Looking to buy a meat grinder for Deer

[FrontenacPike]

I am looking to buy a meat grinder within a week or so. So far I have looked at the Cabelas commercial grades. I started reading the reviews from lowest to high and got scared off after about the second page. What is everyone using out there to grind venison, pork, and beef tallow?

Suggestion, experience, and what not to buy would all be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[jkcmj]

My brother bought a big commercial unit, and he is always putting off grinding and processing due to the size of clean-up chore, getting it ready, etc. I bought the little $80 unit at fleet farm and have processed a couple dozen with it. I did need to order replacement blade for the grinder after a couple years, but they were not very expensive. I see fleet farm now has then in stock as well. I can have my deer cut up and in the freezer already ground and packaged in about 2 hours. If you plan to process a half dozen at a time, it might pay to go with a heavy duty one, but I usually only do 4 or 5 a year, and usually cut and grind same or next day, so the normal size works great for me.

[Ferny]

Why not get a hand grinder for your first one? You can grind plenty of meat by hand for burger or sausage. Seems like we get about 2 ice cream buckets of scraps after we butcher.

Doesn't take all that long to do it by hand. Then if you like it you can buy a power grinder in the off season when they are cheaper. One tip when grinding is to slightly freeze the meat before grinding. It is much easier that way. You can also stuff with a hand grinder but it can get a little pasty from regrinding. Some of my best summer sausage I did was with a hand grinder and a box of seasoning from Northern Handyman.

Ferny.

[analyzer]

I think I just saw one on a certain l i s t online.

[NWBuck]

We have the Cabela's commercial grade grinder, but the smallest size (1/2 hp). This thing is amazing if you plan to do a lot of grinding. We have ground 30-40 lbs in just a few minutes. No need to run it through a bigger screen first...it has plenty of power for grinding through the small screen in one trip. We've also ground pork and tallow for sausage making and it's a breeze.

A bit of a clean up hassle, but well worth the time, effort and money.

[96trigger]

I have the cabelas 1 h.p grinder. It works awesome. We use it to grind meat and stuff polish, german, and summer sausage. Stuffing takes a little bit of technique, but once you get the hang of it, it works great. I would recommend that grinder to anyone. I was ready to buy a separate stuffer for processing, but the grinder really works well, surprisingly well actually, so we bought a bigger smoker instead. I can't say enough positives about it. The one thing that I should note, is that if you are going to stuff the smaller sausages, you need a couple of people. If you are just grinding meat a deer or two a year, it is probably overkill. I went in on that grinder with 2 other people, it probably grinds 10-15 deer a year.

[Gissert]

I have a Lemm, think I paid about 200 bucks for it. We have been very happy with it.

[InTheNorthwoods]

I picked one up at Menards during the deer season last year for under 50 bucks. It worked flawlessly on the two deer I ran through it - I ground up 90% of the whole deer last year. I would stay away from Cabelas model or sporting goods store models unless you are going "big"/"commercial" sized. You will pay alot for the name on the grinder but not be getting any additional power. I also like the idea of a power grinder rather than a hand grinder if you are doing the work yourself. You can keep grinding while cutting trim and you don't need a table to clamp/attach the hand grinder down to.

Just my opinion.

[fr0sty]

My wife has a kitchenaid mixer. I purchased a meat grinder attachment for it. It works fine for deer trim.

[LightningBG]

I use the attachment on the KitchenAid as well. So does Ebiz. Works pretty well.

The last think I need is another small appliance. I have a closet full of them already.

[mnbuckhunter]

I have an LEM brand and love it. It was a little pricey but appears that it will last me forever. Seems to be a well built machine. I think you can get them at fleet farm.

It really depends on how much you're planning on using it though. If you're only going to be doing the trimmings of one deer a year into burger, I think a hand crank one would work just fine. And they're small and simple.

Whatever you get, if it's cast iron, take care of it! Don't let it rust. I usually dry mine well after washing and spray mine with a food grade silicone spray.

[uptracker]

We've burned out quite a few motors and now use the biggest hand crank that is offered under the Cabela's name. Works great...

[End of the Line]

I think I'd need to know how much you think your going to use a grinder each year and how many pounds of meat your going to put through it. I have used several different ones and I dont think I'd bother with anything less than 1/2hp if your looking for an electric. Some of those old Hobarts are indestructible.

[FrontenacPike]

I will be doing anywhere from 3 to 5 deer a year. I used a friends electric Grinder last year and was able to cut chunks as it ground, it was a Cabelas Pro Grinder. I only did 1 deer last year just to try it out. I wasn't too impressed because it got plugged all the time with any fat that went through. I also ground up some pork and that was a nightmare. Not sure if i did it right or if it was the grinder but it was constantly getting plugged.

I plan on grinding venison and pork. I don't really want a hand grinder because typically it will be me working on it alone, and I'm lazy. Thanks for posting guys!!!

[End of the Line]

If you want a good product and the knives/plates keep getting plugged it could be a few things but the main ones that does it is usually tallow/tendons from deer. I don't care how good of a grinder & knives you have if you put too much deer tallow/tendons through it its gonna get plugged.

I have a huge commercial Hobart 7.5hp grinder/mixer and even that one will get plugged with too much deer tallow and tendons. There are several small things that you can do to help keep a grinder from plugging up too. As mentioned above, slightly frozen meat, keep the knives matched with the plates sizes, grind pork last over venison... and there are more........

My process is slightly different but you could do it similarly. One trick I do is that I grind all the pork through a 1/2" plate first. Then I mix it with my venison that I cut up and run it through the grinder again. I use the slightly frozen venison to 'push' the pork through. Mine is different because I add the seasoning, mix, and grind all in one step because of my grinder as I run it through the second time. I am only grinding the deer meat once and the pork twice since pork usually runs through pretty clean.

I've never used the Cabela's grinders but have used light 'household' type models and a few of the LEM grinders. I guess I wouldn't want anything less then the 3/4 hp for me but I am impatient and don't like to wait if I know there is a faster and easier way of doing it. Besides if you ever wanted to add the mixer option attachment then you'd have enough hp to so. I also mention those older commercial countertop type Hobarts. Those things have a solid cast frame and the motors are strong, but they can be hard to find for a reasonable price. Good luck, just my two cents.

[LatLong]

We have a Cabela's commercial grade 1/2 hp. We do anywhere from 1-4 deer per year. We do a lot of sausage and brats. The grinder works great. You can stuff the thing full and the motor barely changes pitch. Another thing I like is the large neck on this grinder. We used the Kitchen Aid for a couple years but you have to trim the pieces down so much more to go down the neck. I will agree with other replys that partially frozen meat works well and to get as much membrane/tendons off the meat as possible or you will plug up. We also bought a LEM 5 lb stuffer..after having used that I wouldn't do it any other way.

[mnbuckhunter]

We also bought a LEM 5 lb stuffer..after having used that I wouldn't do it any other way.

+1 on the stuffer! I have a Cabela's vertical 20# and it works great!