# Hard to crank sausage stuffer



## burly (Apr 14, 2019)

My buddy and I are getting ready for our annual Sausage Fest but we have one recurring problem. We have your basic 5 lb LEM sausage stuffer with a crank handle and it is all we can to do to crank the thing, especially with the snack sticks. You can tell we are putting a lot of stress on the handle and the gears and I'm afraid we will break something. What are we doing wrong? One thing we have thought of is the mix might be to tacky/sticky but we don't want to add more water because that would mess the recipes up. Any suggestions or tip are welcome.


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## Braz (Apr 14, 2019)

A little cooking oil on the plunger "O" ring might help.


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## Steve H (Apr 14, 2019)

Are you stuffing right away or letting the meat set first?


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## chopsaw (Apr 14, 2019)

I have the same stuffer . I have to stuff Stix right away , and do need to add a bit water sometimes .


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## Steve H (Apr 14, 2019)

I was warned, thankfully, that you need to stuff snack sticks right away.


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## kit s (Apr 14, 2019)

burly said:


> My buddy and I are getting ready for our annual Sausage Fest but we have one recurring problem. We have your basic 5 lb LEM sausage stuffer with a crank handle and it is all we can to do to crank the thing, especially with the snack sticks. You can tell we are putting a lot of stress on the handle and the gears and I'm afraid we will break something. What are we doing wrong? One thing we have thought of is the mix might be to tacky/sticky but we don't want to add more water because that would mess the recipes up. Any suggestions or tip are welcome.


Lube is probably needed on worm screw for plunger. Use a food grade...clean screw with rest when washing all.
More moister in meat will also help, but I found it was the lack of lube on the screw.


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## chef jimmyj (Apr 14, 2019)

Most common response...More Water. It has no effect on the flavor as excess will leak out through the casing or evaporate during cooking / smoking. Had the same issue splitting a batch of Kielbasa mix between 38mm and 19mm casing for Kabanosy. My mentor said to add more water. Hanging in the smoker, the water dripped off the Kabanosy compared to no drip from the Kielbasa. There was no noticeable flavor change. I even let the Kabanosy hang over night with the smoker door open, on a breezy night. It dried more and firmed up like snack sticks...JJ


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## dward51 (Apr 14, 2019)

Sounds like your meat mix is too stiff. Try adding a little more water right before the stuff.  Will not affect the flavor (or if you are using beer as your liquid, add more of that).  Also what size tube are you stuffing into?  I have a 9mm tube that is a pain to use, but for the super slim sticks, that is what is needed.  The LEM stick tube (3/8" inner diameter and 1/2" outer) is not bad at all.


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## buzzy (Apr 14, 2019)

Ok so I never used a 5# stuffer mines 15# so I’m going on remembering what I read on here. Not the best choice. A 5# stuffer is the hardest stuffer to make snack sticks with because of dimension & the hydraulics it creates. Load stuffer an let set at room temp until condensation forms on it it will make it easier   Remember I have not tried this myself but other have suggested Here’s some info found to read. Good Stuffing

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/need-snack-stick-help.284012/://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/need-snack-stick-help.284012/


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## daveomak (Apr 14, 2019)

_A 5# stuffer is the hardest stuffer to make snack sticks with because of dimension & the hydraulics it creates.
_
You have that backwards....   

5# stuffer makes sticks easier than say a 15# stuffer....  
On a 5# stuffer, the piston is smaller, the tubes are the same on both...   That transfers to it takes more pressure on a larger piston to achieve the same results...  
Say it takes 5#'s per square inch to make sticks...  If the piston is 50 sq. in., that comes out to 10#'s pressure...  if the piston is 100 sq. in. that comes out to 20#'s pressure...


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## buzzy (Apr 14, 2019)

daveomak said:


> _A 5# stuffer is the hardest stuffer to make snack sticks with because of dimension & the hydraulics it creates.
> _
> You have that backwards....
> 
> ...



Dave thanks for the refresher. I was going bye memory & figures I’d get it backwards. Tried to find info but couldn’t come up with what I was looking for.  That’s what’s great about this place always got someone watching your back


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## buzzy (Apr 14, 2019)

buzzy said:


> Dave thanks for the refresher. I was going bye memory & figures I’d get it backwards. Tried to find info but couldn’t come up with what I was looking. That’s what’s great about this place always got someone watching your back


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## chef jimmyj (Apr 14, 2019)

There used to be a video on the LEM site showing, Snack stick stuffing with a 5 and 15 pound stuffer. The 5 pound worked fine but the Shaft on the 15 pound model bent and twisted. I looked but it is no longer there...JJ


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## burly (Apr 15, 2019)

Ok guys. Thanks for the tips. We'll give adding more water a try. We regularly lube the stuffer.


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## daveomak (Apr 16, 2019)

Lube the o-ring and piston very well... and the side walls of the canister..


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