Looking at picking one up to make my own venison hamburger meat. Had some buddies tell me that a standard 200 dollar grinder from bass pro is crap and will jam on the talow. Is this true? Is there any brand you can recommend. Just plan on grinding up one or two deer per season. Not very heavy use.

I've had a Kitchener brand grinder awhile now, for the same level of use as you, and it has held up just find and works well.

I ordered the #8 from LEM. We did 90 lbs of sausage last year and it worked great. Small enough to store and pick up easily, but it has a heavy-duty feel to it. Great customer service too if anything goes wrong

We have not had any issues with ours.......its a 3/4HP bass pro grinder and have been grinding up 8-12 deer and make about 100# of pork sausage a year for the past 10+ years.

I was told not to buy anything less than 1hp.

I have a 1/3 HP LEM grinder. It works great, though I do wish I had upped it to at least 1/2 or 3/4 HP.

The trick to getting a good grind is getting the meat chilled just enough that it starts to set, but isn't frozen, and keeping your blade sharp. When it starts to warm up, that's when things start to gum up, and no matter how many HP you have it will end up the same way.

Also - dice your meat and fat, mix your spices in, then grind. You'll be much better off for it instead of trying to add seasoning in after the fact.

https://www.meatyourmaker.com/

Haven't used them, but they're running 25% off

A 1hp grinder is a hoss of a machine. Most descriptions for grinders that large are "heavy use". The 3/4hp grinders are labelled "frequent use".

I got the 1/2hp because I make sausage twice a year, and I may use it a couple more times for random stuff. Usage is "occasional use" on the website for one that size.

A 1hp is hard to pick up by yourself, and all the parts are bigger, meaning more stuff to clean up.

I have used a countertop 800W, a 0.35hp, a 1/2hp, a 1hp, and a 1-1/4 hp. After all those experiences I bought the 1/2hp.

It took about 15-20 minutes to grind 90 lbs of meat. We did it in two batches, so about 10 mins per batch, just for reference.

Price is also a consideration. I paid $289 for the #8 from LEM, but they had a sale at the time, and it was a couple years ago. They're up to $399 now. The 1HP will set you back $700

ought1ag said:

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We have not had any issues with ours.......its a 3/4HP bass pro grinder and have been grinding up 8-12 deer and make about 100# of pork sausage a year for the past 10+ years.

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I too have the 3/4 HP from bass pro and grind about 8 animals a year. It's a hoss of a grinder and no issues whatsoever.

schmellba99 said:

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I have a 1/3 HP LEM grinder. It works great, though I do wish I had upped it to at least 1/2 or 3/4 HP.

The trick to getting a good grind is getting the meat chilled just enough that it starts to set, but isn't frozen, and keeping your blade sharp. When it starts to warm up, that's when things start to gum up, and no matter how many HP you have it will end up the same way.

Also - dice your meat and fat, mix your spices in, then grind. You'll be much better off for it instead of trying to add seasoning in after the fact.

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One small edit that I learned from a pro...
I grind my fat first, and basically leave it completely frozen, as that's the part that getting warm really messes it up. I season the lean meat before grinding, grind the fat, and then mix. I've been doing the second grind after the light mixing, then add liquid ingredients, and mix until I get the binding I want. Check the temp of the mix before the second grind, and if it's over 38 (I actually shoot for lower than that), stick it back in the freezer for a while. Texture on my sausages has been much better since doing that.

Hodor said:

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schmellba99 said:

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I have a 1/3 HP LEM grinder. It works great, though I do wish I had upped it to at least 1/2 or 3/4 HP.

The trick to getting a good grind is getting the meat chilled just enough that it starts to set, but isn't frozen, and keeping your blade sharp. When it starts to warm up, that's when things start to gum up, and no matter how many HP you have it will end up the same way.

Also - dice your meat and fat, mix your spices in, then grind. You'll be much better off for it instead of trying to add seasoning in after the fact.

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One small edit that I learned from a pro...
I grind my fat first, and basically leave it completely frozen, as that's the part that getting warm really messes it up. I season the lean meat before grinding, grind the fat, and then mix. I've been doing the second grind after the light mixing, then add liquid ingredients, and mix until I get the binding I want. Check the temp of the mix before the second grind, and if it's over 38 (I actually shoot for lower than that), stick it back in the freezer for a while. Texture on my sausages has been much better since doing that.

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Excellent point. Also, I always keep the grinder parts in the freezer...when doing smaller portions of unfrozen meat, it works just as well for a short period/smaller grind amount.

Cabela's carnivore #12 3/4 horse is a beast. We use it all the time. We grind up 5-8 deer a year. Pork butt for sausage when on sale. And of course chicken. We stole it at BP catalog return center in Springfield for like 200 bucks. You will not regret it.

I irdered this Pro-Cut model last year from a butcher supply and it's performed very well.

https://pro-cut.us/product/kg-12-fs/

I've only ground 2 deer, but it made for short work and no problems. It's heavy(80 lbs) and well made.
One of the things about the fat sticking and smearing is that this occurs when a smaller hp motor gets overworked and therefore too hot causing the fat to smear. So my suggestion would be to get as much motor as your budget allows.

Howdy Dammit said:

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Looking at picking one up to make my own venison hamburger meat. Had some buddies tell me that a standard 200 dollar grinder from bass pro is crap and will jam on the talow. Is this true? Is there any brand you can recommend. Just plan on grinding up one or two deer per season. Not very heavy use.

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Bigger is better; if it doesn't make your lights flicker, it's not big enough!!!

I just bought the new Meat! Your Maker 1.5hp grinder. Itching to kill a deer so I can break that bad boy in.

BurrOak said:

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I just bought the new Meat! Your Maker 1.5hp grinder. Itching to kill a deer so I can break that bad boy in.

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I just bought it too! Looked like a solid product. Appreciate the original recommendation.

It does look solid.

It will be replacing a Cabelas 1.5hp grinder that was nearing 30 years old and starting to go downhill.

Anyone have experience with the STX brand grinders?

Bought a # 22 years ago and it's got no quit in it. They aren't cheap but way more powerful than the smaller ones. And if you're thinking about stuffing sausage buy a separate stuffer ....at least a 15 # capacity.

Got an email from Meat! Your Maker that the 1.5hp and 0.5hp grinders are 25% off. Gives a price of $525 and $300 respectively. Other items for sale as well.

Dp

Got this one a few years ago with the 20% off Meateater code. Pricy, as MSRP wasn't that much when I purchased, but man it runs thru the venison. In fact I think there was a sale and they also honored the code. In any event I paid less than $400 shipped

Weston #12 1HP grinder

MizooAg94 said:

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Cabela's carnivore #12 3/4 horse is a beast. We use it all the time. We grind up 5-8 deer a year. Pork butt for sausage when on sale. And of course chicken. We stole it at BP catalog return center in Springfield for like 200 bucks. You will not regret it.

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Second. I got this one too, absolutely plows through meat quickly. Before this i used kitchen aid and it was a clustershow. Carnivore 3/4 or higher is great.

I got this one a few years ago after it was recommended to me. Price is reasonable. Comes with 3 grinding blades and 5 grinding plates. It also has the sausage stuffer. I've never had any issues grinding up venison, pork, or chuck. As someone mentioned above, put the meat in the freezer for a bit before you grind, and it should work much better.

One of the things I love about this grinder is the foot pedal. It keeps my hands free and allows me to start and stop as needed without having to push buttons.

STX Turboforce

Good call on the foot pedal. I bought a LEM one to add on to mine, and realized that they're basically universal. This one on Amazon would work, and is half the cost of the LEM model. I wouldn't want to use a grinder without one now!

Foot pedal control

nice - thanks for the share. going to have to try one of these out

Rattler12 said:

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Bought a # 22 years ago and it's got no quit in it. They aren't cheap but way more powerful than the smaller ones. And if you're thinking about stuffing sausage buy a separate stuffer ....at least a 15 # capacity.

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Does your #22 run on 110 or 220?

JSKolache said:

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MizooAg94 said:

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Cabela's carnivore #12 3/4 horse is a beast. We use it all the time. We grind up 5-8 deer a year. Pork butt for sausage when on sale. And of course chicken. We stole it at BP catalog return center in Springfield for like 200 bucks. You will not regret it.

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absolutely plows through meat quickly.

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Sounds like my ex

AnScAggie said:

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Rattler12 said:

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Bought a # 22 years ago and it's got no quit in it. They aren't cheap but way more powerful than the smaller ones. And if you're thinking about stuffing sausage buy a separate stuffer ....at least a 15 # capacity.

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Does your #22 run on 110 or 220?

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110