Just burned up a .5hp Waring Grinder that was a gift many years ago.
I do not grind a lot of meat over the course of the year, maybe 200#s at the most. Most of my grinding involves making lots of 10 to 20#s of sausage now and then cause I'm in the mood.
Looking at Cabela's new Carnivore Grinder either in 1hp or 1.5hp. The 1hp appears to be adequate for my needs, (13# of meat per minute)
Where I have had problems in the past is with fat and colligen type materials. I do my best to make sure every thing is suitably cold enough I have kept blades sharp but am tired of pulling the auger to clean it of clogged material.
Will the 1hp and a #22 blade keep this from happening, for a few extra dollar will going up to the 1.5hp and a #32 blade help past this material even better?
Any thoughts would be appreciated
Thanks

I've had a Cabela's 1hp grinder for several years now (probably getting close to a decade). I grind about 200-300 pounds per year of various critters, maybe a bit more in good years. I grind and mix sausage, but I don't use the grinder to stuff casings. I have a manual stuffer for that duty. I keep the knives sharp and haven't had any significant issues with clogging. Occasionally I've fed it too much fatty meat too fast and choked it a bit, but a good push with the stomper usually sorts that out. Not long ago I used it to grind the trimmings from three cow elk, all of which passed through the grinder twice (coarse and fine). I had to get aggressive with the stomper five or six times, but the only time I even shut it off was to change plates and let the motor cool for a while.

I've been very pleased with the grinder and would definitely buy one again, though I'd probably go ahead and get the bigger one just to grind a little faster.

Thanks, I've always used my meat grinder to stuff my sausages, never tried a manual sausage stuffer.
I'm sure that a 1hp will more than do the job, could use the money for accessories than a bigger machine, but hell I'm an American need that HP..

I've been using my manual model for years + my boys grew up with it as well.I also use a cast iron stuffer that I got from an old hunting camp from the 1920's. Still works great.

If your only making 10 - 20 pounds of sausage at a time I can't see how you would need a 1 horsepower grinder, or even close to that.

My LEM .35 horsepower grinder does that and more easily.

I use their (LEM) separate stuffer for stuffing sausage. You can get them in 5 lb, 10 lb, and 20 lb sizes.

http://www.lemproducts.com/cat...mwTHM9APgaAmtw8P8HAQ

I spent the first 18 years of my working life in the retail meat industry. If your getting that much grissle and connective tissue clogging up your worm in the grinder. You might do a better job prepping the meet. I use a 1 hp cabelas grinder for processing deer & hogs here on the ranch and it works fine.

Bought a Weston 1hp.... WOW

We have a Toledo (think Hobart) it weigh's about 100 lbs and has ground 1000's of lb's of moose and caribou. It's a huge workhorse and I see them on E-Bay pretty reasonably priced and will grind whales up without breaking a sweat!

Just a thought on clogging due to fat and other items, my ex Fatherinlaw and I used to make lots of sausage and when that happened he would just put a slice of bread through the grinder always cleared it out and that little bit never seemed to matter on the 200 or 300 lbs of sausage we were making.

How many of you either grind partially defrosted meat or add ice to prevent melting the fat - for better texture. ??

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
How many of you either grind partially defrosted meat or add ice to prevent melting the fat - for better texture. ??

I like to grind meat that's partially defrosted after being frozen. Rips right through the grinder with even fewer problems. If you can freeze it first, do so. I generally don't like to add ice because I don't want the extra moisture in the meat.