There is a little more to it. The knife must be sharp and the meat cold or it will just smear and you get a meat paste instead of ground meat.First off you will probably at some time put the knife in backwards and that will also cause smearing. take off the retaining ring, it should unscrew, you should see a plate with holes. next is the knife it is on the square shaft of the auger. it should mate flat against the plate. the auger can come out now it should have a flat or squareend that mates with the motor unit. All these pieces must be cleaned before and after using. re-assemble,Cut meat so it fits down the throat and push down with the stomper.it should grind through without any force . you just need to push the meat into the auger and let the machine do the work the meat needs to be very cold, I grind mine semi frozen. to determine what size you have measure the diamiter of the plate. You can buy new plates and knives once you know what size your grinder is. they start at 6,8,10,12,22,32 . If you are going to do sausage you probably will want to upgrade to a #22 and at least 1 hp. sausage stuffers are also a next step.