[desertlites]

I also do 5-10# batches-and still hand crank with an old enterprise-have a grizzly 5# stuffer thatI really like-some day when I can afford I will get and electric grinder.and who is rick flair?

 

[blacklab]

For best results imo get seperate units one for stuffing and one for grinding. I have a grizzly 5lb stuffer and really like it, just wish it was bigger. Think I picked up for $70 including s/h.

desertlites Rick Flair pro wrestler

 

[fishawn]

Here's some Wooooooooooooooo for all of Youoooooooooo!

 

[meat hunter]

WHAT??? Ric Flair. AKA, The Nature Boy" Pro Wrestler from the early 70's to the late 80's. Wooooooooooooooooooo. You haven't seen a Pro Wrestler, until you've seen Ric Flair strut up and do his call. My dad was a Judo instructor at the University of Minnesota and every now and then, he would take me down to the this place in Minneapolis, I believe the place was called the Native American Center. Anyhow, this is the place where all the big wrestlers of the day would rehearse, I mean, practice, cuz we all know its the only honest sport left in America, so my grand dad would say LOL. I met several of them. Da Crusher. Nick Botwinkel. Jerry Hart. Verne Gangna and the High Flyers. It was quite a treat for a 10 year old kid.

 

[nater3]

I have separate units. I have a pretty cheap Cabelas electric grinder that gets the job done, but will be replaced with something heavier duty when this one dies. For my stuffer I have the LEM 5# stuffer and it is awesome. I would love for it to be bigger to save time refilling the stuffer, but other than that it is awesome. I highly recommend getting a stuffer with steel gears rather than the plastic or nylon ones. It only takes one time of replacing your gears to make up the cost.

 

[mballi3011]

I have been thinking that it time to try something new and sausage is next on my list so thanks for the infomation about northern tools I thought they were all regular tools.

 

[meat hunter]

Hey Fishawn, I looked on ebay for that one seller I mentioned below but could not find him. There are however several other stuffers on there as you probably know. One thing I wanted to say to you, and maybe you know this already, but I was told to make sure when you buy one, that the main gear is metal, not plastic. The 5# ones are more common with the plastic gears but you can find them with metal. I have read where some people have had them strip the gear so just a word of caution. There are even a boatload of those old antiquw Enterprise lard presses/sausage stuffers on ebay. Talk about heavy duty.

 

[fishawn]

Thanks for all the input..... I am leaning towards Northern Tool & Cabela's for individual components. I would like to find the metal gears also, but have got some input that the nylon ones are ok too.

Meathunter: Ric Flair just flat out cracks me up too. Great story about meeting the wrestlers as a kid. I also got to meet Jessie Ventura, The Iron Shiek, Appache Bull Remos, Johnny Eagles, Jimmy Snuka & some other's in about 1977. I got to help set up the ring & do errands for them during the day of the "matches". I always knew it was "a show" but it fun to watch. I got to talk to Jessie Ventura for about 15-20 minutes. He was really cool & having a good time.

 

[alx]

Man, guys..I remember dressing up like Hawk and a Friend was animal from the Road Warriors for halloween-( I believed then it was Georgia Championship Wrestling) in early 80 s.Rick Flair "the Golden Boy back then etc.Good times and memories...Hacksaw Jim Dugan and the Iron Sheik got caught DUI with some Farnabus one time right near here at old capital Centre in D.C........WOOOOOOOOOOO-I used to love that stuff...

 

[pops6927]

i invested in a 1hp Cabela's grinder and a 15lb. Northern Tools stainless steel stuffer with the metal gears and couldn't be happier with both. The grinder grinds and the stuffer stuffs. I can stuff with the grinder but it's slow and mushes the meat more, so that's why I got the stuffer. And, the amount left is minimal too, about ¼ to ½ lb, just right for a patty test! (I use wooden dowels to push the product out of the stuffing horn into the last end of the casing so as not to waste any of it). It was a one-time expense that is long forgotten and paid for that pays off every time I enjoy using them!

 

[seaham358]

IMO a separate unit is the best way to go. My wife picked up a Gander Mnt grinder on sale a few years ago and I love it.. What a PIA it is to stuff using the grinder.
I picked up the 5lb Gander Mnt stuffer and I LOVE this thing, makes stuffing easy.
I will NEVER make sausage/roni again unless I have a stuffer.
Check ebay and craigslist for deals... I picked up the same grinder that we paid $150 for on ebay for $45 because it leaked oil... Sold it to my friend for what I paid because he loved my grinder so much.

 

[txbigred]

Definitely get the separate stuffer, and the biggest one you can afford. I started with a 5 pounder, now have a F. Di(k 12 pounder...wish I had a 30 lbs one.

Dave

 

[marknb]

Hey Fishawn,

I just picked up a LEM 5# this spring and I love it. Has the metal gears too. When mine arrived, the stuffing tube retaining ring was broke, and LEM's customer service took care of it fast. Sent me a new one within a week. I actually crazy glued the broken one cuz I couldn't wait a week to use the stuffer. It was a little more than I was hoping to spend, and a lot less than what you can spend, and I'm very happy with it. http://www.lemproducts.com/product/496/90