What a painful experience, KitchenAid sausage stuffer, what a PITA, looking for suggestions.

[kilohertz]

I want to start making sausages and in particular snack sticks so I thought a nice easy way would be to start with kits, get the feel for it and go from there. I have the Hi Mountain snack stick kits and made a small 2lb batch, followed the directions to a T, and then came the stuffing. It took 10 minutes to mix all the ingredients and over an hour to stuff 2 lbs of meat...there HAS to be a better way. I have had the stand mixer for years and it's awesome for bread making, icing and cakes etc., I've had the grinder/stuffer combo for years but never used it until today. The meat mixture turned out fine, I think, it set up as it was mixing for 5 minutes, I thought it was a good consistency but when I tried stuffing it into the hole of the mixer it kept getting stuck on the plunger and pulling back out of the hopper, tried using a spoon and that didn't work any better, it just took forever (1.5 hours) to make 6 links about 15" long. I was using the 21mm tube which matched the collagen cases that came in the kit.

Any suggestions on how to make this work properly? I thought it might take 10 minutes to stuff 2 lbs, not 1.5 hours.

Any guidance would be great. I am also open to other stuffing options or suggestions.

Thanks

 

[DougE]

LEM 5lb stuffer and never look back. Grinders grind well but aren't ideal for stuffing, as you're finding out. Looks like you made it work well enough, though. You will not regret having a dedicated stuffer if you intend to make sausages on a regular basis.

 

[indaswamp]

A grinder is the absolute worst tool on the planet for stuffing snack sticks, as you just found out. As mentioned, buy a 5# sausage stuffer and make it a breeze. Well worth the money and can be had around $100 bucks last I checked....watch for sales....

 

[indaswamp]

can also use a jerky gun for small 2# batches and it is a whole lot cheaper....but a dedicated sausage stuffer would be my preferred option.

 

[DougE]

A grinder is the absolute worst tool on the planet for stuffing snack sticks, as you just found out. As mentioned, buy a 5# sausage stuffer and make it a breeze. Well worth the money and can be had around $100 bucks last I checked....watch for sales....

I think my LEM 5lb was more like $200, but it came with some spice blends and collagen casings.

 

[kilohertz]

LEM 5lb stuffer and never look back. Grinders grind well but aren't ideal for stuffing, as you're finding out. Looks like you made it work well enough, though. You will not regret having a dedicated stuffer if you intend to make sausages on a regular basis.

This one? A little more than $100 here in Canada .

The stand mixer goes back to dough making duties, I see a dedicated stuffer arriving soon. I'll find a few options and ask you folks what you think, right now $300 is a little steep.

Cheers

Amazon LEM 5#

PS yes, I will be making suasages from now on, like I did with bacon which I started making this past winter...Mmmmmm

 

[kilohertz]

I just did a quick search on this forum and there is quite a lot of info on dedicated stuffers, some good reading in the next few days.

Thanks guys.

Cheers

 

[DougE]

Yeah, that is the one I have.

 

[DougE]

I paid like $200 bucks and got it through Tractor Supply with 6 months interest free financing. In other words, rather than paying it all up front, I used their money and just had a small monthly payment.

 

[Fueling Around]

I haven't much luck with the meat grinder or sausage stuffer on the kitchen aid. Mine is the all plastic attachment.
Luckily, i have my father-in-laws cast iron stuffer. It has the meat wasting bottom horn, but the first 8# is great.
Look around. Maybe you can find one at a yard sale or flea market

 

[kilohertz]

I haven't much luck with the meat grinder or sausage stuffer on the kitchen aid. Mine is the all plastic attachment.
Luckily, i have my father-in-laws cast iron stuffer. It has the meat wasting bottom horn, but the first 8# is great.
Look around. Maybe you can find one at a yard sale or flea market

Too funny, I know I have one of those old cast-iron grinders that I’ve had for years and haven’t used, not sure where it is but should be able to find it within one or two weeks ha ha it’s the old clamp on the countertop big grinder with various plates and a few stuffing tubes, but I don’t think that’s what you’re referring to. I’ll continue my search.

Yes, I’ll start looking around local secondhand stores and classifieds, I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with something faster than through the Internet.

Thanks!

 

[DougE]

John is referring to a cast iron version of what I have. I have seen a few around here that were mainly used as lard presses, but I believe they are the same.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

I recently went thru the same thing making 10 pounds of sausages. I bought an all stainless attachment and it did the grinding just fine but the stuffing was a chore. The plastic plunger was too small and it pushed more meat back up the tube than went into the stuffer.

I ended up getting a LEM stuffer to save myself the headache next time.

 

[tallbm]

I want to start making sausages and in particular snack sticks so I thought a nice easy way would be to start with kits, get the feel for it and go from there. I have the Hi Mountain snack stick kits and made a small 2lb batch, followed the directions to a T, and then came the stuffing. It took 10 minutes to mix all the ingredients and over an hour to stuff 2 lbs of meat...there HAS to be a better way. I have had the stand mixer for years and it's awesome for bread making, icing and cakes etc., I've had the grinder/stuffer combo for years but never used it until today. The meat mixture turned out fine, I think, it set up as it was mixing for 5 minutes, I thought it was a good consistency but when I tried stuffing it into the hole of the mixer it kept getting stuck on the plunger and pulling back out of the hopper, tried using a spoon and that didn't work any better, it just took forever (1.5 hours) to make 6 links about 15" long. I was using the 21mm tube which matched the collagen cases that came in the kit.

Any suggestions on how to make this work properly? I thought it might take 10 minutes to stuff 2 lbs, not 1.5 hours.

Any guidance would be great. I am also open to other stuffing options or suggestions.

Thanks

View attachment 670737

Yeah I'm with everyone on buying a dedicated stuffer.

I personally would get a 7 pound stuffer so you can actually load and stuff 5 pound batches. The 5 pound stuffers will only fit about 4 pounds.

Some folks don't like the design where the stuffing horn drops out of the bottom with a little "elbow" setup but at 7 pounds I don't think you can avoid that design. No big deal because you will definitely be able to stuff 5 pounds even if a little meat is left behind in that elbow.

People on SMF have reported Hakka as being a good brand and for less than a 5 pound LEM stuffer ($136 and has 5% off coupon) here is the Hakka 7 pounder :D

https://www.amazon.com/Sausage-Stuffer-Stainless-Vertical-HAKKA/dp/B011RN5QN4/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2J5L38HS6ALOZ&keywords=7+pound+sausage+stuffer&qid=1689572953&sprefix=7+pound+sausage+stuffe%2Caps%2C122&sr=8-2&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0

Just figured this info may help :)

 

[bill ace 350]

LEM 5lb or a Jerky Cannon.

The LEM stuffers are great. Have a 5lb manual and 20lb motorized.

Had a 15lb manual but gave it to a friend.

Wish I still had it.

Your sticks look good.

 

[LoydB]

I started out on a KA like many. It works, but it sucks. When I got a real grinder and stuffer my sous chef/wife became much more amenable to helping… It’s a night and day difference that saves hours.

 

[02ebz06]

I'm not a fan of combo devices.
They do both things, but typically don't do great for either.

I have a Weston 5# stuffer now, but if I can convince SWMBO, I want to get one of these:
A 10# electric stuffer. SO much easier having both hands free.
Lem Stuffers

 

[bill ace 350]

I'm not a fan of combo devices.
They do both things, but typically don't do great for either.

I have a Weston 5# stuffer now, but if I can convince SWMBO, I want to get one of these:
A 10# electric stuffer. SO much easier having both hands free.
Lem Stuffers

I've been looking at one of those for a long time...

 

[zwiller]

can also use a jerky gun for small 2# batches and it is a whole lot cheaper....but a dedicated sausage stuffer would be my preferred option.

+1. Heads up even with a stuffer, sticks are NOT easy to stuff. Takes a LOT of force. I did not know this. Jerky gun is 100x easier. I use a gun for everything. To me its like all things and a balancing act of ease of use and cleaning. Gun is far easier and faster to clean. Key to the gun is finding fave method to load and for me that's an ice cream scoop. That said, I saw a clip of a guy rolling log shapes and will try that someday. All this being said, your first few sausage runs are gonna be brutal. Just the way it is. I still find the process messier than I'd like it to be but the rewards make up for it. Each run you will get a little better and work things out. The key is to embrace that and just push forward.

 

[Brokenhandle]

I have a Hakka horizontal 7 lb stuffer, and love it. Had it for a few years, think it was around $100 new.

Ryan