Meat Grinder Question
 

There is a Guide Series 1.35 HP grinder on sale at Gander Mtn for 79 is it worth the money or should I just save and and get a good one next year...btw it's for my husband.

RE: Meat Grinder Question
 

That sounds like a really good buy to me. I use a cheap electric kitchen grinder, with good results. Many on this forum say you should buy a bigger, more expensive kind, but I disagree. It is important to know how to use the grinder properly, and to understandits limitations. With mine, I have to cut the meat into relatively thin strips, about an inch square, but no limitation on length. Occasionally when I'm grinding, the thing will get "constipated", and I have to disassemble and clean things out. This happens if I run too much sinew and fat through it.

Yesterday I ground over 20 lbs, ran through twice, took me about 2 hours. Good luck.

RE: Meat Grinder Question
 

Too small for any serious sausage making. It will work for small batches if you don't mind wasting time.I doubt that its 1.35 hp, for that money its probably .5 to .75 hp. I did 30#of meat (semi frozen) in15 minutes this morning, most of the time was spent cutting it into big chunks to feed into the grinder. You can't go too big.I would prefer a #32 size grinder for myself but I do make a lot of sausage. Most can do quitenicely with a #22. I believe the grinder advertized at GM would be a #8 The bigger the # the bigger the blade,plate and throat and therefore it can grind meat a lot quicker than a smaller one. You can also put bigger chunks of meat through it . The cheap grinders have plastic gears and they won't hold up in the long run. My grandfather purchased my grinder( an old Toledo)second hand in the 60's its all steel and built like a tank Still running great.

RE: Meat Grinder Question
 

I AGREE WITH BIG GUY01

RE: Meat Grinder Question
 

I paid about 70 bucks for my grinder almost 20 years ago, has probably had 500 lbs of venison through it. Still works fine. Plastic gears and all.

RE: Meat Grinder Question
 

sjb, do you already have a Kitchenaid stand mixer? I use the meat grinder attachment that goes on the mixer. (attachment is about 50.00)
I can easily grind at least a pound of meat per minute with it.
If you don't have one and like cooking/baking.... it's a good excuse to get one. ;)

The one for sale at Gander mountain does look like a very good deal.

RE: Meat Grinder Question
 

Its 1.35 hp, its in the ad. http://gandermountain.shoplocal.com/...anderMT-071216

RE: Meat Grinder Question
 

You can't order from Gander Mountain overthe internet?

RE: Meat Grinder Question
 

Yes It says 1.35 Hp in the add, I just find that hard to believe. I would think the add is wrong and its a misprint. There is only one way to find out buy it and see what is in the manufacturersspec sheet.
To me its sort of like buying a VW beetle with a 500 hp. engine. Not likely but possible.
The add says it can grind meat @ 2.6 lbs/min Which is in the range of a 400 watt grinder at Cabela's($70) 2 lb/min a similar looking grinder.
Cabelas rate their 3/4 hp @ 4-6 lb/min, 1 hp @ 10-12 lb/min, and their 1.5 hp @ 15-18 lbs/min

Something just doesn't seem right.

RE: Meat Grinder Question
 

I agree with big guy, something doesn't add up in the HP to output stated. I have a 1.5hp steel gears grinder (commericial grade) it pumps out around 15lbs/min (real world time not specs). It is a great tool but certainly not requiredfor a single/home user who does limited amount of grinding each year. I'd suggest something in the 3/4hp range with steel gears if your wanting to not make it a long process and mayactuallyenjoy using the grinder;).

RE: Meat Grinder Question
 

I got mine from Bass-Pro ; it is 3/4 hp. and works great it is #12 ; my wife and I did 38 lbs. of venison hamburger in about 1 1/2 hrs. thats grinding and packageing in the meat bags. I use the big sasuage tube and grind right into them.
check out Bass-Pro; I got the middle one. around $150.00

RE: Meat Grinder Question
 

First you should grind your meat twice before you make it into sausage and such, second - you should forget about them cheap grinders for making big batches of ground meat.

Any grinder will grind deer meat. But I grind mine along with pork to make sausage and if you grind large amounts of pork fat - the grinder will get bound up and you will spend more time cleaning it than making sausage.

I bought a Porket grinder and took it to a friend of mine that has a small machine shop in his basement and had him modify it.

Again, my grinder was designed for crank handle use only and I did use it that way for a couple of years - with no help before I modified it.

You cut the taper off the end of the auger and install a steel bushing with a dimple machined into the radius to hold the grub screw.

You then machine the handle so it has a round hole - clear through and then drill the side of the handle so it will accept a grub screw. That is incase you wish to use the grinder with the crank handle.

You then go to a hardware store and buy the biggest pulley that you can install on the end of the auger. Mine is 12 inches. Install the pulley on the auger and tighten the grub screw.

You then go out and find an electric motor - the bigger the better.

I have a electric motor that is out of a Eletric Circut Recloser - it looks like a drill head. You machine the small pulley to the same size as the shaft on the end of the motor.

The pulley that goes on the electric motor should be as small as you can buy it - mine is 1 1/2 inches and the motor should turn as slow as it possibly can - mine turns at 60 rpms.

You want the grinder to turn as slow as possible because you want the meat to spend as much time as possible inside of the grinder.

You want a grinder with as large a throat as you can afford - this is one time that saving a couple of dollars now - will not save you anything in the long run.

Look at swap meets and flea markets for old butcher grinders and try to buy one with a 6 inch throat if you can find it. It will grind meat just as fast as any grocery store or butcher shop.

If you are careful and take your time, you can grind 60 lbs of meat in a single hour and it will last a lifetime.

Mine is already 16 years old and I only replaced the auger one time - because I over stuffed the grinder and put too much force on the crank and broke the end of the auger off and it is cast steel and couldn't be welded and machined and be as good as the origional metal.

Forget about all them advertisements for X amount of WATTS. Thats as stupid a thing as I ever heard. All that tells you is how much power the motor consumes. Not how many horsepower the motor has.

I like a 1 to 2 horsepower electric motor if I can get it and will use nothing smaller than a 1/2 horsepower motor - because anything smaller than that - doesn't have the torque needed to grind the meat when it is froze.

The more horsepower and the slower you can turn the auger the more meat it will grind and less effort will be needed to push it down into the grinder.

My grinder is TOO SMALL and it still grinds faster than I ever could using a hand crank.
http://www.amazon.com/Porkert-Grinder-Deluxe-Sausage-Maker/dp/B000EYVRKO

RE: Meat Grinder Question
 

the grinder ion question is a .3hp grinder with a 1.35 hp motor block and a #10
dont know what the motor block is but just received one for christmas

RE: Meat Grinder Question
 

That sounds more like the truth 0.3 hp and a#10 size grinder the 1.35 hp just didn't sound right. I have no idea what a motor block would be. I believe its just a gimmic to confuse the consumer into thinking he is getting a more powerfull machine.That grinder will be ok for small jobs but not big enough to do a whole deer into sausage, in a reasonable time. IMHO